tv BBC News BBC News September 18, 2024 11:00am-11:31am BST
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live from london, this is bbc news reports say israel's spy agency planted explosives in thousands of pagers used by the armed group hezbollah — the devices exploded simultaneously in lebanon. israel hasn't commented. a taiwanese electronics firm denies any involvement. as the white house calls for calm and restraint, america's top diplomat, antony blinken is back in the region to try to revive stalled ceasefire talks. we'll have the latest, live. the bbc understands that overnight a ukrainian drone hit a warehouse storing ammunition in russia. intense storms battering central europe are heading for italy — with weather warnings issued across the country.
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the princess of wales returns to work following her cancer treatment earlier this year. hello, i'm azadeh moshiri. we start with the latest on the electronic pager explosions in lebanon. multiple reports say that israel's mossad spy agency placed explosives in thousands of hezbollah pagers, before they detonated across lebanon on tuesday. iran, which backs the armed group, a proscribed terrorist organisation by the uk, has described the synchronised explosions as mass murder, in their words, and blamed israel for the attack. so far, israel hasn't commented. at least 11 people died and almost 3000 people were wounded. lebanon says hundreds
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are in critical condition in hospital. some are blinded, others lost fingers or required amputation. hezbollah has blamed israel for the explosions. separately, israeli and us sources say israel detonated them earlier than planned, fearing that the armed group hezbollah had become aware of the plan. a number of pagers were recovered intact and now are being forensically exploited for clues. police have visited the offices of a company in taiwan, as the pagers seemed to carry a taiwanese brand and it was initally thought to have come from there. but the boss of the company, gold apollo, has denied any involvement in the attacks. he told journalists they were made by a company based in hungary, called bac consulting, under a deal signed three years ago. this is the scene outside the registered address of the company in budapest. bbc verify are working to confirm more details about the firm. but here's a little of what the boss of gold apollo
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said at a news conference in taipei. translation: gold apollo, in the last three years, has established a long—term trademark authorisation with bac company. we have a regional agency cooperation and a cooperation agreement. this product is not apollo's product, but a product that i authorised a trademark for them to brand. this product is not in our company. that thing you've found now, it's not our product. translation: your company no longer produces _ the ar924 model? translation: it's not that we no longer produce it, they are | not our product from beginning to the end. how can we produce products that are not ours? translation: are you 100% sure the product is not made _ in taiwan? translation: 100% sure. translation: it is not from your company? i translation: no.
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what more do we know about the pages that appear to have detonated simultaneously on tuesday. with me is richard irvine—brown from bbc verify. can you talk us through everything bbc verify is looking into right now in terms of the explosions on tuesday? certainly. as with anyone at home, when we all heard this news we looked on social media. we started going through all of these, dozens of these videos. we always wanted to know where this video was filmed, was it definitely found yesterday? if we can say where it was filmed, what can it tell us about what happened? the obvious thing is they were many scenes across very rude of people being helped in the street. we can see people with horrific injuries to their hands, maybe their faces, injuries to their hands, maybe theirfaces, and we can injuries to their hands, maybe their faces, and we can see scenes in at least two medical centres in beirut, images of
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which you ran at the top of the art. that showed a chaotic scene with at least 28 patients. we have also seen images from another hospital south of beirut. many ambulances and hundreds of people gathered outside there. that gives us a picture ofjust how widespread this was. what how widespread this was. what more do we — how widespread this was. what more do we know— how widespread this was. what more do we know about - how widespread this was. what more do we know about the pages that were used in this operation?— that were used in this 0 eration? . , ., operation? certainly there are two main _ operation? certainly there are two main still _ operation? certainly there are two main still images - operation? certainly there are two main still images we - operation? certainly there are two main still images we saw| two main still images we saw yesterday of the remnants of those pages. they are quite mangled. we can see a usb connector on one. we can see some of the buttons. we can even see at points the words gold and app on another. this looks very much like the name or model of pager. —— ar924. it was initially manufactured by gold apollo. gold apollo have come out and said this was not their product. two years ago they signed a license with bac
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consulting in hungary to manufacture these.- consulting in hungary to manufacture these. you have mentioned — manufacture these. you have mentioned the _ manufacture these. you have mentioned the hungarian - manufacture these. you have | mentioned the hungarian firm and the response from the taiwanese boss. what do we know about these companies? qm. taiwanese boss. what do we know about these companies?— about these companies? ok, so for instance. — about these companies? ok, so for instance, bac— about these companies? ok, so for instance, bac consulting, i for instance, bac consulting, gold apollo gave an address for them. we found their website. anybody was to look at it right now, it seems to be up and down all the time. we can see when it is up that definitely it has the same address listed under contacts page. we also know from investigating it there is one single shareholder. at that address there are 13 other listed companies. i address there are 13 other listed companies.- address there are 13 other listed companies. i am sure our listed companies. i am sure your work— listed companies. i am sure your work is _ listed companies. i am sure your work is continuing - listed companies. i am sure - your work is continuing through the day. as soon as we have more from richard and his team we will bring you more information as they try to piece together all of this from the images they can find. let's speak to our correspondent in taipei, rupert wingfield—hayes. we have spoken a little bit about the connections here, the links that have been made when it comes to this taiwanese company
