live from washington. this is bbc news. thousands more hand—held radios used by hezbollah in lebanon erupt in deadly explosions. it's sparking new fears of rising regional tensions. the us central bank cuts interest rates more than many analysts predicted — the deepest cut in more than four years. and kamala harris gains ground against donald trump in a new poll. for trump to when he needs new people. a strong and as rabid as his base is, kamala harris is picking up points he is not. hello. i'm lucy hockings. israel's defence minister, yoav galant, says the country is opening a new phase in its year—long war, with the centre of gravity shifting to the north.

his comments came after a second day of explosions in lebanon — this time involving walkie—talkies used by hezbollah. lebanon's health ministry says at least 20 people were killed in tuesday's walkie—talkie explosions. more than 400 others were wounded. hezbollah, coming to bury its dead in south beirut today. casualties of a new chapter in middle east warfare. killed not by air strikes, but by exploding pagers. apparently, a message from mossad. among the dead, an 11—year—old boy. but even the mourners weren't safe. explosion. suddenly, the sound of another blast. chaos and panic filling the street and a rush to evacuate one of the wounded.

the authorities say this time, walkie talkies exploded, not just in beirut. here, at a cell phone shop in the southern city of sidon. israel is being blamed for the past 2a hours of unprecedented attacks. sirens. well, one more ambulance there passing by. we've been seeing them in the last half—an—hour or so. also fire brigade trucks. people have been looking at the sky, worried there are drones. they're beginning to leave the area, to get off the streets. the attacks began yesterday afternoon with explosions in food markets, in homes, in restaurants. soon, casualties were streaming to hospitals — almost 3,000 wounded in an hour.

doctors say many lost fingers and many were blinded. it has been a nightmare. probably this is the worst day of my life as a physician. unfortunately, we were not able to save a lot of eyes. i can tell you that probably more than 60 to 70% of the patients ended up with eviscerating or removing at least one of their eyes. and we're talking about young population, about patients in their 20s. from israel, no admission of responsibility. but the defence minister, yoav galant, says a new phase of the war is starting. hezbollah, which is iranian—backed, has been waging war with israel since last october — the two sides trading fire across their shared border. over the past 2a hours, hezbollah has been shaken and humiliated, but it's still better armed than many nations.

israel, too, has plenty of firepower and today released this footage of its troops training near the lebanese border. a source told the bbc that a second division of the army has moved to the area. there are growing fears of all—out war. 0rla guerin, bbc news, beirut. javed ali associate professor of practice at the university of michigan's gerald r ford school of public policy. he has held various counterterrorism positions in washington, including at the fbi and national security council. hejoins us now. good to have you with us here on bbc news. how do you think what we've seen over the last few days has dramatically eroded hezbollah�*s ability to communicate? dramatically eroded hezbollah's ability to communicate?- ability to communicate? thank ou for ability to communicate? thank you for having _ ability to communicate? thank you for having me. _ ability to communicate? thank you for having me. this - ability to communicate? thank you for having me. this is - you for having me. this is clearly a major setback for hezbollah on the ability of the organisation to rely on any

sort of modern means of communication, to talk as an organisation and whether it is pages all walkie—talkies, cellphones previously, computers, these are things that hezbollah probably will not now use and they will be forced, in terms of their own internal communication, to reply on person—to—person meetings and couriers and traditionally slow methods of communications. for me that was one of the objectives for this is really operation.— one of the objectives for this is really operation. how do you think mossad _ is really operation. how do you think mossad did _ is really operation. how do you think mossad did it? _ is really operation. how do you think mossad did it? there - is really operation. how do you think mossad did it? there is i think mossad did it? there is interesting — think mossad did it? there is interesting reporting - think mossad did it? there is interesting reporting coming | interesting reporting coming out on how long this operation was being conceived, just based on a new york times article that came out a few hours ago. apparently masada and other parts of the security establishment in israel put this plan together in the summer of 2022 and created a

