today at one, five female staff who worked for the late mohamed al fayed at harrods say he raped them, and the store helped cover it up. since reporting the story, more former harrods employees have contacted the bbc to say they were assaulted by him. also on the programme... no change in interest rates — they're held at 5% by the bank of england. some prisoners who were freed under the government's early release scheme tell the bbc they weren't fitted with electronic tags. a damning review of maternity care in england says harm is becoming normalised and urgent change is needed. bleep. move away from there. violence and abuse — 40% of people working directly with the public say they want to quit their jobs because of it. and a world—first operation to fix amara the baby rhino�*s broken leg

is perfomed by a team of vets in liverpool. and coming up on bbc news, celtic get their champions league campaign off to a flying start with a record opening win for brendan rodgers�* side. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the bbc has today been contacted by more former harrods employees who say they were assaulted by mohammed al fayed when he owned the famous department store. it follows claims in a new bbc documentary by five women who say he raped them while they worked for him. the programme has uncovered evidence that, under mr al fayed's ownership, harrods not only failed to intervene but helped to cover up the allegations.

just to warn you, this report from shaimaa khalil contains descriptions of sexual violence. yeah, i went back to harrods about a year ago. i knew if i could walk through and come out the other side, i'd be in a good place to be talking to you. ijoined harrods because i wanted to be a buyer, and i ended up working for an absolute monster. when mohamed al fayed took over harrods, he quickly embraced his high—profile role and the status that came with it. to his customers and the celebrity guests, he was all charm. but to many of his female employees, he was a different man — a predator. we've heard testimony from more than 20 of al fayed's female ex—employees. he tried to rape me more than once. and he pushed me in and onto the bed, so that i couldn't move. you know, he was 79, i nearly 80, and i was 15. mohamed al fayed was rich and powerful.

that power allowed him to carry out assault at scale over decades. i wasn't at home. i was in france. and he'd come upstairs into my room. i was absolutely terrified. got into bed with me. he was trying to kiss me and push himself on me and... ..and ijust... i don't know how i did it. ijust kicked him off. i kicked and kicked and kicked and kicked and screamed. and again i got him off. i was just. . .just terrified. i think mohamed al fayed is a rapist. i think he's a serial rapist. gemma worked as al fayed's personal assistant for two years. my first trip was actually to abu dhabi and he was trying to get in my room in quite an aggressive manner. it was absolutely terrifying. just didn't know which way to turn, so i bought a small dictaphone that i had in my pocket and these are the transcripts from those recordings. one of them was in paris, in his residence there, villa windsor. i said, "i just want to go to sleep

on my own, mr fayed. "i don't want to, mr fayed." and he kept saying, "relax, please, relax." how can you relax when you're in that situation? he walked out and he was angry. not long after this incident, gemma says al fayed raped her. the bbc has heard testimony from four other women who say he raped them at his properties. in 2009, gemma contacted a lawyer who told harrods she was leaving herjob on the grounds of sexual harassment. she didn't feel able to disclose the more serious allegations at the time. they agreed to pay a settlement if she signed a non—disclosure agreement. there was also one other condition. the lawyers organised for a shredding truck to come to my lawyer's office. it was shredded in front of us, including tapes i had of him, my phone, that had messages and voicemails, really quite nasty voicemails on them. someone from hr was present for the shredding of all of the evidence i had. i thought i'd lost the transcripts,

but actually what i did have was the transcriptions sent to my lawyer in my sent items of my email account at the time. in a statement, the current owners of harrods say they were utterly appalled by the allegations and that employees who were his victims had been failed for which they sincerely apologised. they also said that the harrods of today is a very different organisation to the one owned and controlled by al fayed between 1985 and 2010. there were several attempts to expose al fayed before his death, but it is only now that many of the survivors feel able to speak publicly about the abuse. for those who have, the silence and the taboo are finally broken. shaimaa khalil, bbc news. and you can watch more on that story on bbc two tonight at 9pm and on bbc iplayer, and there's also a podcast series on bbc sounds. the bank of england has held interest rates,

deciding to keep them unchanged at 5%. homeowners, landlords and renters had been hoping for a cut to bring their payments down. the news is more positive for savers. the bank's governor had previously said that any reduction in rates would happen gradually. our chief economics correspondent, dharshini david, joins us. dharshini, what should we take away from today's decision? as you say, no surprises there because they had warned us it was not going to cut rates as quickly as they put them up. but it is a reminder to borrowers is coming off, for example, fixed rate mortgage deals, hundreds of thousands this year, over the rest of this year, they will face higher repayments than they have been used to. this of course means all sorts of pain which already homeowners, landlords and renters have been facing. including one family we went to visit in bracknell. getting a dream home for yourfamily has got harder as the cost of living crisis pushed up bills,