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and the hungarian firm. what more can you tell us in terms of the investigations that are taking place?— of the investigations that are takin: lace? ~ ., , taking place? well, i have been down to the _ taking place? well, i have been down to the gold _ taking place? well, i have been down to the gold apollo - down to the gold apollo offices, manyjournalists outside _ offices, manyjournalists outside there this morning. they— outside there this morning. they briefly made a statement earlier— they briefly made a statement earlier before the police turned _ earlier before the police turned up. investigators from the taipei criminal investigation division turned up investigation division turned up too — investigation division turned up too with lots of cardboard boxes, — up too with lots of cardboard boxes, went into the offices. they— boxes, went into the offices. they are _ boxes, went into the offices. they are now questioning the owner— they are now questioning the owner of— they are now questioning the owner of gold apollo and his staff— owner of gold apollo and his staff about the nature of their contract — staff about the nature of their contract with this company in hungary, _ contract with this company in hungary, bac consulting. when it was— hungary, bac consulting. when it was signed, what was the nature _ it was signed, what was the nature of— it was signed, what was the nature of the contract? and what — nature of the contract? and what connection has gold apollo to these — what connection has gold apollo to these devices found in lebanon? before he went in for questioning by the police, before _ questioning by the police, before basically the police came _ before basically the police came down and shut the door in all of— came down and shut the door in all of our— came down and shut the door in all of our faces and said, you're _ all of our faces and said, you're not coming in any more, we did— you're not coming in any more, we did get— you're not coming in any more, we did get a brief statement from — we did get a brief statement from him in which he said, absolutely flat out, these
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devices are not made by my company— devices are not made by my company here in taiwan, we do not meke— company here in taiwan, we do not make that model. but we had this agreement that we signed three — this agreement that we signed three years ago with this company called bac consulting in budapest in hungary, that would — in budapest in hungary, that would allow them to use our name — would allow them to use our name in _ would allow them to use our name in their products. he said initially— name in their products. he said initially when they had got together three years ago, this hungarian based company had said. — hungarian based company had said, look, we want to import your— said, look, we want to import your pages to europe. there was an agreement to sell pages to them — an agreement to sell pages to them made in taiwan. they came back_ them made in taiwan. they came back later— them made in taiwan. they came back later and said, what we want — back later and said, what we want to— back later and said, what we want to do is sign an agreement to use _ want to do is sign an agreement to use your— want to do is sign an agreement to use your name, in other words. _ to use your name, in other words. in— to use your name, in other words, in the world of paging, gold _ words, in the world of paging, gold apollo is, has a good reputation and has lots of products sold around the world, so they— products sold around the world, so they wanted to use that name but the _ so they wanted to use that name but the actual devices elsewhere. where elsewhere? we don't _ elsewhere. where elsewhere? we don't know. but he is absolutely adamant that the devices, orthe remains of absolutely adamant that the devices, or the remains of the devices —
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devices, or the remains of the devices found in lebanon after they— devices found in lebanon after they had — devices found in lebanon after they had exploded, even though they had exploded, even though they say— they had exploded, even though they say gold apollo on the hack — they say gold apollo on the back of _ they say gold apollo on the back of them, they are not of his design— back of them, they are not of his design and they are not made — his design and they are not made by— his design and they are not made by his company here in taiwan — taiwan. rupert, thank you taiwan. — rupert, thank you for that update. there is more from rupert and our other correspondence on our website. we are expecting comments from hezbollah later. the hezbollah leader, hassan nasrallah, is to make an address tomorrow, according to a statement from the iran—backed group. and we have a live page online with the very latest developments and analysis from our correspondents on what we know about the pager explosions. you will find that on the bbc news website and app. let's turn to the deadly flooding that's hit central europe. at least 21 people have died in the czech republic, romania, austria, and poland. there are warnings in italy for heavy rain, strong winds and
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floods. the clear—up operation is underway in the polish city of niisa, where more than 40,000 residents had to evacuate to higher ground. unusually heavy rainfall has caused extensive damage across a huge area, with the storms set to move onto italy next, with flood alerts in place for most of the country. sarah rainsford reports from poland. meanwhile, the authorities in hungary and slovakia are racing to build flood defences in low—lying areas. 0ur central europe correspondent, nick thorpe, is at one village on the hungary—slovak border. it is a beautiful morning, the sun is shining and that's good news for all the people up and down the danube in hungary, this amazing 400 kilometre section of a very long river, working very hard on the sand bags. i've actually climbed over the sandbags to get here, in the village just beyond me, in front of me, some houses have been flooded. many gardens have been flooded.