front company on that front company was then the business that actually acquired the pages that were then used over the last few days with the hidden explosives in them. according to new york times reporting, almost a two year lead up and then a lot of exquisite planning to actually go from two years ago to the last few days.— go from two years ago to the last few days. this disruption may make — last few days. this disruption may make it _ last few days. this disruption may make it difficult - last few days. this disruption may make it difficult in - last few days. this disruption may make it difficult in the l may make it difficult in the short term for hezbollah to continue with their cross—border attacks. do you think it was also preparing the ground for israel to launch some further possible border incursion, ground incursion? i've been talking about that in other interviews. based on the effects on the ground and likely hezbollah is an organisation. it may be a transition to another phase of a military campaign and we have already heard premised minister netanyahu in the defence minister hinted that and threatened. it has not happened

yet, as far as we know but an idf campaign in southern lebanon look, to a degree, like the war that is already occurring over the past year in the gaza strip against thomas. but one of the things that is very different with hezbollah, is they are tremendously capable as an organisation and they can feel tens of thousands of fighters, they have the most sophisticated weapons and equipment from iran including cruise missiles and drones, short—range rockets. so it would be a very, very difficult fight and going back to 2006, the last time israel and hezbollah had a war, it was a stalemate and there were no winners. returning to gaza, do you think the gaza phase of the war has reached its final stages? militarily they feel what they need they have done what they need they have done what they need they have done what they feel they needed to do and that is why they have resources to shift to the north? ., , , resources to shift to the north? . , , ., , north? that seems to be the rhetoric coming _ north? that seems to be the rhetoric coming from - north? that seems to be the rhetoric coming from the - north? that seems to be the i rhetoric coming from the senior levels of the israeli

government and the idf whether thatis government and the idf whether that is the reality on the ground is difficult to know. but israel's military objectives in the gaza strip may not have been fully met either. 0bviously may not have been fully met either. obviously there are still thousands of hamas fighters. see mwah the head of hamas in the gaza strip is still alive. 100 plus hostages including several americans. all those things were important until two days ago and they are still an issue now but if israel is going to reallocate its operational focus and many of its resources to hezbollah, i think that fight will be just as difficult as the one against thomas and even potentially more dangerous for both sides. there has been a lot of talk about what hezbollah response will be and when that will happen exactly. given the government in lebanon has no influence over them, it is iran that does, what do you think the calculation is in tehran? 0ver the calculation is in tehran?

over the last a0 ales they must have been intense negotiations and communications, depending on how iran and hezbollah are still able to do that, about what the retaliatory options look like. i don't think iran willjump into this but certainly it makes hezbollah looks weak so that the secretary general of hezbollah, knowing all the capabilities your organisation has, i think as there is a range of things you could do. but one of the more dangerous aspects as well, it can operate globally as a terrorist organisation and it has done that against american and us interests in the 80s and 90s, and israeli interests as well. this is something that needs to be consider. hezbollah may not operate in the region but globally and attacks that they collaborated on in the mid—19 90s is an unfortunate example of that capability. it example of that capability. it is very good to hear your thoughts and thank you for joining us. to ukraine

where president zelensky has achieved what he calls a very important result in russian territory. a ukrainian drone attack on a russian ammunition depot. at least 13 people were injured. it happened in russia's eastern tver region, nearly 300 miles or more than a50 kilometres from ukraine's northern border. the military site reportedly has fuel tanks, artillery shells, ballistic missiles and explosives. 0ur ukraine correspondent james waterhouse has more from kyiv. we are talking about a military site that russia has been putting together for the best part of ten years, spending tens of millions of pounds on a military arsenal, a series of warehouses where it reportedly stored listed missiles, explosives and artillery, shells. so there are reasons why ukraine would want to target such an area are obvious. we have acknowledgement from sources in the country's security service, building evidence that significant damage has been

done. you have footage appearing online showing incredibly powerful explosions. there is now satellite imagery showing the extent of the damage. you have officials in the area, in the russian region which surrounds the site announcing partial evacuations. i spoke to one former member of the security service here who said the goal of the drone attack is to frustrate russia in the medium term in that its missile stockpiles have taken a hit and it will have to spend money to replace that. it will have to look towards allies like iran and north korea. i don't think we will suddenly see relief on the ukrainian frontlines but it is a given —— it has given the military here a much—needed morale boost. president zelensky called it inspiring accuracy and an important result because there is a political back copier.

