un officials in lebanon have urged restraint along the lebanese—israeli border after a rocket attack in the israeli—occupied golan heights. at least 12 people were killed and many others injured when a rocket hit a soccer field in the town of majdal shams. many of the casualties are thought to have been children who were playing at the time. the israeli military described the attack as the deadliest in the area since 7 october and blames hezbollah, a lebanese armed group. hezbollah has denied responsibility. israel's foreign affairs minister, israel katz, said the country is approaching a moment of all—out war with hezbollah. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is flying back early from his trip to the us and has warned that hezbollah will pay a heavy price. translation: since l was. updated about the disaster, i have been holding continuous security consultations, and i have directed that my return to israel be brought forward.

as soon as i arrive, i will immediately convene the security cabinet. i can say that the state of israel will not let this pass in silence. we will not overlook this. mark lowen sent this report. sirens early evening in the israeli—occupied golan heights, and the warning of an incoming threat about to become deadly and dangerous. a rocket struck a football field where children and teenagers were playing. several were killed in the deadliest strike since the cross—border fire between lebanon and israel began last october. the anguish of loved ones at young lives cut short, in a conflict that could be about to escalate sharply. a rocket barrage today which lit up the sky was claimed by the lebanese militant group hezbollah, but it denies firing the deadly strike onto the football field.

that, the israeli army spokesman says, is a lie. this attack shows the true face of hezbollah — a terrorist organisation that targets and murders children playing soccer on a saturday evening. we will act to restore full security on our northern border for all the citizens of the state of israel. and the question is how israel's government will react. benjamin netanyahu is returning early from the us to chair his security cabinet, where he will face calls to hit back hard. as the young injured were rushed to hospital, fear is growing that all—out war with hezbollah, a proxy of iran, could now be drawing closer. south in gaza, the other front of this war, palestinians too were scrambling to save lives, this time after israeli strikes killed dozens.

here, too, it's children paying the price in a nightmare with no end. the missiles tore into a school housing displaced gazans. israel says it targeted a hamas command—and—control centre inside, but from the rubble came those simply seeking shelter. mustafa says the blast threw him into the air and he fell to the ground. "i didn't know where to run forfear," he says, "so i fled inside the school, thinking it was safe. but then i saw heads, hands and feet." the spark from 7 october ignited gaza and now golan. the question tonight is will it start an inferno. mark lowen, bbc news, jerusalem. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams is injerusalem with more. i was with a western diplomat when news of the attack in majdal shams broke, and he expressed the concern that everyone here is feeling tonight, which is that this is precisely what people

of been worried about, have been fearing, for the past ten months — that this simmering conflict along israel's northern border with lebanon would result in a mass—fatality event which would trigger a much bigger conflict. i think it is inevitable that israel will reply, will respond. if you think back to the attack by a yemeni houthi drone on tel aviv a week or so ago that killed one civilian, israel's response to that attack was pretty quick and pretty severe, so i think we can expect something of the same. now, obviously, this was a disaster for the druze community in majdal shams, but it was also a disaster for hezbollah. if hezbollah fired the rockets that caused all of those deaths, then it wasn'tjust killing druze citizens in the occupied golan heights. it was also affecting the druze community in its own country. there are druze people living

in lebanon, and they will be furious at the suggestion, the possibility, that hezbollah, which claims to defend the rights of all lebanese civilians, has been responsible for killing their kinfolk across the border. so this is potentially a political disasterfor hezbollah. now, we're still in claim and counterclaim territory. hezbollah says that it did not fire the rocket in question, but at exactly or roughly the same time as the first reports of casualties came from majdal shams, hezbollah's media wing was claiming an attack on an israeli military base less than two miles away. so that does point in the direction of some kind of misfired hezbollah rocket. it is also possible that this was intercepted by israel's iron dome system and that somehow fragments of that fell to the ground and caused this. a lot of questions

still to be answered. but unless this was a complete mistake, i think we are likely to see quite a significant israeli response. in gaza, the health ministry says at least 30 people have been killed in an israeli strike on a school which was sheltering displaced people. israeli missiles hit the khadija school compound in deir al—balah in central gaza. it had been housing palestinians who had been forced to flee their homes since the war began. the israeli army says the strike targeted a hamas command—and—control centre which was inside the school. ambulances brought those killed and injured, including children, to a nearby hospital in deir al—balah. to venezuela now, where voters will head to the polls on sunday in what is being seen as a pivotal presidential election. the country has been facing years of political and economic challenges. president nicolas maduro, who has been in office since 2013, is seeking a third consecutive term.

