in people's hands and pockets. iran's ambassador to lebanon is reported to be among those hurt. and hezbollah says two of its fighters and an eight—year—old girl are among those killed. hezbollah and lebanese officials are blaming israel. israel has not commented. us state department spokesperson matt miller denounced the incident and urged against anything that could cause further escalation in the region. since october 7, we have seen any number of incidents that have led to the heightened risk of escalation. that has been a feature of the conflict across the blue line since october 7. so, we are always concerned about escalation. we're always concerned about any type of event that may cause further escalation and it remains our message to both israel and to other parties that they need to do everything they can to try to reach a diplomatic resolution.

hezbollah is an armed group backed by iran. and this explosion comes at a time of heightened tension between hezbollah and israel. we know the group had been advising its members to use pagers because of concerns israel could tamper with or access mobile phones. here's more on today's events from paul adams, and a warning that it starts with some upsetting images. this was a devastating attack... ..in supermarkets, on the street, in cars, at home and even in barbershops. thousands of hezbollah members simultaneously injured by exploding pagers. incidents reported from all over lebanon, from beirut to the bekaa valley, and even in neighbouring syria. hospitals suddenly inundated. each explosion may have been small, but men lost fingers and eyes. some had gaping wounds

to their hips where the pagers were worn. nine people are believed to have died, including one child. israel is saying nothing about these extraordinary attacks. frankly, it's hard to think of anyone else remotely capable of mounting such a sophisticated operation. but it comes at a time when the government is threatening to step up its military effort against hezbollah. israel's border with lebanon has been volatile ever since the war in gaza began — exchanges of fire every day between israel and hezbollah. tens of thousands of civilians on both sides have been forced to flee. kiryat shmona has been hit several times by hezbollah rockets. israel says its gaza war aims now include getting israelis back to their homes close to the border. "the status quo cannot continue," benjamin netanyahu said at the weekend. "this requires a change in the balance of power on our northern border." today's wave of attacks

will have injured hezbollah�*s fighters, wrecked their communications and damaged morale. but will it change the course of this war? paul adams, bbc news, jerusalem. i spoke with emily harding, the deputy director with the international security program at the center for strategic and international studies. we heard from our correspondent it is hard to think of anybody mounting such a sophisticated effort other than israel. what does this attack tell us about who was behind this? it does this attack tell us about who was behind this?- does this attack tell us about who was behind this? it was a truly sophisticated _ who was behind this? it was a truly sophisticated attack - who was behind this? it was a truly sophisticated attack the | truly sophisticated attack the combination of being able to get to these pages to be able to alter them in the way they were altered and put them back together so nobody could tell the difference and send them on the difference and send them on the way so they landed in the hands of the right people inside hezbollah is quite a sophisticated and difficult

intelligence operation, you have to collect a lot of detail to execute on a sensitive operation and keep it quite the whole time. quite difficult to pull off. i5 whole time. quite difficult to ull off. , ~ , whole time. quite difficult to ulloff. . ~ , ,., pull off. is it likely israel was behind _ pull off. is it likely israel was behind this? - pull off. is it likely israel was behind this? it - pull off. is it likely israel was behind this? it is . was behind this? it is difficult _ was behind this? it is difficult to _ was behind this? it is difficult to imagine i was behind this? it is l difficult to imagine who was behind this? it is - difficult to imagine who else could be behind this, us, if you look at the impact, nine did and hundreds injured, what impact does this have on hezbollah itself?- impact does this have on hezbollah itself? there is coin: hezbollah itself? there is going to _ hezbollah itself? there is going to be _ hezbollah itself? there is going to be a _ hezbollah itself? there is going to be a dramatic i hezbollah itself? there is - going to be a dramatic morale impact and a very real and practical disruption to operations. on the morale piece they will have to be questioning everything about their security apparatus right now, they will wonder who in the supply chain managed to be compromised, they will be questioning all their communications, we saw hezbollah put out a note to everybody to throw away any pages or other communication devices they have right now.