including rents, challenging even for those in work. my family helped move us, so that helped because we couldn't afford the moving vans, so they had to chip in. like james and sophia, who have had to downsize and faced other tough choices, just as their son arrived. when i went on maternity leave, i could only go off for about ten weeks to spend with my son because we just couldn't afford any more. even that was a major stretch, to the point where we had to get ourselves into a pit of debt. it was the food banks that got us through. yeah, definitely, definitely. they were so generous, donating, like, milk and toiletries. the bank of england is very aware of the pain higher prices can cause. so, with inflation in some areas, services, such as airfares and hotel stays, still relatively high, it has decided not to cut interest rates again today. however, take a look at fixed—rate mortgage deals. they are already coming down because they are linked

to expected interest rates. analysts do think that cost of borrowing will follow soon. that has injected new life into the property market and increased prices. where does that leave those looking to switch from renting to buying? housing is still actually quite expensive. for example, if you are a typical earner buying a typical first—time buyer property with 20% deposit, that monthly mortgage payment is now taking about 36% of that average earner�*s take—home pay and the long—run average is about 30, so you can see it is much more stretched than it was before because house prices are still high relative to earnings and because interest rates are so much higher than they were before. only one member of the bank's nine—strong interest—rate panel voted for a cut today. analysts think another rate reduction will come this year,

but only when ther�*s clearer signs lingering inflationary pressures, including on rents, are subsiding. pressures that are also at the forefront of many households�* minds. i mean, even with this place, one year mark on the contract, the price goes up by 5%, £70 a month, and already written in, so we don't know whether we can do that. already, starting to think of in a year's time we've got to pack everything up again and move it all again _ dharshini david, bbc news. the bbc has been told that several offenders who leftjail last week, under the government's early release scheme, haven't been fitted with electronic tags yet, even though they should have been. the government has blamed the company that provides the tags — serco — for the delays. our political correspondent harry farley can tell us more. harry, what's gone wrong here? ultimately, the sheer numbers of prisoners being released part of the way through the sentence and being monitored in the community, there is a backlog of those prisoners waiting to have tags fitted. obviously the i700 to have tags fitted. obviously the 1700 prisoners released early in

england and wales last week by the government only added to that. one probation officer appointed to a shortage in the number of tags, the ministry ofjustice points to the backlog. just to be clear, when a prisoner is released early from prison, they are still serving the sentence and they are monitored in the community, often fitted with tags usually around the ankle and it allows the authorities to monitor movements and in some cases impose curfews such as being at a certain address overnight. to give you a sense of the problem and just how serious it is, one offender released last week and that the government's scheme told my colleague they should have tagged him but they haven't and it means i can go where i choose. this offender says they will abide by the curfew conditions imposed, but they go on, i know people who are not doing that because they have not been tagged, it is a disaster waiting to happen. the ministry of

justice is blaming the security contractor serco for their part. they say they are working hard to clear the backlog. a ministry of justice spokesperson said they will apply financial penalties against the company if it is not resolved quickly. they say they will also prioritise tagging domestic abusers to make sure they abide by their conditions, such as staying away from the address of their victims. harry, thank you. a new report on the standard of maternity care in england says it urgently needs to be reformed to stop harm from becoming normalised. the care quality commission has warned of widespread problems in hospitals across the country and is calling for immediate action to address them. our health correspondent, catherine burns, reports. fiona designed this nursery when she was pregnant, picking out outfits for her baby, but her daughter, aliona, never lived to enjoy any of this.

things that i made for her, birth announcement pictures. fiona went into labour at home, her waters broke and she was worried because she didn't think her baby was moving as much as normal. she should have been assessed then. she wasn't. when she was in hospital, her baby had an abnormal heart rate. this should have been assessed. it wasn't. baby aliona was pronounced dead within half an hour of birth. when they came over and said my name, ijust turned around to them and went, she's dead, isn't she? and... ..and they said, yes. and this primal scream is probably the only way i can describe it, itjust came out of me with no sort of control over my body. a tiny piece of her hair. leeds teaching hospitals has said it's sorry that the care it provided was not at the standard it would expect, and that it has learned lessons from what happened. but stories like fiona's are happening too often. you will stay... over recent years, we've seen high—profile maternity scandals. yesterday, bereaved families

in nottingham heard a progress review on what's become the biggest investigation into maternity failings in nhs history. almost 2,000 cases are being reviewed there. the healthcare regulator, the cqc, was worried about this so carried out a national maternity inspection. it focussed on about two thirds of hospital maternity units — any that hadn't been inspected since march 2021. of the 131 units it inspected, not a single one was rated as outstanding for safety. 35% had good safety ratings, leaving 65% as either requires improvement or inadequate for safety. in other words, two thirds of maternity units are not safe enough. this report doesn't hold back, saying unless things change, poor care and harm will become normalised. but in some ways,