he says it is to secure peace and stability, after saying there would be a bloodbath if he lost. the opposition candidate edmundo gonzalez is leading most opinion polls. he says it's time to re—establish democracy and prosperity in the country after a quarter of a century of socialist rule. for more i've been speaking to our south america correspondent ione wells, who is in caracas, venezuela. well, there is one thing that a lot of people here have been saying, and people have been speaking to me even before arriving here, which is that something this time feels different. and by that i think they mean that, for the first time in years, the opposition has been very, very organised. they're united around a single candidate, marina corina machado, who has actually not been allowed to run. she was banned from standing as a candidate, but has really rallied behind her replacement, edmundo gonzalez, who as you mentioned there has had huge amounts of momentum behind him. they've managed to sort of whip up massive rallies on their campaign trail around the country. and there is also this question about whether, after the last elections

were widely dismissed as neitherfree norfair, with such kind of momentum behind the opposition, that would be something which the president would be able to get away with this time. now, there are efforts by the government that have already happened to try to suppress the opposition to an extent, including things like disinviting eu election observers to be here. also the fact that millions of venezuelans who live abroad now, who have migrated abroad, have been unable to register to vote. and also, as we've talked about already, the banning of opposition candidates, but also even the detention and arrests of some of the team, as well, around the opposition. so there has been a sort of active effort by the government to try and certainly hamper the chances of the opposition, but there is generally a sense that this time things could well be different. yeah, some 5.5 million voting—aged venezuelans do live abroad, so presumably many of those would have liked to cast their vote against maduro. but speaking about the opposition and edmundo gonzalez, he is ahead,

isn't he, in these polls ahead of the election. what more do we know about him and the way he has been going about his campaign? well, he was a relatively sort of unknown figure, really, until fairly recently. a former diplomat, but somebody who, as i say, ended up being the opposition candidate because of the fact that the main opposition leader was banned from running. having said that, the opposition has really kind of united behind him as a figure, and he has managed to sort of whip up that momentum and, as you say, has been well ahead in many surveys around this. now, having said that, the government disputes that significantly. president maduro and his team claim that that is not the case, and that they are ahead and that they have lots of momentum behind them. and certainly if you're just walking around caracas, you would think that that may be the case. there are photos of president maduro everywhere in the streets. his campaign is incredibly visible, and that is partly

because of the fact his party has such a dominance in the country and has done for so long. he is able to put that resource, that money, into campaigning so heavily, given that he controls both the electoral authorities but also the judicial authorities as well. as i said before, i think the opposition certainly feel like they have the people on their side. the question will be whether the government accepts that, if the result does suggest so. ione, briefly, about 30 seconds left here, butjust remind us what is at stake here. this is a country that has really gone through some struggles in recent years. well, there's so much at stake. forvenezuela, it's the economy, it's democracy, it's if this is finally a free and fair election that is recognised internationally. for the international community, as well, there was a lot at stake here as well. venezuela has the largest known oil reserves in the world. will its markets be opened up again, and how does that affect the price of oil? but also, i've mentioned already the migration process. nearly eight million venezuelans have fled, many to the us, and there are so many questions

about whether, if nicolas maduro wins another term, will more people follow. a short while ago i spoke to tamara taraciuk broner. she is the the director of the rule of law programme at the inter—american dialogue think—tank. thank you so much for being here. just from where you are, what's the sense that you're getting right now? how pivotal is this election for venezuela? good evening. this election is going to be a critical political moment for the country. the conditions are certainly neither clean norfair, but nonetheless, people are very eager to go out and vote. every poll, every reliable poll, indicates a lead in favour of the opposition, and what we're expecting is massive mobilisation. people are tired of having lived through three simultaneous crises