that leads to the practical disruption here, they can't communicate as much out of them to fight, the way hezbollah likes to operate against israel is to shoot and run then reorganise and fire from a different location, it is difficult to organise that kind of intricate movement if you don't have communications. with several thousand of the people injured, the pans were injured orfaces were injured injured, the pans were injured or faces were injured and eyesight was injured, that is very difficult to overcome when it comes to getting forces back onto the battlefield. the other side of this question is what does this mean for israel, we know hezbollah is an extremely well supplied group. does this mean israel is able to achieve its aim of safely moving residents back into the north? . . . . north? there is a sense in which this _ north? there is a sense in which this could _ north? there is a sense in which this could be - north? there is a sense in. which this could be actually north? there is a sense in i which this could be actually d escalatory, it could get people back to the north faster, if hezbollah cannot fight right now it will take them months perhaps to regroup, that's an

opportunity for things to come down up there on the border and for people to go home. it's also possible this is israel preparing for a much bigger offensive, they could be looking at this as an opportunity once hezbollah is disrupted and they won't be able to respond to an attack. too soon to tell which one of those options it is, israel has temporarily gained the upper hand. ,., . temporarily gained the upper hand. . , temporarily gained the upper hand. ., , hand. hezbollah is saying it vows just — hand. hezbollah is saying it vowsjust retribution. - hand. hezbollah is saying it vows just retribution. what | vows just retribution. what could that possibly look like knowing what hezbollah is capable of?— knowing what hezbollah is caable of? , ., capable of? this is a common attern, capable of? this is a common pattern, hezbollah _ capable of? this is a common pattern, hezbollah gets - capable of? this is a common| pattern, hezbollah gets struck and then they val retribution right away, sometimes that retribution is months even years in coming, they really do pick the time and place of their choosing when they think they found the right target and they found the right target and they could possibly execute an operation to strike back. this will be a little bit different because so many will people were affected in such a public way there is an argument that this was a civilian target as well as military, at least from

the perspective of hezbollah, a lot of people operating in their orbit in southern lebanon on our in civilian roles and may need that direction. they made to do more of an aggressive attack sooner. where does this leave _ aggressive attack sooner. where does this leave the _ aggressive attack sooner. where does this leave the us _ aggressive attack sooner. where does this leave the us which - does this leave the us which has warned against escalatory measures on both sides? the us has a constant _ measures on both sides? the us has a constant refrain _ measures on both sides? the us has a constant refrain of - measures on both sides? the us has a constant refrain of no - has a constant refrain of no escalation in the region right now and for good reason, they need to be cautious about calling this inherently escalatory, assuming it was israel they are managing to weaken hezbollah at a critical moment and this could be a step to calming things down. in france, a man accused of drugging his now ex—wife and recruiting dozens of other men to rape her, has admitted to all of the charges against him. in his first testimony since the trial opened, dominique pelicot admitted that he was a rapist, and said his wife gisele, who has waived her right to anonymity, "did not deserve"

what happened to her. the case sparked protests across france over the weekend, with thousands gathering in cities across the country. although no cameras are allowed in court, ms pelicot has requested the trial be open to the public. her legal team says a public trial will shift the "shame" back on the accused. the rapper and producer sean �*diddy�* combs was denied bail after pleading not guilty to charges that include racketeering and sex trafficking in new york. authorities accuse mr combs of turning his business empire into a criminal enterprise, something he denies. the charges come after raids on two of sean combs' properties in los angeles and miami in march. he'll be held in federal custody until his trial. the bbc�*s nada tawfik has more from new york. sean combs pleaded not guilty in court. his family was there to support him, but the judge then heard nearly two hours of arguments from both sides over his detention, the prosecution saying that he was a flight risk, a serial abuser who had tried to tamper with witnesses and obstructjustice, and that given his vast wealth, for the safety of the community and to ensure he wouldn't

try to flee, he should be held. his lawyers, on the other hand, said that he should get home detention. they even offered $50 million in bail. but ultimately, the judge sided with prosecutors. this is, of course, a case with incredibly serious allegations — sex trafficking, racketeering, essentially accusing sean diddy combs of using his business as a criminal enterprise to force women to engage in what he referred to as "freak—offs", sexual encounters with male prostitutes that were transported across state lines. so this will be a case where mountains of evidence will be brought forward. after raids on his two homes, prosecutors say they have over 90 devices with footage of the so—called freak offs and other evidence, and that they have over 50 witnesses that they have spoken to already. donald trump says he's received more secret service protection in the wake of an apparent foiled assassination attempt on sunday. the incident took place

at trump's florida golf club. the suspect was spotted by secret service agents, pointing a gun through a fence near where the president was playing. he didn't have a chance to fire a shot. the 58—year—old is now in jail facing charges for violating federal gun laws. it is the second recent attempt to assassinate the former president in as many months, raising alarm about top politicians' security. the state's governor, republican ron desantis, says he's opening an investigation into the apparent assassination attempt. federal authorities are already investigating the incident, but desantis cast doubt on thejustice department's impartiality. congress is considering granting emergency funding to the secret service, as part of a budget bill already under consideration. but lawmakers are also asking whether the secret service is even fit for purpose. tom bateman has the latest from west palm beach. as more emerges about the suspect, so do more questions arise here. key to those are what exactly happened in the perimeter of the golf course?