none of this is new. there have been warnings about maternity safety for years now. we've reported on this over and again, but still the problems remain. this report picks out certain key issues — women not getting assessed quickly enough, trusts not learning from mistakes, not enough staff, discrimination based on race. it says, disappointingly, none of these problems are new. it is one of the biggest issues that keeps me awake at night, worrying about the quality of care being delivered today and the risk of disaster greeting women in labour tomorrow. he says trusts will be supported to make rapid improvements so all women can feel confident using maternity services. but fiona and other families say, for things to improve, there should be a public inquiry into the state of maternity care.

our top story this afternoon... more former harrods employees claim they were assaulted by mohamed al fayed when he owned the famous department store. and the us coast guard releases more footage of the wreckage of the titan submersible which imploded last year on a mission to explore the titanic. coming up on bbc news, arsenal are in italy as they prepare to take on atalanta in the opening match of their champions league campaign. it's one of six matches this evening. a fresh round of funerals are being held in lebanon, after a second day of attacks on electronic devices belonging to members of the powerful military and political group hezbollah. civilians were also killed and injured when first pagers, and then 2k hours later — walkie talkies — exploded in a wave

of co—ordinated detonations. israel hasn't admitted responsibility for the attacks, but has announced a new phase in its conflict with lebanon. hezbollah�*s leader hassan nasrallah will make a speech in the next few hours. our middle east correspondent hugo bachega reports from beirut. this is the moment a blast rocks beirut. hezbollah had gathered to bury the victims from the explosions of the day before until it was hit by a new wave of attacks, this time targeting walkie—talkies used by the group. apparently another operation by israel. one of the explosions yesterday happened not far from here, in a hezbollah stronghold in southern beirut. there was a lot of chaos and confusion because many believe that no electronic device

was safe. hezbollah members stop us a number of times, telling us not to use a camera, phones and today those concerns continue. translation: it's scary, it's frightening. where are we going? i have no idea, this is frightening. we cannot cope any more. translation: of course i was scared, is there anyone who wouldn't be scared in this situation? you can hide from a bullet but this is much more difficult. ifi bullet but this is much more difficult. if i want to answer my phone i am too scared. this is not a face—to—face battle, it is a cowardly way to fight. if you want to show our strength basis on the battlefield. the attacks on lebanon began on tuesday, pagers used by hezbollah exploded as people were shopping at home with their families. the group had turned the soul school technology because of security concerns, fearing that israel was monitoring mobile phones to track and kill its fighters.

israel is widely believed to have been behind the attacks and as usual, it has not claimed responsibility but the suspicion is that it managed to add explosives inside the devices. for almost a year, hezbollah and israel have been fighting along the border, a conflict that so far has been relatively contained but concerns are rising again that this may escalate into an all—out war. later today, the hezbollah leader hassan nasrallah will give his first public reaction to the attacks. many will look for any indication of how the group might react after a humiliating couple of days. hugo bachega, bbc news. in a moment we'll speak to yolande knell injerusalem. first to hugo in beirut. hezbollah are deciding how to react to this, what options will they be considering? i think this is the key question

because this was the worst security breach in the history of hezbollah, humiliating for the group. and obviously very damaging for the group, it wants to be seen as one of israel's most sophisticated enemies but hezbollah is treading a very fine line because any kind of response could trigger a major war with israel and hezbollah has given indications that it does not want that right now. and obviously hezbollah is supported by iran and having shown hezbollah right here in lebanon next to israel is important for iran, part of the deterrent so it is a very difficult reality for hezbollah and it'll be interesting see what hassan nasrallah will say later today when he makes his first public remarks since those attacks. these attacks have also had a huge psychological impact on people across the country. some people telling us they are scared, that

their devices might explode, so lots of people wondering if these attacks are going to continue. thanks, hugo. and let's head tojerusalem, yolande, what's being said in israel? the israeli defence minister has been talking about the centre of gravity moving north and we know that there have been israeli troops sent to the northern border with lebanon, an entire division recently serving inside garzo. it's still not clear from serving inside garzo. it's still not clearfrom here if israel serving inside garzo. it's still not clear from here if israel is serving inside garzo. it's still not clearfrom here if israel is heading to a full—blown war with hezbollah or whether it will go for more limited military action. of course much depends on what hezbollah decides as well. but israel has been really stating that it must push hezbollah away from its border, it wants to allow tens of thousands of its own citizens who have been displaced by nearly a year of

