hello, i'm matthew amroliwala. let's start with that breaking news from the middle east. more than a thousand members of hezbollah in lebanon are reported to have been injured by their pagers exploding, in what lebanese media described as an �*unprecedented hostile act'. iran's ambassador to lebanon is reported to be among those affected. here is a moment where one pager exploded in supermarket in beirut, you see people rushing away, the explosion in the foreground, apparently it was in a bag being carried by a man. and thatis being carried by a man. and that is one of the locations, similar things have been reported in so many different parts of lebanon in beirut, and southern lebanon, other videos posted online showed people

with injuries. ambulances have been rushing through the suburbs, the ministry has called on staff to report on people to donate blood. anyone with a pager should immediately discard it. unnamed security officials say the pagers were hacked by israel, which has not commented. with me is our security correspondent frank gardner. these are still the early details of this, it was first reported less than two hours ago, take me through, first of all, what we know. it ago, take me through, first of all, what we know.— all, what we know. it is extraordinary, - all, what we know. it is extraordinary, this, - all, what we know. it is - extraordinary, this, almost unprecedented. i cannot think of any case where you have got a simultaneous, almost simultaneous explosion of so many personal devices. these were not mobile phones, they were not mobile phones, they were pagers, which sounds very 20th—century. but the reason for that is that when the gaza

war or conflict began after october seven massacre in southern israel, in order went out by hezbolla to its people not to use mobile phones in case they were sabotaged. the reason for that is that a bit of history here, back in january 1996, someone who was known as the engineer, he was the chief bomb makerfor known as the engineer, he was the chief bomb maker for hamas and he was assassinated by israeli intelligence with an exploding mobile phone. people have always been a bit wary of those, yet what happened this afternoon was the almost simultaneous determination of these devices, these pagers, that had been used by hundreds of hezbolla notjust fighters, but medics, officials and others, they appear to have been tampered with at some stage. they had been ordered relatively recently, in some cases only received in the last few days. israel is not commenting on who might have been behind it.—

been behind it. before i ask ou the been behind it. before i ask you the next _ been behind it. before i ask you the next question, - been behind it. before i ask you the next question, i - been behind it. before i ask. you the next question, i want to put on the screen again one of the videos of one of the explosions, you arejust explosions, you are just describing explosions, you arejust describing how there were so many blasts and there you see it in the foreground. an explosion in a bag, you mentioned that it was not a mobile phone. it was pagers. it has been quoted three security sources talking to writers saying that the pagers that were detonated were the latest model brought in by his brother and the latest month. exactly as they are saying, these are all things that they had purchased in the last few weeks. , . , ., weeks. yes, and they thought it was the safest _ weeks. yes, and they thought it was the safest option. - was the safest option. interestingly, these devices do not appear to be designed to be lethal. so they have inflicted some very nasty wounds, injuries on people, many of whom are in civilian dress. they may or may not work for hezbolah, they may be bystanders, but there are hundreds of wounded that have been brought to hospitals across lebanon, mainly in the

southern suburbs of beirut. but they are, for the most part, low charge. so not packing enough to actually kill somebody, in the vast majority of cases, but to send a very strong message. let's not forget this comes on the same day that israel has extended its war aims to include expelling hezbolah from the border. so, the low grade ongoing conflict that israel has with lebanon on that border, thejoint border they have god, has driven roughly 60,000 israelis away from their homes and businesses on the israeli side of the border, a bigger number than that on the lebanese side. hundreds of casualties in total on both sides, and there is a lot of political pressure on israel's cabinet to deal with this once and for all, to deal with the problem of hezbolah firing rockets on drones and missiles across their border. they want to push hezbolah north of the

river, which is technically at the end of the 2006 where that is where it was supposed to have stayed, but they have crept south. and that is why there is this ongoing exchange of fire. �* ., ., ,~' there is this ongoing exchange of fire. �* ., ., i. of fire. before i ask you the next question, _ of fire. before i ask you the next question, let - of fire. before i ask you the next question, let me - of fire. before i ask you the next question, let me show of fire. before i ask you the - next question, let me show you the life pictures from one of those medical centres that we have pictures coming into us from beirut. because large amounts of people around one of those hospital centres, there you can see just to scores of people waiting. i suppose for updates and some of the injured being taken to medical establishments like that. there has been reports of iran's ambassador to lebanon is one of those injured. you were making the point, in terms of the whole backdrop to this, but to the fear has always been about a wider war between hezbolah and israel alongside that war that has already been going on with hamas in gaza. this adds to all of those fears, doesn't