we now know as investigators have revealed from mobile phone records that ryan routh spent nearly 12 hours hidden in the bushes up until that point at 1:30 on sunday afternoon when the secret service spotted the barrel of his rifle. how was he able to remain there for so long undetected ? and also, a question being raised about whether or not he had any information. because, investigators have said this was an unscheduled appearance by donald trump on the golf course on sunday. and yet, here was this suspect, apparently waiting for him to be there. so, more questions for the investigation. and at the same time, we're seeing the increasing politicisation of the investigation itself. we've had ron desantis, the republican governor of florida, say he has appointed a stayed investigator to look into this. he spent a fairly lengthy news conference casting doubt on federal agencies to do this. and his republican attorney—general in the state described it as in her words awkward that the same agencies

that were prosecuting donald trump are also those that are seeking to investigate and prosecute the gunman, the suspect in this case. meanwhile, mr trump himself has continued to try to lay blame on democrats, on kamala harris and joe biden, for what he describes as the rhetoric around all of this. for their part, they have always said they described donald trump as a threat to democracy because of his failed attempts to try to overturn the 2020 election. but, fundamentally, donald trump now bringing this incident to the front and centre of his election campaigning. he's maintained that his democratic rival, vice president kamala harris, fuelled rhetoric that led to this latest attempt on his life. but he told a rally in michigan on tuesday evening that both she and us presidentjoe biden have been kind to him in recent days. i have to say that president biden called me yesterday, it was very nice, we had a very nice conversation,

i appreciate that he called about what happened the other day and... laughter he is committed. he is committed. now, today, a little while ago, i got a very nice call from kamala harris... it was very nice. it was very, very nice and we appreciate that. but we have to take back our country, we have to win, we are going to win and we will make america great again, that is all the rest away. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a 12—year—old boy is believed to have become the youngest person to be sentenced in connection to the wave of violent disorder injuly and august. he's been given a i2—month referral order, after he threw stones at police in southport the day after a stabbing attack in the town in which three girls were killed. the commonwealth games are returning to glasgow in 2026 — 12 years after they were last held in the city.

the australian state of victoria pulled out of hosting the event because of spiralling costs. the scottish government says it has agreed on a deal for a pared—back games, at no cost to the public purse. the princess of wales has carried out her first work meeting since she began cancer treatment earlier this year. in another small step in her return to public life, the princess had a meeting on tuesday in windsor castle about her early childhood project. it follows last week's video message from catherine where she revealed her relief that her chemotherapy had ended. the princess said this year had been "incredibly tough" , but she had gained a "renewed sense of hope and appreciation of life". you're live with bbc news. wildfires are sweeping across large parts of portugal. at least seven people, including three firefighters, have been killed. more than 50 wildfires are burning. mass flooding is

causing devastation in central and eastern europe — with unusually heavy rainfall in a moment we will hear from mark lowen on the fires in portugal but first sarah rainsford reports from poland on the aftermath of the floods. this is now the only route to safety from another polish town cut off by the floods. boats sent to the rescue of those who'd called for help as the water rose in their homes. the very edge of town is now the only dry spot left. how much water? really, so high? yeah. scary, scary. yeah. one of the rescuers described it — he said until around about 4:00 in the morning, they were trying to reinforce the river bank to stop it from flooding, but the water burst through and it has flooded this town extremely badly. so that's why this mass evacuation is under way. it is well organised, there are lots of people

involved, but it is a major emergency that they're dealing with here now. the military have been drafted in, too, and by nightfall more than 400 people had been evacuated. adrian didn't wait, though. he walked waist—high through the water to get out. what's it like inside the town? it's terrible. there's no energy, no gas, no anything. it's nothing funny. we just need to survive, yeah? the rain stopped long ago here, but the floods and the danger are still spreading. sarah rainsford, bbc news, lewin brzeski. night terrors are tearing through portugal. engulfed by infernos, more than 100, ravaging and overpowering what and who stand in their way. bell ringing they sounded