fighting that has gone on in parallel with the war in gaza to be able to return securely to their homes. in another development this lunchtime an intriguing story about ajewish lunchtime an intriguing story about a jewish israeli lunchtime an intriguing story about ajewish israeli businessman lunchtime an intriguing story about a jewish israeli businessman who lunchtime an intriguing story about ajewish israeli businessman who has appeared in an israeli court accused of spying for iran. a man living in turkey in his 70s. he is said to have been involved in a plot to assassinate a senior israeli official including the prime minister. yolande, thank you. thousands of pharmacists across england, wales and northern ireland are going to be balloted on whether to open for less time and cut their services. the national pharmacy association says the vote is unprecedented, and pharmacists are struggling to keep their businesses going because the funding they get from the government isn't enough. our health editor hugh pym has more. olivier runs a small group of pharmacies near reading. they can regularly open for up to 60 hours a week, but that could be cut to just a0.

the minimum required under a government contract if there's a vote in favour of protest action over funding. work outside that contract, including some emergency contraception, substance misuse services and free medicine delivery he says feelings are running high about funding lagging behind rising costs. what we're asking our members to consider is actually reducing their opening times to core hours. so most community pharmacies are contracted by the nhs to work for a0 hours. but many of our members work for more time than that. we think the average is over 50 hours, so that would mean a reduction of ten hours a week. now, that may not sound like a lot, but ten hours will be at the times of evenings, maybe weekends, and that potentially would push people into other parts of the nhs when we know that that's already struggling. the ballot is being carried out by the national pharmacy association. it has 6,500 community pharmacy members in the uk out

of a total of 13,000. the npa says about 1,500 have closed since 2016. since then, core government funding in england has fallen by 40% after adjusting for inflation. the pharmacy first service, launched injanuary in england, extended the range of services which can be provided, including treatment of sinusitis, earache and shingles. the npa said members were not being asked to pull out of the scheme, but noted that a reduction in opening hours to a0 per week would have an impact on its effectiveness. health is a devolved issue, and separate ballots are being carried out among pharmacists in wales and northern ireland because of similar concerns about funding. there's no discussion about protest action in scotland, with the npa saying there is more adequate financial support. a department of health spokesperson covering england said... "pharmacies had been neglected for years and better use would be made of their skills, including more independent prescribing". hugh pym, bbc news.

the us coast guard has released new video footage that shows the moment wreckage from the titan submersible was discovered on the seabed in the north atlantic. the deep sea craft imploded injune last year, with five passengers on board, during an expedition to explore the wreck of the titanic. our science editor rebecca morelle can tell us more. and rebecca, this has come as part of the ongoing public inquiry. that's right and in this footage that has been released you can see the titan in pieces on the sea floor of the atlantic, nearly 3800 metres down. the footage shows the back part of the submersible. it shows a domed area, it shows a titanium ring and also the carbon fibre hull, the pressure hole is the part with the passengers would have been and it gives you a sense of the crushing pressure that there would have been in the deep. it was a tragic

accident. otherfootage in the deep. it was a tragic accident. other footage shows the tail cone, this is the bit at the back of the submersible that houses the electronics, that is much more intact because this is the part that would not have been under pressure during the descent. it's all part of the picture that the us coast guard are trying to build about what exactly went wrong but in the public hearings we have heard over the last few days about significant safety concerns raised repeatedly about the submersible particularly the material it was made from. carbon fibre is not something deep sea submersible are made from and you can see the consequences with the implosion. overthe can see the consequences with the implosion. over the coming days we will find out exactly what went wrong. rebecca, thank you. one in five rail passengers are being forced to stand up on the train because there aren't enough seats during morning peak times. the department for transport says the number of passengers arriving into major cities in england and wales in the autumn of 2023 was 13 percent higher than the year before. our transport correspondent

sean dilley is at euston station. these figures, people not being able to find a seat, it will sound familiar to passengers across the country, wanted? i familiar to passengers across the country, wanted?— country, wanted? i find or thinkl am nearly _ country, wanted? i find or thinkl am nearly always _ country, wanted? i find or thinkl am nearly always among - country, wanted? i find or thinkl am nearly always among that - country, wanted? i find or think i l am nearly always among that 20% country, wanted? i find or think i - am nearly always among that 20% but very familiar to people around here. i thought it would be helpful to put the figure in context. the figures look at arrivals into major cities, not altering usage but here in london there were 1.1 million daily average arrivals, a5% of the journeys made during the morning peak and that is where the one in five passengers are standing, an increase of 39% for the same time 22-23, the increase of 39% for the same time 22—23, the latest statistics came out then. the last quarter, the autumn of last year, a winter of discontent for many, you are

standing on the train without a seat, you can imagine it. the second city with the highest daily average was birmingham, ten times lower than the 1.1 million in london, just over 800,000, manchestersaw the 1.1 million in london, just over 800,000, manchester saw the largest number of increased passengers compared to 2022—23, 13,000 additional passengers on average every day. sean, thank you. nearly a0% of people who work directly with members of the public are thinking of leaving theirjob, because of the abuse they receive. the new research has come from the institute of customer service, as our reporter tim muffet explains. you a millionaire, though? no. me? no. 0h! millionaire. bleep. abuse — both physical and verbal. why are you following me? no, i'm not... bleep. smash your head in, bro. move away from it! move away from it. bleep.