for many, many years. there is a crackdown on dissent, there's a humanitarian emergency, and a huge exodus of the nearly 8 million people who have left the country. and people don't have the energy to take to the streets and protest, but they're saving the energy to go and vote on sunday. and the expectation is massive mobilisation, and we're going to have to see how far the government is willing to go, legally and illegally, to narrow that margin of expected victory. yeah, i mean, that's the question, isn't it? is this an election that might actually change things in the country? you don't expect this to be a free and fair election. could this then be tipped towards maduro, despite the lead for the opposition? i think that even if clearly this would not be free and fair, it's an opportunity to start the transition towards democracy. it's the first time in many years that the opposition

is united, that people are willing to mobilise massively to vote, and this can change the game. the question now is not only what's going to happen on sunday during the election, but what is going to happen afterwards. how is the government willing to have a conversation about a negotiation between the election and january, when the next government is supposed to take office? and equally as important is to see what is the international community going to do after the election results are announced, whatever they are? and power is not monolithic in venezuela today. so it's not as if you're going to have a monolithic decision one way or another. in venezuela you have a lot of people within the judiciary, the security forces, the electoral authorities that can see a better future for themselves in a transition towards democracy in venezuela. and these are the key people that we're going to have to see how they play the game after the elections on sunday.

here in the us, republican presidential nominee donald trump has said that he plans to continue holding outdoor rallies, disregarding safety advice after he survived an assassination attempt two weeks ago. he has been holding a rally in minnesota this evening with his running mate, jd vance. it's the first time the two of them have held a rally together. the former president said the us secret service would give him increased protection. but he said nobody could "ever be allowed to stop or impede free speech or gathering". opinion polls suggest his lead in the presidential election campaign has narrowed since kamala harris became the democrats' likely candidate. earlier i spoke to rina shah, political strategist as well as a 2016 republican national convention delegate. how do you rate the way that this trump campaign now has switched gears now that they're no longer running againstjoe biden, they're running against kamala harris? i think this past week's pivot of the trump campaign has been actually pretty disastrous,

and largely due to the running mate pick. jd vance has proven to not only be milquetoast but to be somebody who's not capable of saying the right thing when it needs to be said. so i have to be honest with you — i think republicans are coming off of a no good, terrible, very bad week, and i'm not sure how they turn it around this next week. well that's, of course, after a really strong week. we saw this very united republican national convention, and of course, with all the emotional events surrounding the assassination attempt against donald trump, really seeing a bump in the polls. but do you think, now, that potentially donald trump has a bit of buyer's remorse, then, in terms of picking jd vance as his running mate? well, look, the yo—yo feeling of this past two weeks, i don't think anybody could have ever predicted. this past two weeks in washington has felt like two years, and it's notjust because of the bump that trump got from surviving that

assassination attempt. but you saw four nights of complete unity from republicans on stage there in milwaukee. coming off of that, nobody could have guessed biden�*s timing of dropping from this race. there was so much within that three to four weeks of acrimony, spilling out into the public, that democrats had. i think donald trump thought he was getting gift after gift after gift, but biden�*s timing couldn't have been better for the democrats. essentially donald trump, i think, is having buyer's remorse now about vance because he probably would have picked a woman. there were so many rumours saying that haley was someone he was considering until the very last moment. interesting. and, of course, it's been said a million times over that his pick ofjd vance has been a legacy pick and one that his sons were very influential with. of course, it's only been a few weeks, and there is time forjd vance maybe to find his footing here. let's talk about kamala harris now. of course, there's lots of

speculation about who she will pick to be her running mate. there's a few names being bounced around here — arizona senator mark kelly, pennsylvania governorjosh shapiro, among others. what do you make of this shortlist, as they say, of potential vps for harris? well, i was struck, number one, by how very male it was, and how much whiteness there was. truth be told, everybody on that list is white. and here you've got a biracial woman, for the first time ever, as the major party's presumptive nominee. well, rina, do you think that is a deliberate strategy, then, from kamala harris? i think it's a strategy that we're not quite sure who's really steering the ship on yet. i don't know if it's her, but i'll tell you what. when you talk about shapiro, the governor of pennsylvania, and the senator mark kelly, you've got to look at their states. pennsylvania and arizona — two different places, but we know that seven states are the swing states that are essentially going to determine the outcome of this election.