ukraine are still waiting for the green light for permission to use western missiles on targets deep inside russia. this attack signifies ukraine doing it on its own. but it cannot do these kind of attacks all the time with drones it makes domestically. as for russia, we had very little from the gremlin officially but responses do not typically come in statements. we could seem yet more targeted missile attacks on cities like kyiv or renewed offences on the front line. in the past few minutes orso line. in the past few minutes or so we've been getting reports that kamala harris, the vice president, is due to meet president zelensky in washington next week. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a pay raise for sir keir starmer�*s top aide is sparking outrage from government insiders. sue gray, sir keir�*s chief of staff, was given a salary of £170,000 pounds, 3,000 more than the prime minister himself and more than any

cabinet minister. the royal exchange theatre has scrapped its entire five week run of a modern retelling of shakespeare's a midsummer night's dream. the theatre says the show was cancelled due to injuries and technical dificulties. however, the manchester evening news reported that the show was cancelled after managers objected to a song with lyrics that refer to trans rights and the phrase "free palestine." the decision to cancel has prompted criticism from the actors union equity calling to address a "growing culture of censorship." train drivers have accepted a pay deal that will see the end of more than two years of strike action in england, scotland and wales. aslef union members accepted an offer which included a 5% backdated pay rise, and future wage increases. the walk outs started due to a row over pay and working conditions. you're live with bbc news. the us federal reserve cut interests rate for the first time in four years

on wednesday. america's central bank lowered its key lending rate — what it charges banks to borrow — by half a percentage point, down to between a.75% and 5%. it comes as officials warn about rising unemployment rates, despite a growing economy. as a sign that inflation continues to cool, many analysts say the cut is bigger than anticipated. soon borrowers across the us will feel financial relief from the lowered rates after a two—decade high. 0ur north america business correspondent ritika gupta has the latest. the federal reserve delivered a super—sized interest rate cut aimed at bolstering the us labour market. the half percentage point cut brings its key interest rate, the federal funds rate down between a.75 and 5%. it comes amid signs that inflation in america is continuing to fall while the job market remains strong even as unemployment has risen this year. as unemployment has risen this ear. ., ,., ., ~ , year. the labour market is actually — year. the labour market is actually in _ year. the labour market is actually in solid _ year. the labour market is

actually in solid condition. j actually in solid condition. and our intention with our policy move today is to keep it there. you could say that about there. you could say that about the whole economy. the us economy is in good shape. it is growing at a solid pace stop inflation is coming down, the labour market is in a strong place. we want to keep it there. additionally the committee which sets rates released its latest forecast showing that policymakers expect to cut rates by a further 0.5% bringing us interest rates below a.5% by the end of this year. while these rate cuts initially only affect short—term borrowing cost for banks, they should spill over to consumer loans such as mortgages, auto loans and credit cards. republicans in the us house of representatives have failed to pass a funding bill, sparking fears of partial government shutdown. with democrats united in opposition, the bill failed by a vote of 202—220. it is unclear what next steps republican house speaker johnson will take to avoid a partial government shutdown beginning on october 1, when money for many federal agencies

would be depleted. one of america's largest labour unions is not endorsing a candidate for us president. it's the first time that the teamsters union, which represents 1.3 million members, declined to endorse a democratic ticket in nearly 30 years. the teamsters said in a statement that "the union's extensive member polling showed no majority support for vice president harris and no universal support among the membership for president trump." responding to the teamsters' decision, kamala harris�*s campaign highlighted her support of union workers — citing the former prosecutor's long record of support for organised labour. donald trump posted that he holds the majority of support from rank—and—file members of the teamsters union amid higher security following the attempted assassination attempt. we have a poll that shows harris leaving trump in three critical states by a small margin.—

three critical states by a small margin. michigan and pennsylvania, _ small margin. michigan and pennsylvania, with - small margin. michigan and pennsylvania, with they - pennsylvania, with they essentially tied in wisconsin. for more on qunnipiac university's polling of likely voters in three key swing states, i spoke to the university's polling analyst, tim malloy. before we do delve into the particulars, give us the big picture. we are a8 days until the election and what we did is we went to the swing state voters, seven or eight states that are critical. that is what this was about, a national poll over five days taken right after the debate and it was startlingly good information for, the harris. again, a snapshot in time and anything can change but this particular week she is off and running. is week she is off and running. is that the debate that made the difference, do you think? i would be surprised. we did not ask that question but i think the debate was clearly a win