or i'll absolutely end your life, bro. no... bleep. caught on body cameras worn by the revenue protection team on one uk tram network. how much? bleep. don't hit me! but this problem is not confined to public transport. sean's an engineer for openreach. he maintains and installs telephone cables and broadband connections. there's been things from name calling to being stuff thrown at me. i was working at a customer's house in their garden. i was kneeling down at this point. four foot above me was a lady with a hammer. um, and she started swearing at me and she was going to hit me with that hammer. have things got worse in recent years? they have. since covid, things have changed. why is that, do you think? a lot more people working at home. internet is more our everyday life now. we try 100% of the time to get that service in place.

sometimes for matters beyond our control, we can't do that. and do you think people's patience and tolerance has reduced? definitely. if they have an issue, they want it fixed immediately. treat us as you'd like to be treated. um, we don't want to go home to ourfamilies at the end of the day, feeling worse than we should. around a0% of workers in jobs that involve direct contact with customers are considering quitting because of the abuse they receive. that's according to the institute of customer service. its survey found that more than a third of workers who faced abuse say that customer aggression is getting worse. increasing numbers of customerl service professionals do not want to work in the profession anymore. and when you think there's. an economic issue with that, 60% of our workforce work in some form of customer related role. - that's a huge impact, society wise, but also economically for the uk. . it's horrible. if a customer is shouting

at you or talking to you in a derogatory way or in an aggressive way, it's mortifying. hannah works as a bank manager in liverpool. lots and lots of really lovely customers that we see on a regular basis, but some really, really challenging and unhappy and quite aggressive. sometimes it feels like it is every other customer that's coming in upset with you. you're the punching bag sometimes for their frustration or their unhappiness. you've just so happened to be the person that they've decided to take it out on. police have been involved multiple times. and this is hannah's message to those who behave so unreasonably. how would you feel if a member of yourfamily was being treated like that? if it was your daughter or your son, your sister, your brother, your mum, working on the door or working in the bank, how would you feel if someone went in and spoke to them like that, when they're simplyjust doing theirjob and getting up and going to work? how would that make you feel and how would it make you feel if somebody spoke to you like that when you were at your work? a reminder of our top

headline this afternoon. more former harrods employees claim they were assaulted by mohamed al—fayed when he owned the famous department store. and doctors are told to be clearer with women about the pain that can be caused by a hysteroscopy. here's elizabeth. thank you. there's more warmth and blue sky and sunshine today, scotland recorded some of the highest temperatures yesterday. some things will not change for the next few days, still warm, cooler and cloudier on eastern coasts but its stride towards the north but further south across the uk we expect heavy and thundery showers on friday. and into the weekend. next week, looking very different indeed. i will have

all the details later! elizabeth, thank you. some libraries and public toilets across england could be forced to close, as councils struggle with the soaring costs of homelessness. a record number of families are now living in temporary accommodation which is becoming increasingly expensive, and local councils have to meet the bill. our social affairs correspondent michael buchanan has been speaking to one of those families. this is our only social area, aside from the bedrooms, but we can't get five people in one room or the other, really. so social interaction is a challenge. kelly, her husband and three children have been living in this property in eastbourne sincejuly. my husband sleeps here. my 15—year—old son is on that bed over in the corner. it's temporary accommodation after the family were given a no fault eviction by the landlord. a set of bunk beds for my nine—and—ten—year— old girls, and a single bed, which is where i sleep. they could afford the rent

on an alternative property, but ended up homeless as they couldn't find a guarantor. my dad, who was my guarantor, is no longer able to be my guarantor. he's now retired and unless he has in excess of £58,000 in a savings account, he can't guarantor for us. kelly's property is mostly paid for by eastbourne borough council. they're spending £a.5 million on temporary accommodation this year. half of all the money they receive in council tax is spent on homelessness. the soaring costs are leading to cuts. the heritage centre at beachy head is to close. arts spending is being cut. swimming pools and toilets could also go. none of these savings are easy for us to make, and i would prefer the government to be funding us in full for the cost of temporary accommodation. but as you've said, we've got to provide a balanced budget and in order to do so, without additional government support, we're going to need to look at making some really difficult decisions. the cost of homelessness is forcing other councils to make cuts, too. in north norfolk, six public toilets