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where i'm standing now, every few minutes or so, we're edging away. this is normally a ferry crossing. that's slovakia on the far side there, the danube flowing there from left to right down through here towards budapest. we're about 100 kilometres from budapest. this has been one of the most vulnerable, this is one of the most vulnerable points on the whole river and for that reason, politicians, the leader of the main opposition party, peter magyar, was shown here packing sandbags a few days ago. viktor 0rban, the prime minister, was here yesterday, so this is one of the most vulnerable points. we've also seen, just this morning, a convoy of the army. so far, the army only a few hundred soldiers involved so far but they have 4,000 on standby. neiko thorpe. let's move to the latest in the _ neiko thorpe. let's move to the latest in the war— neiko thorpe. let's move to the latest in the war in _ neiko thorpe. let's move to the latest in the war in ukraine. - the bbc understands that, overnight, a ukrainian drone hit a warehouse storing ammunition in russia, located in the tver region, on the western area of russia,
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near the border with belarus and latvia and in close proximity to the russian capital, moscow. the source from the ukraine's security service said that weapons like guided air missiles were stored in the deport. following this attack, russian authorities have ordered a partial evacuation in the western town of toropets. footage shows large columns of smoke from fires in the distance. live to our correspondent, james waterhouse, in kyiv. james, james waterhouse, in kyiv. could you give us an overview james, could you give us an overview of what we know about this attack?— this attack? well, it's a big deal this attack? well, it's a big deal, ithink. _ this attack? well, it's a big deal, i think. we _ this attack? well, it's a big deal, i think. we have - this attack? well, it's a big| deal, i think. we have seen ukraine ramp up these kind of attacks over the past year, really, with drones it makes domestically. and it has grown in confidence and ambition in doing so. this is a long—range attack. almost 500 kilometres from the border with ukraine.
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0nly from the border with ukraine. only a couple of hundred from moscow itself. we are talking about a large military facility worth almost £30 million, a series of warehouses which stored fuel tanks, artillery shells, ballistic missiles and other types of explosives. these are all ordinance used in russia's continuing full—scale invasion of ukraine. you just need to look at the footage of the apparent blast. we are talking about plumes of smoke and huge fires. and the force to match. i mean, it is the kind of energy generated which caused an asset to report seeing numerous heat sources from satellite imagery. a minor magnitude earthquake was even reported in the surrounding area, which suggests that these warehouses were full. i think for ukraine in a military sense it boosts morale. much needed
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at a much needed time. it also allows you to send a prolific masses —— political message to the west. it does not have permission to send long—range missiles yet because of the russian situation. for ukraine it is simple as far as they are concerned. it helps them to defend itself, which is the argument. and it doesn't lead to an escalation. i think we will see some kind of written response. we often do with widespread missile attacks. but if this is certainly significant at the grand scheme of things. significant at the grand scheme of thins. �* significant at the grand scheme ofthinas. . g. , ., i. of things. and james, to your oint of things. and james, to your point about — of things. and james, to your point about those _ of things. and james, to your point about those long-range point about those long—range missiles, there has been so much speculation that we could have heard something in the past few weeks, but right now as it stands when it comes to western allies, what are we hearing when it comes to their position on this, and allowing president zelensky to use long—range missiles on targets inside russia?