it? it to all of those fears, doesn't it? ., , ~ , ., it? it does. and remember that it? it does. and remember that it was not _ it? it does. and remember that it was not that _ it? it does. and remember that it was not that long _ it? it does. and remember that it was not that long ago, - it? it does. and remember that it was not that long ago, i - it was not that long ago, i think it wasjuly 30 that israel admitted think it was july 30 that israel admitted assassinating someone in the southern suburbs, very close to where most of this is concentrated. southern suburbs of beirut. he was a senior commander in hezbolah, he was assassinated with a precision drone strike that hit him in a building. israel had openly admitted it. that was followed, of course, a day later by the assassination of its mile in tehran, which israel has not owned up to. but everybody assumes it was them, he was the political leader of hamas. so, after that, he was the political leader of hamas. so, afterthat, hezbolah vowed revenge. there was a sort of flurry of rockets from hezbolah and after that they said, write, score settled for now. this, ithink, regardless of the fact that israel has not commented on it, is going to be

laid at the bed of israel intelligence agencies, it will be expected to demand some kind of retaliation and revenge. iran, of course, will probably support them, at least verbally and diplomatically and possibly it will supply further weapons. because hezbolah are the most powerful non—state military force in the middle east, they are forced to be reckoned with, they have got a massive arsenal of rockets, should they choose to launch them israel. the retaliation would decimate lebanon, the lebanese are saying please don't, our economies and dire state are on our knees, please don't. but thatis our knees, please don't. but that is why it is a very tense atmosphere. you are right, something like this could tip it over the edge.— it over the edge. thank you very much _ it over the edge. thank you very much for— it over the edge. thank you very much for that - it over the edge. thank you | very much for that analysis, let's continue with this. let's speak to the director of the institute for strategic

affairs, welcome to... thank you for having me. in terms of the latest that you are hearing where you are, bring me up—to—date. where you are, bring me up-to-date._ up-to-date. this is unprecedented, . up-to-date. this is unprecedented, as| up-to-date. this is i unprecedented, as it up-to-date. this is - unprecedented, as it was up-to-date. this is _ unprecedented, as it was said, in terms of technology that has been used and in terms of escape. it is through that... is has been reported up to now, all directions are, however that psychological impact is huge. it is showing how much of the hezbolah resistance is exposed to israel infiltration in the organisation. and this was clear maybe at the beginning, israelshowed was clear maybe at the beginning, israel showed the technology supremacy. however, in the last weeks, hezbolah

managed to restore this balance of terror and with israel, and today's events show once more how deep this organisation is infiltrated in a word that is getting more and more technological warfare dimension. i technological warfare dimension.— technological warfare dimension. . ., , dimension. i have some latest ictures dimension. i have some latest pictures from _ dimension. i have some latest pictures from outside - dimension. i have some latest pictures from outside of - dimension. i have some latest pictures from outside of one l dimension. i have some latest| pictures from outside of one of the hospitals, we are also just seeing from the various wire copies the reports of the first death linked to these pager determinations. in terms of what i was talking to frank gardner about, what do you think are the dangers here? because for months now, the area, the region has been on the brink of wider war. does this take us a step closer? fin

this take us a step closer? on one hand. _ this take us a step closer? q�*i one hand, you may say that this is very serious breach, this is a very serious act of escalation. and this has all the potential to propel the region to a full—blown war and engage hezbolah and israel in a were similar to 2006. however, one can ask question, what will be the communication system hezbolah today can't rely on? they have resorted to these pagers, this pager system, because they have banned the use of cellular phones because it was detrimental for them. it was the first breach in out of this mobile phone. today they replaced that mobile phone with these pager system, and this