are to be sold or closed. in east london, a number of libraries are set to close. last year, councils in england spent £1 billion of their own money on temporary accommodation. councils have a legal obligation to house the people that they are paying for, but the government doesn't fully reimburse their costs. and as demand for temporary accommodation has increased, so some councils are having to cut services to make ends meet. in manchester, the council are converting this former children's centre into temporary accommodation. one of many efforts to control spiralling costs. they welcomed the government's plans to end no fault evictions, but are currently using their reserves to help pay their homelessness costs. as budgets in local authorities have gone down, and as homelessness pressures have gone up, because of a whole range of national challenges that we've seen around the housing market, around private sector evictions and around changes to the benefit system over the last 1a years, local authorities are now left

with a perfect storm. ministers are said to be preparing a long term strategy to tackle homelessness. untilthen, however, councils will have to struggle on, as indeed will the homeless families they're supporting. i wake up every day wondering if today is the day that i've got to pack up my family again and not know where we're going to next, because ijust don't know. we're just living day by day and waiting to see what happens, and it's mentally exhausting. michael buchanan, bbc news. still to come on today's programme, how a team of vets from liverpool managed a world—first operation to fix the broken leg of a white rhino who weighs three—quarters of a tonne. first, it's time to join our colleagues with the news where you are.

hello, and welcome to sportsday, i'm will perry. coming upforyou. england get off to a strong start with the bat as their one day series against australia begins at trent bridge. arsenal are in italy, as they get their champions league campaign under way at atalanta. and we hearfrom england rugby union star mauro itoje on his captaincy role for saracens ahead of the new english premiership season. we're going to start at trent bridge where england's cricketers are taking on australia in the first of their five one—day internationals. stand—in skipper harry brook won the toss and chose to bat. they got off to a solid start,

with openers ben duckett and phil salt reaching a8 before the loss of the first wicket. phil salt the first to go, bowled comprehensively by ben dwarshuis with his first one—day international wicket. still the early stages of that one but here's how it stands. arsenal begin their champions league campaign later. they're in italy to take on atalanta. we'll hearfrom manager mikel arteta injust a moment. they're the last of the british clubs in action in the competition this week, with the performance of last night going to celtic who thrashed slovan bratislava at a jubilant celtic park to win their opening champions league game for the first time ever, as natalie pirks reports. a new dawn for european football's elite. - celtic had tried and failed 12 times to win their opening champions league match. spine—tingling roar. in front of an expectant celtic park, their 13th attempt was far from unlucky.

it was liam scales who got the party started. the first player from the republic of ireland to score in the champions league for more than a decade. in front of their most famous fan, celtic would soon be sailing to a memorable victory thanks to a second—half goal fest. their third came courtesy of the penalty spot neatly dispatched by 21—year—old arne engels. the lowest ranked side in the competition gave it their best shot. but they were no match for a rampant celtic. maeda with the midas touch, for theirfourth. and adam idah capped a glorious night where the scottish champions barely put a foot wrong. euphoria for the fans and for the manager. you just sensed it before the game, the feeling in the crowd. _ so proud of the team, the intensity

we played at was so good. - and yes, it was a great night. joy at celtic park but what could the english champions do at the etihad in a repeat of last year's final against inter milan? this was a similarly tight match as that final but in their oasis inspired limited edition kit the english champions weren't quite at their supersonic best. against a very well drilled inter milan, erling haaland's wait for his 100th city goal went on. late chances came, and went. 0—0, on a disappointing night for the english champions. natalie pirks, bbc news, manchester. so, a frustrating night for manchester city as they now turn their attentions to a blockbuster premier league showdown with arsenal on sunday. manager pep guardiola expects arsenal to be city's biggest test again this season. it is another unbelievable team. they defend really well, they don't concede chances,

they don't concede goals. they are really good in many aspects, they control everything. the biggest title contenders the last two seasons. they are there, and they will be there for many years because they have created their squad, a young team. so it is another good test. but we are in september. so i would like to see in the team many things we are better than the past. before that match on sunday, arsenal take on italian side atalanta in the champions league this evening. winger bukayo saka is available to play despite being taken off in last weekend's derby with spurs. midfielder declan rice is also back after suspension, but captain martin odegaard has been ruled out with what's being described as a "quite significant" ankle injury. he is our captain, he is one of our biggest players without a doubt, one of the most consistent players in the last two, three seasons. our identity as well is very related to

his way of playing and his way of playing. we will have to deal with that. it is a test for the team to show how capable we are to maybe show a different face, and the fact we have other players and other options that we can still be very effective. arsenal's men then hoping to go better than the women's side who were beaten 1—0 by hecken of sweden in the first leg of their champions league second—round qualifier. no such problems for mancheter city though. vivianne miedema scored on her debut to help them to a commanding lead over paris fc. 5—0 the final score there with the return legs being played next week. in the last hour, england have named their squad that will head to canada for the wxvi women's rugby union tournament which begins a week on sunday. two uncapped players make the plane. bristol centre phoebe murray and loughborough wing bo westcombe—evans both get the nod. and despite that win over new zealand at twickenham at the weekend, fly half holly aitchson admits the team have to learn from the performance.