the alarm however they could, like a funeral bell for a landscape devoured. "i'm scared," he says, "because i never thought "the fire would come so close to my house. "there's a lot of wind, which is enemy number one." scorching heat, fanned by high winds, has set parts of central and northern portugal ablaze, hundreds of firefighters armed to fight it. but they're outgunned, and the flames have already taken lives. daylight brought no respite. it looked like a bomb had hit — the landscape charred as flames licked. fire crews from france, italy, spain and greece are helping, as the prime minister warned it could get worse. translation: | would | like to say we need to be calm and also realistic. we will endure difficult we will endure difficult hours in the coming days. hours in the coming days. portugal is very portugal is very prone to wildfires. prone to wildfires. the worst in 2017 killed 120. the worst in 2017 killed 120.

climate change has climate change has made them more made them more intense and more frequent. intense and more frequent. and so, as this and so, as this country's annual country's annual battle rages again, battle rages again, people try to resist. people try to resist. for now, it's futile for now, it's futile and frightening. and frightening. mark lowen, bbc news, lisbon. mark lowen, bbc news, lisbon. more details emerged more details emerged today about the titan today about the titan submersible that sank submersible that sank injune last year. to see the titanic, injune last year. a former employee of a former employee of the company that built the company that built the submersible says the firm the submersible says the firm wanted to train the vessel's wanted to train the vessel's pilots in just one day. pilots in just one day. david lochridge gave evidence david lochridge gave evidence to the us coast guard's to the us coast guard's investigation investigation into the disaster. into the disaster. he claims he was ignored he claims he was ignored when he warned of potential when he warned of potential safety problems safety problems as far back as 2018. as far back as 2018. mr lochridge also said mr lochridge also said oceangate's ceo refused to have oceangate's ceo refused to have any emergency life support any emergency life support in the sub, calling it "a waste in the sub, calling it "a waste of money." of money." all five people aboard were killed all five people aboard were killed when the submersible imploded when the submersible imploded during a trip to look during a trip to look at the wreck of the titanic. at the wreck of the titanic. our science editor our science editor rebecca morelle reports. rebecca morelle reports. it was heading it was heading

to see the titanic, but oceangate's titan sub suffered a catastrophic failure, killing all five people on board. nothing but the truth, so help you god. now for the first time, david david lochridge, the former director of marine operations, has spoken publicly about safety concerns. you have to have the confidence in the equipment to do the job. it is like every other industry if you don't have the confidence you don't do it. did ou confidence you don't do it. did you have _ confidence you don't do it. did you have confidence in the way the titan was being built? ihla the titan was being built? i157 confidence whatsoever and i was very vocal about that and still am.

desire to get to the titanic as quickly as they could to start making profit. there was a big push to get this done, a lot of steps along the way were missed. . . .. steps along the way were missed. . ., , , ., missed. ocean gate pushed on but david lockridge _ missed. ocean gate pushed on but david lockridge was - missed. ocean gate pushed on but david lockridge was fired l but david lockridge was fired on 20 18th but david lockridge was fired on 2018th copy i was phased out of the project completely. it wasn't my intent i didn't want to lose myjob i wanted to go to the titanic. it was on my bucket list but to do it safely. bucket list but to do it safel . . safely. the hearing will continue _ safely. the hearing will continue for _ safely. the hearing will continue for the - safely. the hearing will continue for the next . safely. the hearing will l continue for the next two weeks. instagram is one of the biggest social media platforms in the world — and it's announced a new policy designed to protect teenagers online. kids from 13 to 15 years old will now use what are called teen accounts, that have parental controls as a default setting. they're being rolled out in the uk, us, canada and australia now. and the european union and the rest of the world will follow later this year. it comes amid growing pressure on social media companies to better protect children from harmful content.