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long-range missiles on targets inside russia?— inside russia? well, it is interesting. _ inside russia? well, it is interesting. what - inside russia? well, it is interesting. what we're i inside russia? well, it is - interesting. what we're hearing at the moment is that discussions are ongoing. the uk prime minister, sir keir starmer, was in washington last week. we were told it would be on the agenda. they were media reports suggesting something would be announced and that hasn't happened. there are further conferences taking place at the united nations this week. but if you think about it, i think this kind of announcement won't cover the force, come in the form of a press release, a press conference, where they will say, look, we have given the green light, we will now see ukraine strike targets deep within russia. i suspect if confidence does grow among western allies, it will simply happen. there will be evidence of, for example, military air bases inside russia being hit, which is what ukraine wants to do. and i suspect the west will confirm it after the fact. if that happens, otherwise ukraine will say, ok, if you are not going to let it do it, we will do it with drones we
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manufacture domestically, but it won't be able to carry out the number of attacks it would like without the help of the west behind it. so these are certainly interesting times as ukraine looks to try and take the war deeper inside russia. james waterhouse there, thank you for that update from kyiv. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.
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i want to bring you some updates on our top story. the events in lebanon on tuesday when multiple pagers exploded simultaneously, pages belonging to the armed group hezbollah. we have a new statement from the lebanese health minister, who has said that 12 people have now died due to the pager explosions throughout lebanon yesterday. he was speaking at a
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press conference. he said two children were among the dead. an eight—year—old girl and an 11—year—old boy. he also said health care workers were among those killed. hospitals are also dealing with a lot of pressure right now. given the amount of casualties and wounded. thousands are said to have been wounded. let's hear now from someone who was in beirut when the pagers started to explode, and who has long experience of reporting from lebanon and the middle east. kim ghattas has previously worked for the bbc and is currently a contributing editor at the financial times and the atlantic. she spoke to my colleague, amol rajan, on the bbc�*s today programme and told us what she had experienced on tuesday. i was on my way home from a funeral, actually. so it was emotion after emotion and trauma after trauma. it was really a scene of chaos across the city because people didn't instantly understand what was happening. we first thought
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there was one large explosion in the southern suburbs of beirut, which is a bastion of support for hezbollah, the iran backed militant group. it then became clear there were simultaneous small explosions everywhere. then we started seeing cctv footage from inside the shops, supermarkets etc, of these small explosions targeting people doing the groceries, paying at the counter, or driving on their mopeds across the city. and then, for hours on end, the wail of sirens, the internal security forces asking people to get off the streets because traffic was overwhelming the city, hospitals were getting overwhelmed. it was really a national traumatic event. it was targeted in many ways because these pages were in the hands of hezbollah operatives, but they were going about their
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daily lives, and the impact on the city, and the country, because it was from north to south to east, it was tremendous.- south to east, it was tremendous. ~ . , , , tremendous. what is your sense of who carried _ tremendous. what is your sense of who carried out _ tremendous. what is your sense of who carried out this _ tremendous. what is your sense of who carried out this attack - of who carried out this attack and why?— of who carried out this attack and why? it's hard to see any body else _ and why? it's hard to see any body else being _ and why? it's hard to see any body else being behind - and why? it's hard to see any body else being behind this l and why? it's hard to see any l body else being behind this but israel. we are hearing reporting now that the israeli defence minister had warned his american counterpart minutes before this was about to unfold, that there was a difficult, quote on quote, operation that was about to get under way in lebanon. and of course hezbollah and israel have been having daily military classes over the past ten months since october the 8th. so there is no doubt this is part of the larger context of the war in gaza and the clashes between hezbollah and israel. 0ur monitoring newspaper in the united states is reported this was set up by israel, the infiltration of these pages,
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was set up as a prelude to a big military operation to create chaos and confusion among the ranks of hezbollah if and when israel decided to launch a large operation against lebanon. it appears the setup had been found out by a couple of hezbollah operatives. and so israel decided to strike then. it was a case of, as one american official put it, to lose it or use it. and use it indeed they did. i want to bring you some reaction we are getting to this news from around the world including from thejordanian including from the jordanian foreign including from thejordanian foreign minister, who said israel is putting the whole region to the brink of regional war. they are not the only country to have reacted. we also do have reaction from the russian foreign ministry. they have said that organisers of this high technology attack purposely sought to inflame large—scale confrontation, seeking to provoke a big war in the middle east. the turkish