has been hacked today by israel. so, how hezbolah is prepared and which telecommunication system can they rely on to face up israel? this is unknown. and this would in my view push hezbolah to reconsider whether it has the means to go all the way in this conflict with israel. we means to go all the way in this conflict with israel.— conflict with israel. we have to leave it — conflict with israel. we have to leave it there, _ conflict with israel. we have to leave it there, thank - conflict with israel. we have to leave it there, thank you | to leave it there, thank you very much. let me tell you... it was asked in the last few minutes about the risk of escalation in lebanon, it is said that the risk of spill—over has always been there. worth seeing the footage again from the supermarket in beirut that was recorded, just one of those explosions, have a look. there you see some of the

panics, the aftermath, exactly what frank was saying about the size of these devices. but that, just one of the many pagers that have exploded across lebanon. the latest reports that 1000 people have been injured among them, perhaps, 100 hezbolah fighters. there is a life page currently running on the bbc website, so do head and therefore the very latest details. as i say, more of the details, the injured, the live pictures from the hospitals, all of that is coming into us and all of that information available on the website. we will return to that story in the next few minutes, but here are the latest headline details. now to the us — where in the last hour the rapper and producer sean "diddy" combs has been charged with three federal charges — including racketeering, sex trafficking,

and transportation to engage in prostitution. the details come from an indictment which was unsealed today in manhattan. according to the 14—page document, sean combs turned his business empire into a criminal enterprise in which he and his associates engaged in sex trafficking, forced labour and other crimes. he has maintained his innocence. let's speak to our correspondentjohn sudwoth in new york. tell us more. well, of course, for decades — tell us more. well, of course, for decades sean _ tell us more. well, of course, for decades sean combs - tell us more. well, of course, for decades sean combs has l tell us more. well, of course, - for decades sean combs has been a tightening of the music industry, from the early 90s and onwards he has been instrumental in the rise of hip—hop as global, commercial force. but what we have seen here in new york this morning is the un—ceiling of an indictment which, as you say, alleges that sean combs, listed in that indictment under his

many other aliases and stage names, diddy among others, that he basically turned this giant entertainment empire that he had built into a criminal enterprise. one of the functions of which was solely to coerce women into fulfilling his sexual desires. the indictment lists a number of ways in which he has allegedly manipulated and controlled women, from supplying them with drugs, through controlling their careers, using a financial pressure, and through violence, it alleges strike and taking them and a long history of abuse. as you say, at the heart of this indictment are those three main charges, three main counts, essentially racketeering, sex trafficking, and transporting others to engage in prostitution. what is the likely timeline _ engage in prostitution. what is the likely timeline on - engage in prostitution. what is the likely timeline on this - the likely timeline on this now? ~ .,

the likely timeline on this now? ~ . ., ., ., ., now? we are about to hear at any moment _ now? we are about to hear at any moment now _ now? we are about to hear at any moment now from - any moment now from prosecutors, they are holding a press conference. this is huge news, of course, here in america. as you say, mr sean combs is determined to defend himself, so this will almost certainly go to a lengthy trial. his lawyers, head of the unsealing of this indictment, after his arrest in new york yesterday evening, said that he had surrendered voluntarily, that these are the actions of an innocent man. notably, they said sean combs is not a perfect person, he is also not a criminal, they said.- a criminal, they said. thank ou a criminal, they said. thank you very — a criminal, they said. thank you very much. _ a criminal, they said. thank you very much, as - a criminal, they said. thank you very much, as soon - a criminal, they said. thank you very much, as soon as| a criminal, they said. thank l you very much, as soon as we get those prosecutors talking at their microphones, we can see the pictures, but we will go to that as soon as it starts. around the world and across the uk, you are watching bbc news.