when we are looking at where the team _ when we are looking at where the team is_ when we are looking at where the team is we — when we are looking at where the team is we are obviously blooding new players, they have another year to grow _ new players, they have another year to grow but — new players, they have another year to grow but ultimately we are in a really— to grow but ultimately we are in a really good place and i think that something maybe we did not see when we came _ something maybe we did not see when we came off— something maybe we did not see when we came off the pitch disappointed. it was _ we came off the pitch disappointed. it was good to be in an arm wrestle, it made _ it was good to be in an arm wrestle, it made us_ it was good to be in an arm wrestle, it made us understand it is not going — it made us understand it is not going to — it made us understand it is not going to be all our way all the time, — going to be all our way all the time, and _ going to be all our way all the time, and that was good for us. we hear their anguish, no other country would put up with this reality. the current situation is not sustainable. the prime minister has said the change in the balance of forces on our northern border is needed and necessary. israel will do

whatever is necessary. the government is committed to this and we will not suffice with anything less. we will do this thanks to the heroism of ourfighters less. we will do this thanks to the heroism of our fighters and the unity amongst us as a united people rising up against the enemies, in order to ensure our future. we rising up against the enemies, in order to ensure ourfuture. we have had more than 8000 rockets and drones, often more than 100 a day. 63.5 thousand people displaced from their homes in the north for almost one year. again no other country would put up with theirs. it hundred and 55 incidents, a6 of our people killed by hezbollah. they have been aimed at killing our people. trying

to impose this terror and disrupting daily life. israel is responding with force to this aggression, we will use all means necessary to restore security and to safely return our citizens to their homes. we will respond with force to this unprovoked aggression from his brother macro, we have had thousands of rockets since october 2023, now the state of lebanon and the terrorist organisation which operates under the guidance of iran they are responsible. in our north it is in violation of international law. the israeli government has a responsibility to defend its people and that is precisely what we are

mandated to do and exactly what we will do and are doing. next question from david clement from the news forum in canada, can you provide any specifics on the assassination? i would advise you to look on our website for the unveiling of that plot, the foiling of that plot. next question i can see, from swiss

television. yesterday switzerland had the mandate to convene a conference of the parties to the geneva conventions. does israel intend to take part? thank you for that question. i do not have information on that. can you scroll up information on that. can you scroll up for other questions, a question from joel pollock regarding the hostages, i have spoken about that. you have asked can you comment on kamala harris saying she is proud of withholding bombs from israel and would use such leveraged again? thank you for that question. that is for kamala harris. we are in an election season, it is the right

thing to do to allow the american people to participate in that democracy. the relationship with the us is a bipartisan relationship, we stand side by side because we share so many values and so many of the same enemies. the relationship with the us is extremely important to us and of mutual benefit. the last question i can see is from jane merrick, following the comments the british government are regarding uk being a friend and ally, has this message being conveyed directly to the prime minister and foreign secretary in the uk? thank you for that question. the relationship between the uk and israel is an extremely important one

to both countries. we believe it is based also on the shared values, the values of us being a democracy, of enjoying a free press, being a free society, we are the only democracy in hundreds of miles in any direction. which is why iran hates this country, has said they wish to destroy this country. israel considers an ally any country that understands the unique situation of this country in this difficult neighbourhood. we are standing up forfreedom here and neighbourhood. we are standing up for freedom here and we welcome the support of any allies who understand that fight and realise it is not only our fight in israel, that fight and realise it is not only ourfight in israel, iran are attacking us. we are only a stopgap on the way to other democracies. we are on the front line of the battle which is why we must be successful

for the sake of civilisation. that is the last question i can see here today. sorry, one more question from the bbc regarding lebanon and i have given everything i had to say about lebanon previously in my question. our next briefing will be tomorrow, thank you forjoining us, in the meantime please stay safe and we look forward to seeing you at the next briefing tomorrow. these are live pictures from beirut with the funerals of some of the victims of those attacks.