for her despite what the trump people are saying. the forward momentum has continued. she is picking up points and crowding in on these key issues and starting to eclipse him almost. key issues, do you mean the economy and immigration? economy and the immigration are the two strongest suits that the two strongest suits that the trump people believe they have and what has happened here is that she was well behind in previous polling but now she is appointed to behind him on that and that is basically a thai, a statistical tie given the margin of error. so that would be a red flag for the trump people. there key issues, their cudgel is less fearsome.- cudgel is less fearsome. little da liuht cudgel is less fearsome. little daylight when _ cudgel is less fearsome. little daylight when you _ cudgel is less fearsome. little daylight when you start - cudgel is less fearsome. little daylight when you start looking at that data when it comes to those issues. can we delve into some of the states? pennsylvania, you can really see from the data there that voters seem to be warming to, harris. ,, , , , harris. she is up five points and pennsylvania. - harris. she is up five points and pennsylvania. probablyj harris. she is up five points - and pennsylvania. probably the most critical state of all.

still, that is very good and it is always up for grabs and this time it seems she has the upper hand but there is a heck of a lot of time to spend in pennsylvania over the next few days. it is critical were so many electoral college points. you get 19th points there. these are the key states. and what is going on, that you found interesting in michigan? it is to do with the gender differences there isn't it? gender differences are a chasm in all three states as well as the national polls. 20 percentage swing women for, kamala harris against donald trump. he does much better with men in the 1617 points ahead of her but you can see that ground swell building now. and that is the big back story on this. and

that leads to abortion and a lot of other things. and wisconsin, bide one by a tiny margin, what is happening there? , , , there? wisconsin is the closest one. it there? wisconsin is the closest one- it is _ there? wisconsin is the closest one. it is the _ there? wisconsin is the closest one. it is the closest _ there? wisconsin is the closest one. it is the closest one. - one. it is the closest one. both trump and, harris have beenin both trump and, harris have been in wisconsin a lot. it is an interesting state with a lot of colleges and young people, it turns bluer and bluer all the time. biden lost it last time so now it is pretty close. we asked some way out but of course polls matter all the time in terms of morale within the party but also when it comes to momentum. would you say that the momentum is now was, harris? i say that the momentum is now was. harris?— was, harris? i would say most decidedly _ was, harris? i would say most decidedly so. _ was, harris? i would say most decidedly so. in _ was, harris? i would say most decidedly so. in these - was, harris? i would say most decidedly so. in these three . decidedly so. in these three cape states we have seen numbers which were not overwhelming but extremely encouraging for her and you can

see the trump folks are on their heels. the question is is tom's vice president peak hurting this thing with his comments about cat ladies and allegedly eating pets in ohio. you do not win votes that way. for donald trump to when he needs new people. a and as rabid as it is,, harris is picking up points he is not. would you expect to see any difference in polling after the second attempted assassination? of donald trump? i wonder about that. the first time it happened he actually got shot, yes there was a bump but then he got into the republican convention and gave a combative and inappropriate speech and he started receiving a bit. and of course after this he did the same thing a few days ago. he

has not tempered anything. so you wonder whether he has any wherewithal, if he keeps going the way he is. let's turn to some other important news around the world. another person has died in the czech republic from flooding that is devastating central europe — the death toll now stands at 23. while flood waters are receding in the czech republic — emergency personnel in poland and hungary are rushing to secure river banks and buildings as flood waters rise in new areas. the worst flooding to hit the region in two decades has left a path of destruction, with damage expected to cost billions of dollars. the princess of wales carried out her first official work meeting since she began cancer treatment earlier this year. the princess had a meeting on tuesday in windsor castle about her early childhood project. it follows a 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'.