you are watching bbc news. let's turn to the deadly

flooding that's hit central europe. at least 19 people have died in the czech republic, romania, austria, and poland where over 5,000 troops have been deployed to support people. the mayor of niisa in southern poland called on 40,000 residents to evacuate to higher ground. heavy downpours have caused extensive damage across a huge area with storm boris bringing vast amounts of rain and snow over the weekend. there have been a series of dramatic rescues. this was the moment that one person was winched to safety in ostrava in the czech republic. the local river bursting its banks, inundating the area with floodwater. and polish police shared this footage on social media of one of their helicopters involved in a rescue winching residents to safety. the rescues — the response — the clear up, the prepations for more flooding — is all still happening. nick thorpe is in the hungarian capital

it is strange, the sun is out, it has been beautifully sunny all day, the rain stopped yesterday morning. at the floodwater is advancing across parts of this area of southwestern poland. you can see behind me this village has been flooded all day, but further down the road here there is a big town where the water is, we are told, at least one metre and in some places up to two metres high. that is what residents have been saying, there is an evacuation under way there. it is impossible to reach by road, the only way through is by boat or helicopter. we have heard a few helicopters this afternoon, presumably heading into that town to try to get people to safety. it is a real patchwork across this southwestern region of poland now. close to the czech borders, we have seen scenes in big cities where there have been evacuation orders and fears that a river will burst its banks, that did not happen here last night, but

here it did flood overnight. and there are a lot of people in extreme difficulty now. it has not stopped, even though the rain has stopped falling. how stretched are the authorities, and our people heating those evacuation warnings? in heating those evacuation warnings?— heating those evacuation warnings? in terms of the evacuation _ warnings? in terms of the evacuation warning, - warnings? in terms of the evacuation warning, yes l warnings? in terms of the i evacuation warning, yes and warnings? in terms of the - evacuation warning, yes and no. certainly in the big town the evacuation warning went out and we thought maybe 20 or 30 people crossing the bridge while we were standing there, dragging their suitcases and taking a few belongings. they did not seem to be in a rush for the exit and there was certainly no organised evacuation. in the end, in that town the river did not burst its banks. in other places people end up in their homes trapped by the water, which is moving too quickly for them to get out. they do not necessarily get any warning. we have seen in areas where the water has receded the terrible damage that it leaves behind. thick, black mud, people's belongings totally soaked and

destroyed, and people very distraught to find it so much damage in their homes. this is a very large area that is affected, the worry here in poland right now is that the floods may advance as far as the big city of... in 1997 they had what they called millennium flood, the great flood that they never expected to see again. years later, essentially, there are similar scenes being repeated after that very heavy torrential rain of storm boris. there's a lot of storm boris. there's a lot of nervousness here, even though, as you mentioned, militaries deployed, firefighters deployed, the government has declared a state of natural disaster in this entire region.— of natural disaster in this entire region. thank you very much for _ entire region. thank you very much for giving _ entire region. thank you very much for giving us _ entire region. thank you very much for giving us that - entire region. thank you very l much for giving us that update, there in southern poland where you are. thank you very much forjoining us on the programme. we are going to return to that breaking development that we were talking about at the start of this hour, those pagers that have been exploding in lebanon causing hundreds of injuries, we have seen the life pictures

of people take being taken to the hospitals, injured, those pictures from just one of those medical centres. the last report i was reading in the last few seconds, now reporting at least three people have been killed as well as all of this people injured. let's speak to the bbc arabic�*s correspondent in beirut. what are you hearing in beirut. what are you hearing in terms of some of the latest casualty numbers?— in terms of some of the latest casualty numbers? well, we are waitin: casualty numbers? well, we are waiting for— casualty numbers? well, we are waiting for the _ casualty numbers? well, we are waiting for the minister - casualty numbers? well, we are waiting for the minister of - waiting for the minister of health to update us with the latest toll, but it is now considered that there are hundreds of people who were injured by this massive scale explosions happening through pagers. people who were carrying those pagers across different parts of lebanon, they were injured. and we understand that most of those people were using the same

model of device, which seems to be the latest model that was imported by hezbolah lately. we understand at the moment that the hospitals are completely overwhelmed with the number of insured rushed to the hospital, some of them are calling for ambulances to transfer casualties of two different hospitals, because they are completely overwhelmed and unable to treat more patients. hezbolah has issued moments ago a statement in which it said that the reasons of those explosions that tackled and targeted pagers used by some of the workers in hezbolah's units and institutions, according to the statement issued by hezbolah, that these casualties also between the casualties among them, it's a little girl and two members of hezbolah and and two members of hezbolah and