on that news conference we were watching from the spokesman, worth noting he was reading prepared questions from the autocue, not questions from the autocue, not questions being thrown at him live by reporters in the room. one question was about whether israel is preparing a new phase of the war against hezbollah. that is what the defence secretary had said and what the israeli government spokesman said, that we will use all means necessary against hezbollah. let us go to our correspondent in jerusalem. and actually, daniel, the israeli government spokesman reading one of your questions but didn't

address the question of whether israel is behind these attacks in lebanon on walkie—talkies and pagers, which so far has not been confirmed by the israelis although most people seem to assume it is israel. there has been no official comment on that. my question was about that, i had written to him to say israel had been widely blamed for the attacks in lebanon that claimed 37 lives and i was asking for his response. he said he had already dealt with everything he wanted to say about lebanon and did not read out my question and did not answer it. there has been no official comment on the blaming of israel for the attacks in lebanon, israel has neither confirmed its involvement nor denied it. it has been widely blamed for the attacks, notjust by

hezbollah but by lebanon, iran, by various others in the region. it is widely held in israel that the israelis and mossad were responsible. the other question is, as i said the defence minister talked about a new phase of war and moving troops from the gaza theatre to the lebanese border theatre. whether these attacks on the devices were part of that will separate, because there have been reports israel may have decided to trigger these electronic device attacks because hezbollah had got wind of what they had done. that has been widely reported, one of the theories that has been

reported about why these explosions took place when they did. the reality is the context in which this has happened this week is very much a ratcheting up of rhetoric about an escalation in conflict with hezbollah which has been going on since after october last year by hamas. in the week we had the israeli security cabinet making the return of israeli citizens who had been displaced in the north, the return of them home, a core war goal. it is the only one that relates to the northern front here. the other three that existed before this week relate to hamas, relate to gaza. this week has been about the conflict with hezbollah, and yesterday we saw a visit in an air

force base to the north, saying that a new phase in the war was opening, the centre of gravity moving to the north. a division of the israeli army moved yesterday from concentrating on gaza where it had been fighting, and is now in the north. that means there are now two divisions in the north, a significant strengthening of forces in the north. despite the fact the israeli government is not confirming or denying what has happened in lebanon, whether it was involved, the context in which there is explosions took place is an increase in rhetoric about what they will do, the israeli prime minister saying in a short ten second clip that, we are going to get our citizens back from the north, get them home, the same

thing the defence minister is saying. but not saying how they will do that but clearly they are saying the only way they can see that being achieved is by military force because they see the diplomatic way to achieving that is falling away, becoming less of an opportunity, despite the fact the us and others are saying they want a diplomatic path through. if you listen to the rhetoric of the israeli leadership they do not see that as a way forward. thank you. a shame your question was not answered by the israeli government spokesman. these live pictures from beirut where they are having funeral services for some of the victims of the attacks from pagers and walkie—talkies, the latest death toll, 37 people who died. more than 2900 who have been wounded. that is

the latest scene in beirut, much more in the coming hours. stay with us. still warm and dry today with plenty more blue sky despite that murky start. yesterday temperatures reached 26 in the far north of scotland. today, slightly cooler but the sunshine continues. for the rest of the week, temperatures remain above the seasonal average. kooner and cloudier on the east, wet weather in the southern half of the uk. high pressure dominates today. again largely dry. the small chance of isolated showers. low cloud burning back. with the onshore breeze, always feeling cooler.

higher temperatures in the far south—east, still warm in western scotland and northern ireland. heading through this evening and overnight, the same thing again. clear skies in the north and west, with mist and fog patches. a chilly start tomorrow. the cloud working its way westwards, mired in the south—east, 15 degrees celsius. mist and fog will lift through the morning, some sunshine for the north and west. showers will pop up across east anglia tracking westwards. some heavy downpours of rain. still warm. 23 degrees celsius in the far south and east. expect to see more wet weather on saturday, thundery

showers are pushing in from the south with this unstable air. again further north with high pressure hanging on, it will still be dry. the best of the sunshine in western scotland, north—west england and northern ireland. more widespread thundery showers on sunday. that clears away into monday. on tuesday, back to south—westerly winds. unsettled next week, turning a lot colder.

live from london, this is bbc news with ben brown. lebanese authorities say at least 37 people have been killed in two days of exploding devise attacks targeting has ball off. at least 37 killed in lebanon, after two days of exploding device attacks targeting hezbollah. pagers and walkie talkies are banned from flights out of beirut. israel, widely believed to be behind the attacks, has announced what it calls a "new phase in the war". the united states is urging calm. the bbc reveals that the former harrods boss, the late mohamed al—fayed, has been accused of rape by five female ex—employees. i live in michigan, one of the key battle—ground states in the presidential election, and where donald trump and kamala harris are locked in a dead heat. evacuations in northern italy as storm boris batters

the country causing severe flooding and landslides.