so do you pick the guy who's very popular in what seems to be a very red state? mark kelly enjoys support even from people on the other side of the aisle than him. as a popular democrat, an astronaut, the husband of a former congresswoman, gabby giffords, who was shot while she was on duty as a congressperson, he's somebody that has mass appeal and could have it not just in arizona but across the board. pennsylvania governorjosh shapiro has been looked at by numerous republicans and is lauded in many ways. but also, do you want to take that chance, given how influential pennsylvania is? but i would say this: i'd hope the pick would not be kelly, because democrats have such a razor—thin margin in the senate. do they really want to put that in play? do they want to risk that? so i'm not really sure who would be the best one right now, but one thing is for sure. it doesn't seem a woman. governor gretchen whitmer of michigan, who isjust incredible — it doesn't seem like that will be a two—woman ticket, if i may go so far.

it would have been exciting. rina, we have about 30 seconds left, but i want to ask you, how long do you think this harris honeymoon might last? the democrats are very excited, but it's only been a couple of weeks. well, i don't think anybody could have predicted this much energy about kamala harris's what seems to be nominee nod right now. she's going into the dnc with what looks like a coronation, but this energy could be a mixed bag. you know, there were so many people that were frustrated that biden wasn't dropping out. and when he finally did, perhaps a lot of that money was sitting out there in wait, and wasn'tjust fully given to her because it's her, and who she is as a person, but also because people now feel this sense of relief and feel good about the democrats' chances now. i don't want to diminish her in any way by saying that, but i mean to say it was unpredictable, this past week. the honeymoon could extend for another two to three weeks. it's been a wild and wacky week in washington. anything is possible. we've got 100 days exactly to go. people need to stay informed, make sure they've got

their voting plan and, more important than anything else, pay close attention every day. that's the name of the game for american voters now. it has been a wild ride in the past few days, hasn't it? rina shah, political strategist and analyst, thank you very much. thank you. france have won the men's rugby sevens on day one of the paris olympics — the first gold medal for the hosts. led by their star player antoine dupont, france beat fiji 28—7 in the final in front of 70,000 fans. australia are on top of the medals table after dominating the swimming events, including gold in the women's 4x100 metres freestyle relay. australia's ariarne titmus also took gold in the women's 400 metres freestyle, beating 17—year—old summer mcintosh of canada into second place. maryam moshiri is in paris. well, the excitement is still continuing here in paris on day one of the olympics. it's not been easy to get here. the weather has been terrible. it's been raining for about 36 hours, and that rain has had an impact on some olympic events. the skateboarding, for example, has been delayed, and also

authorities who are organising the olympic games have actually said they're going to work out whether or not they should carry on with trials in the river seine for the triathletes who are, of course, competing on tuesday. they do promise, though, that the tuesday triathlon will go ahead as previously planned. so it's been a heady day of sport, with many medals given out today. the excitement continues. parisians are very, very excited about what's going to happen today, but tomorrow is also a big day to watch. plenty of events to go, including 20 medal events which will happen on day two. we have rowing, badminton. we have skateboarding, amongst other things. plenty of swimming, as well, to look forward to here at the paris olympics. one slight fly in the ointment, though, is the problem with the trains. that continues on sunday apparently. it won't be resolved completely until monday and the investigation by french authorities into who was behind those co—ordinated attacks which have caused so much delay

to trains coming in and out of paris, causing problems for tourists and for visitors alike, and also for french people within the capital wanting to get out. we don't know who is behind it, the investigation continues. but that is still going to carry on, in terms of disruption, until monday at least. but as i said, it's all about the sport now. the rain has stopped at last. it's forecast to be really hot over the next few days, so it'll be great conditions for all the sports we have to look forward to. for now, from paris, back to you in the studio. an order issued this week by california's governor, gavin newsom, could see homeless encampments dismantled across the state. the move follows a us supreme court ruling allowing cities to ban people from sleeping in outdoor public places. mr newsom said in a statement that the executive order directs state agencies to move and urgently address dangerous encampments, while supporting the individuals living within them. for more i've been speaking to antonia fasanelli, the executive director of the national homelessness law center. great to have you here. what's your response

to the recent move by california's governor? is this a productive approach, do you think? thank you so much for having me. no, this approach is deeply harmful to unhoused residents across the state of california. this is a move that unquestionably puts the lives of homeless californians at risk, who truly have no place to go but to sleep outside, in the most expensive state in the country. governor newsom's order unquestionably will have a terrible impact on unhoused residents, particularly unhoused residents of colour. we already know in the state of california that unhoused residents of colour are disproportionately affected by encampment destruction and by tickets and fines and arrests.