disgraced movie mogul harvey weinstein pleaded not guilty to a new sextant car that make sex crime charge in new york, month after a previous conviction was blown out. his previously accused of sexually assaulting accused of sexually assaulting a woman in the manhattan hotel in 2006. he has long denied the allegation saying that the sexual encounters were consensual. the uk is facing a national butterfly emergency — that's according to a wildlife charity — after its annual butterfly count recorded its lowest ever numbers. butterfly conservation says the summer's wet weather is partly to blame but the charity is also calling on the government to ban harmful pesticides. here's our environment correspondentjonah fisher. yes, yes. well, this whole farm, if you're a farmer, it's a disgrace, it's scrub. if you're a butterfly, it's a gourmet restaurant, you know? there's a speckled wood on the blackberry over there.

richard gray is a retired inventor and has dedicated his entire farm to butterflies. i love the colours. i love the fact that they don't hurt anyone. it is absolutely crawling with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds. there used to be lots here but this year the butterflies that once filled his hedgerows have largely stayed away. it's just not like that any more. if you see a dozen this year you'd be doing well. it was virtually deserted. what richard has seen has been backed up by a huge survey by butterfly conservation. it suggests a collapse in butterfly numbers. that's a male red admiral. red admirals are down more than 80% on last year. there's a ,. commas down by more than half. they are the classic autumn butterflies. so what does richard think is going on? is it pesticides, is it insecticides? what is it? i think this year it's more the weather. it's just been so cold for so long

and so wet at the wrong times. the wet weather certainly played its part this year but come rain or shine the number of butterflies has been falling steadily for years. there are multiple factors behind this, i think it's fair to say. one is the effects of toxic pollution, including very potent pesticides, which are used in the environment to control pests but which are indiscriminate in many cases, in terms of the insects they affect. we are seeing the loss of habitat now beginning to be reflected in this decline of wildlife abundance. the government says it is committed to stopping the use of the worst pesticides but that won't, on its own, be enough. halting the decline of butterflies will require a fundamental shift in the way we value and protect nature. jonah fisher, bbc news, in warwickshire. stay with us here on bbc news.

hello there. thursday promises to be another unusually warm september day for large parts of the uk, although in the north of scotland it may not be quite as warm as it was on wednesday when aviemore got above 25 degrees celsius — some nine or ten degrees above the seasonal average. but notice — lake vyrnwy languished at 1a degrees because in those parts of mid wales we saw a bit more cloud lingering for a good part of the day. some of that cloud returning from the east as well, so england and wales seeing a pretty cloudy start, actually, in some places. but that cloud tending to retreat by the afternoon towards the east coast, some cloud rolling onto the coast of eastern scotland. elsewhere, though, some good spells of sunshine, just a very, very small chance of seeing a shower across southern counties of england. but it really is only a very small chance.

now where you're exposed to the breeze along the north sea, temperatures may only get to 17 or 18 degrees. compare that with 25 in parts of south—east england. and then through thursday night, we do it all again, we bring more cloud back in from the east, may turn a little bit misty and murky in places. that cloud will hold the temperatures up — 15 degrees in london as we start friday morning, maybe eight or nine in aberdeen and glasgow, a little bit cooler, where we start with clear skies overhead. but the focus of our weather does start to shift as we go through friday. we start to turn our eyes to the south with this developing area of low pressure, and that will start to bring some showers and some thunderstorms across parts of southern england, perhaps getting into the midlands, perhaps into the southern half of wales as we go on through the day. eastern scotland, north—east england holding on to a lot of mist and murk and low cloud that will peg the temperatures back. conversely, western scotland and northern ireland should

see plenty of sunshine. now into saturday, those showers and thunderstorms in the south perhaps becoming more frequent, pushing a little bit further northwards. still rather cloudy for coasts of eastern scotland and north—east england, western scotland and northern ireland seeing plenty of sunshine. but those temperatures generally down just a little bit by this stage. and then by sunday, our area of low pressure really makes its move, bringing showers or longer spells of rain, particularly across england and wales. the odd shower and some extra cloud in eastern scotland, but generally in the north of the uk it will stay largely dry.

the fed goes big with its first interest rate cut in four years, signalling an end to its fight against inflation. and boeing furloughs thousands of its us staff, amid the ongoing strike by its largest union. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. to our top story today — the us federal reserve has finally pulled the trigger, cutting interest rates by 0.5%. this marks an aggressive start to its first rate cutting cycle since the pandemic. the move sparked some volatility on wall street. early trade in asia is looking mostly positive.