a very large number of injuries. it is said that it is carrying a large—scale investigation at the moment, a scientific investigation as well as a security investigation in to the causes of those explosions. as i said, this is a situation that completely unprecedented, even in the highest moments of tension between hezbolah and israel, as we know they have been involved in a cross—border hostilities for over 11 months now. this is linked to what is happening in gaza. but what happened this afternoon is something of a completely different scale, it takes things to a completely different level. at the moment, it lebanon is in a state of health emergency. at the moment, all the authorities are trying to contain this situation in terms of number of

casualties and injured, of having to toll of how many people were injured and how we can provide them with treatment. but the real questions are still to be asked, what happened, what kind of massive security breach we witnessed this afternoon. and also what is next, is hezbolah going to retaliate? and is this just mere message or something thatis just mere message or something that is going way beyond what just happened hours ago? thank ou ve just happened hours ago? thank you very much — just happened hours ago? thank you very much for _ just happened hours ago? thank you very much for the _ just happened hours ago? thank you very much for the latest - you very much for the latest there in beirut, we are coming to the end of this particular part of our programme. i want to point into the various pictures, the various latest bits of information. if you had to the website, all of the latest details. but i want to show you again the supermarket pictures. just one of those explosions that was caught on cctv, on camera, and let me show you that. this was in

beirut. just one of the explosions that... here it is, in the foreground. apologies, thatis in the foreground. apologies, that is a frozen image. hezbolah sang these explosions happen simultaneously. stay with us, i am back in the next few minutes with the latest on that. hello there. for most parts of the uk it has turned into a beautiful day. have a look at this picture sent in by one of our weather watchers in lancashire. light winds, blue sky overhead. feeling fairly warm. a slightly different story earlier on today in parts of northern ireland with more in the way of cloud. we've got a bit more cloud also up towards the north of scotland, some slightly murky conditions, perhaps across the northern isles, but for the majority, with this area of high pressure in charge, it is going to stay largely dry, with some sunshine just a little bit breezy across the channel islands, the south and the southeast of england. these areas of cloud just filtering in across east anglia and the south east mayjust produce the odd light shower, the odd spot of drizzle across the northern isles, where it could be quite murky at times.

but the north of mainland scotland, up to 23 degrees and elsewhere generally high teens, low 20s, feeling very pleasant for mid september. tonight we will see more cloud filtering in across east anglia into parts of the midlands, the south of england. patchy fog is possible across parts of northern ireland, northern england and southern scotland and where we do keep clear skies and light winds, it will be another rather chilly night, milder up towards the northwest of scotland and also towards the southeast of england, with more of a breeze, more cloud as well. across parts of england and wales, at least for a time tomorrow, some of that cloud perhaps lingering close to eastern coasts. but for the majority, some good spells of sunshine, quite breezy again in the south, and also where you have that feed of winds from the north sea. temperatures for newcastle and hull, for example, stuck at 17 degrees, but london at 20 for parts of northern scotland also up to 2a degrees. a subtle change during wednesday night. it looks like we will bring more cloud in from the north sea. could be a little bit

misty and murky up over some of the hills. that cloud tending to break up through thursday. although lingering close to the east coast. best of the sunshine out towards the west. highest temperatures across western and southern parts, with values up to 22, 23 or 2a degrees. now for the end of the week, a change is on the way. our area of high pressure is going to shift northwards. low pressure starts to spin up from the south, bringing the increasing chance of some showers and perhaps some thunderstorms, especially across england and wales. northern ireland and scotland should stay largely dry but turning cooler.

back to your desks! amazon scraps its hybrid working policy — ordering staff into the office five days a week from january. when it meets tomorrow. the brexit effect. trade behind the eu has slumped according to a new report. the report says it is getting worse.

welcome, this is business today. chief executive says going back to pre—covert working conditions would help staff the better set up to invent, collaborate and be connected enough to each other. not everyone agrees. the uk business secretaryjonathan business secretary jonathan ashworth has business secretaryjonathan ashworth has told that flexible work creates and more effective workforce. so, let's talk today to mark price who is a former minister of trade. it helps businesses with productivity. good to have you with us. talk to me about that discussion there. i are saying, get back to the office, you need to work harder. at the same time, jonathan ashworth is saying it is not about that. who is

right? is not about that. who is ri . ht? ,