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president has also expressed his sadness over the attack during a phone call with the lebanese prime minister. i also do want to bring you a reaction from ireland poz—mac deputy premier, who said he considers the explosions to be a breach the explosions to be a breach the geneva convention. micheal martin has said this is a new form of warfare. i think we have to be extremely worried and concerned about that, and the international community needs to reflect on the nature of the attack. we are also expecting to hear from the us secretary of state, antony blinken. he is on a visit to egypt right now because ceasefire operations are ongoing amidst all of this. we are expecting to hear from him in reacting to the explosive pages. we also, as all of this is going on, and again this is a reminder of why it is so important to check our bbc live page where we are
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posting all of these updates, there is a press conference going on, the lebanese health minister is giving updates on the number of casualties, the impact of this attack. he has said that the numbers of those killed was relatively low compared to the scale of the attacks. he said it was less than two per 1000, according to the lebanese health ministry. he has told us in the last few minutes that the number of dead is in fact 12 now, including two children. and he has also said that the total injured was between 2720 800. he said 750 of the injured were in the south. and 1750 in the beirut area. this really gives you a picture of the scale of the attack. in terms of the conditions of those injured, you can see some of the pictures there of those who were in hospital to be treated
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the lebanese health ministry has said that 10% of the total were in critical condition. some of them in intensive care. many, according to the health ministry, had facial industries —— facial industries and had to be put in ventilation. some people, given the scale of the attack, the pressure on hospital system there, some people, according to the health ministry, have been evacuated to syria, as well as to iran. at the vast majority of cases are being taken care of in lebanon. now as a reminder, as soon as we have any statements coming from us secretary of state antony blinken, who is in egypt right now, we will bring them to you. we do also have more on our bbc live page. that includes analysis from our correspondence, as well as as much information as we can have on how an attack like this has happened. you can see the
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pictures. cctv footage of a moment when one of those pages exploded. we still don't quite know how this happened. but there is a lot of speculation coming in in terms of how these pages could have all signed will tenuously exploded like this. there is information coming in from sources who are saying that israel may have enacted its plans sooner than expected because it believed the armed group hezbollah became aware of the plan. again, we don't have any statement, comment, confirmation from israel whether it was behind the attack. the us has denied that it was aware of any plans in motion. and again, that breaking news for you that we have had in the last few minutes from the lebanese health ministry. 12 people were killed, including two children. we do have a few more details on the two children that were affected by this. they were
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killed in this attack. they included an eight—year—old girl and an 11—year—old boy. he was speaking at a news conference, the lebanese health minister. we will have more details. hello. we will continue to see more cloud by night and first thing in the morning across many areas of the country in the next few days, a lot of that will break up and like today, sunshine —— sunshine and warmth will develop quite widely. 0ut there we have high pressure in charge. as it slips away more of an easterly breeze. england and wales especially it is helping to generate the cloud and push it westwards. as we go through the day with the strength of the sun out there, not the cloud dissipates. still some lingering and in most counties this afternoon and may be through the english channel. long spells of sunshine for most through the afternoon. it will feel warmer for the stage in september. 25, 26 to the
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north of scotland, 24, 25 to the south—east living it. fresh along the coasts with the breeze off the sea. that was to generate the cloud and push it westwards. never quite makes it to the far west of england and wales due to the pennines and the cumbrian mountains. cloud for scotland and northern ireland were like this morning you will see mist and dense fog patches form. temperatures into single figures where these guys remain clearest. into thursday morning we go, lots of cloud across parts of east wales and much of england. it is going to take until late morning, early afternoon, for some of that to go. unlike today, some eastern posts, particularly across scotla nd, posts, particularly across scotland, we will see that low cloud linger. highest averages in scotland tomorrow push towards the rest —— west. 25 or 26 in london. as we go into friday we do it all over again. this time or cloud through central and eastern scotland. taking a while to shift and
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clear. the cloud may break across england and wales to sunny spells. a chance to the west of london of showers developing, some across the midlands, later into wales and the south—west, could become heavy infantry. most away from that will be dry. temperatures dropping a little bit closer to where we should be at this stage of the year. that continues into the weekend. with low pressure developing to the south, the focus for showers will mainly be across parts of england and wales, particularly the further south you are some of them could be heavy and thundery at times. further north and west always the better chance of some sunshine. rather cloudy along some east coast. take care.
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uk inflation holds steady at 2.2% in the year to august, according to official figures. 0n fed watch — markets around the world prepare for a cut in us interest rates, but how low will they go? welcome to business today. we start in europe, where we've had a double dose of inflation numbers. we'll hear about those uk inflation figures injust a moment, but first let's have a look at the eurozone. in the last hour, the inflation rate for the euro block, for august came in at 2.2% down from 2.6% injuly. this comes off the back of that decision earlier in the week by the european central bank to cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point to 3.5%.
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