and this is a state that has around 180,000 homeless people there. this is obviously a long—standing issue. how would you like to see california, cities there, the governor, go about finding either places for people to live or dealing with communities that do have these large encampments? yes, we are calling on all elected officials to provide housing and services which are proven solutions to homelessness. this has been well documented for decades — that housing and supportive services for anyone who needs it are the ways to end homelessness, not destroying encampments. unquestionably, and we know this from jurisdictions including in california, that have been destroying

encampments for years, does nothing to actually end homelessness. it only causes more people experiencing homelessness to disconnect from services and makes it harder to connect folks to housing. you mentioned housing in california is incredibly expensive. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. the weekend started with some more showers around, but those showers have moved away now, and for the next few days at least we can look forward to some dry weather and some sunshine. temperatures are going to be rising, particularly across england and wales. the reason for the change in the weather — well, high pressure that's building across the uk, giving us the clear skies overnight. it will be a little chilly first thing on sunday morning. it'll warm up quickly, though, in the sunshine. some cloud will affect the far north—west of scotland. otherwise it's just a bit of fair weather cloud bubbling up.

not much of that, really — lots of sunshine to come and the winds will be quite light. a gentle southerly breeze developing. some sea breezes are possible, but it's going to be a warmer day on sunday than it was on saturday. two degrees warmer generally for scotland and northern ireland, and for many parts of england and wales, temperatures will be four degrees higher than they were on saturday. the high pressure is still around as we move into monday, particularly across england and wales. there is this weather front, though, approaching the north—west. it does mean the sunnier skies will be for england and wales. the far north of england, but more especially scotland and northern ireland, will see more cloud and breeze. that weather front bringing a little bit of rain, but many places will be dry. some sunshine coming through. temperatures in scotland and northern ireland aren't going to change too much. it's across england and wales that the heat will be building. we could be getting close to 30 degrees in the south—east on monday afternoon. and generally across western parts of europe, temperatures are on the rise. that heat is pushing up from iberia, into paris for the olympics as well, and also across the uk.

those temperatures rising quickly again for england and wales on tuesday. could be over 30 degrees across the south—east of england. now, temperatures aren't going to be as high for scotland and northern ireland — 20 or 21 degrees quite widely. there will be a bit more cloud around here, but still some sunshine. it looks like being dry. plenty of sunshine for england and wales. there is more cloud, though, threatening to move from northern france across the channel, maybe bringing one or two showers. and this is where things start to change, really, because the pressure is going to be falling as we head into wednesday. some heavy showers moving up from the south, heading northwards overnight, and then this is when the weather changes. we've got showers and more cloud and slightly lower temperatures, i think, through thursday and friday. but the start of the week is going to be very warm and hot in places.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. americast. americast from bbc news. hello, it'sjustin in the worldwide headquarters of americast in london, england. and it's anthony in the washington bureau of bbc news. and it is marianna, aka miss information. still not back in the worldwide headquarters, but still in greece.

well, you're missing out on some excitement here, mariana. it has been an incredibly busy time in the us for political news. and if you americasters want the latest, do make sure you subscribe to the podcast on bbc sounds. it's all there. but right now, as we say, this episode is going to step back and look at campaign finances. and you can send us a whatsapp on ”443301239480. and if you have the kind of bank balance that that number sort of equates to, then you will be particularly interested this week because... or this day. whis week, what am i talking about? we're doing this every day. anyway, you will be interested because we are going to talk completely about money, and we're going to do it right now with someone who knows more about campaign finances than most, who knows an awful lot about the way money is raised, but also, crucially, on the way it is spent and the impact that it has on american politics. sarah bryner is director of research and strategy

from opensecrets, which is a research group.