i've been speaking to naomi nix, a staff writer at the washington post, who focuses on social media, and asked her how significant these measures are for meta. it's a meaningful step, what they are saying is we want to beef up the standard default protections for teens and then get their parents involved if those teenagers, particular the younger ones, want to change your settings. in the past, meta has been reluctant to change the default settings for existing teens and now they are saying, we will change the settings for millions of teenagers around the world. and so, it's a meaningful step, a lot of critics are saying, it doesn't go far enough given the really rising concern about the way the social media giant has been handling youth safety. i'll ask about some of the criticism but first, aren't you going to have a lot of angry teenagers? i think there will be

a lot of teenagers who are unhappy. particularly because meta it's expanding the matter the apparent supervision. now parents can see who they are messaging, will be able to set time limits, that might have some concern about teenagers who want to be able to spend lots of time on instagram. so, to some of this criticism, the point is been made, cannot children between 13 and 15, can they just create accounts pretending that they're actually older than they are? they will find lots of ways around this. what meta are saying is they will use artificial intelligence to proactively find teenagers who might be trying to set up new accounts and there are also going to rely on outside contractor to help them verify teenagers that they suspect might be lying about their age and that will require them to take a video selfie or to a upload a government id and so, they are going to be teenagers who find their way around this but meta is investing in ways

to find those lying teenagers. another criticism that point it's been made is that meta is making this move now after years of criticism because congress has set up to take up a children's online safety bill, is that right? yes, tomorrow, a key house committee is going to be weighing amendments on a huge child safety bill which will force tech companies to take more meaningful measures to protect children online and for some to limit their data collection of youth and so, this is a way for meta to say that this is what we're doing and perhaps prevent or deincentivise legislation from passing. we should also note that there is dozens of state attorneys and generals who are suing meta over the way it handled youth safety so they have definitely been targeted by regulators in the us and all around the world.

that's our programme for the sour. thank you for watching us on bbc news. we will hand over to our colleagues in london. stay with us. hello. tuesday was another glorious day across the uk, with lots of autumnal sunshine. skies like these in aboyne. aboyne was the warmest place in the whole of the uk, reaching a top temperature of 25 c through the afternoon — that's a whole eight degrees celsius above average for this time of year. but the warmth was pretty widespread — 2a in leuchars in eastern scotland, into the north—west of northern ireland, 2a celsius, as well. now, over the next few hours, we are starting to see a drift of cloud come in off the north sea, affecting eastern and central areas of england, probably reaching east wales. a few fog patches already forming in scotland. one or two of these could be quite dense, as we start off into wednesday. otherwise, it's quite a chilly night, where we keep the skies clearest longest. now, over the next few days, high pressure is going to stay firmly in charge of our weather, and that means we've

got more of this fine, settled, sunny weather to come. but, that said, we are going to start wednesday with quite extensive cloud across england, eastern parts of wales. it will take a time for that to thin and break up, but eventually the sunshine will come out — mist and fog patches clearing away elsewhere. plenty of sunshine around, and it's another very warm day for september. temperatures probably about 25 again for parts of scotland, a 2k for the london area, and a 22 or so for western counties of northern ireland. on into thursday, it's a similar kind of weather picture, really. again, there'll be a fair bit of cloud to start the day across parts of england, clearing away. still quite a brisk north—easterly breeze blowing across east anglia and south—east england, otherwise the winds are quite light. wherever you are in the sunshine through the afternoon, it is going to feel pleasantly warm, with temperatures widely climbing into the 20s and probably peaking at about 2k degrees or so. again, some mist and fog, a bit of cloud around to start the day on friday, but this time, as we head into the afternoon, there's a chance of seeing one or two showers pop up across parts of england and wales. some of these could end up

being thundery, as well, but they'll stay away from scotland and northern ireland, where it'll be another dry day, with some sunny spells developing, perhapsjust a little bit cooler into some of our eastern coastal areas. well, that takes us on into the weekend, and low pressure to our south is going to be drifting into england and wales, bringing heavy, thundery showers or some longer spells of rain, so it could turn quite wet for a time over the weekend across england and wales, but for scotland and northern ireland, at this stage, it looks like most of the rain will stay away and it should stay mostly fine and dry with more of that sunshine.

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. welcome to hardtalk. today at one of the world �*s most famous photographers. you may not be familiar with his name but you have almost certainly sing in at least some of his work. the decades he has photographed fashioned and famous faces but

perhaps best known for his extraordinary advertising campaign where he used images, provocative images of sexuality, honours and death and all brands also together all of us to confront uncomfortable he combined glamour with a social conscience but has he sometimes gone too far? welcome to hardtalk. thank you for inviting me into your home. i must begin by asking how are you? we know you have been struggling with illness.- struggling with illness. lately not so good- _

struggling with illness. lately not so good. i _ struggling with illness. lately not so good. i belong - struggling with illness. lately not so good. i belong to - struggling with illness. lately not so good. i belong to a -