in southern lebanon, as the us says it's worried about an escalation. lebanese officials say the number of people killed in friday's israeli air strike in beirut has risen to 37, including children. hezbollah confirms two of its senior commanders are among the dead. dozens more women contact the bbc and legal teams with fresh allegations about the former harrods boss mohamed al fayed. kamala harris accepts an invite from cnn to have a second televised debate with donald trump. but he rejects the idea — saying it's too late and hundreds of paratroopers re—enact one of the major allied military operations of the second world war.

hello, i'm karin giannone. israel has been carrying widespread attacks on southern lebanon with fighter jets, as the us warns the risk of an escalation in fighting between israel and hezbollah is �*acute�* and �*real�*. these are the latest pictures we've received, showing explosions lighting up the night sky in southern lebanon. saturday has seen cross—border fire between israel and the iranian—backed lebanese group, hezbollah throughout the day. and those attacks have continued into the night. the israeli army says its using dozens of fighterjets and �*striking extensively�* after it learnt that hezbollah was preparing to launch a large—scale launch against israel. lebanon's health ministry now says 37 people, including women and children, were killed in friday's israeli attack on beirut. rescue workers have been searching through the rubble of a high—rise building that was targeted in the attack. hezbollah has confirmed two of its senior commanders were killed in the strike. the us national security

adviserjake sullivan also described the killing of the hezbollah commander as �*justice�* but also expressed concern. the cross—border attacks follow the pager and walkie—talkie explosions in lebanon last week which killed 37 people and injured thousands of people — thought to be carried out by israel. we start with this report from our middle east correspondent, hugo bachega. as morning broke, the destruction became clear. an israeli air strike hitting dahieh, hezbollah�*s heartland in southern beirut, its conflict with israel returning with force to a place they considered safe. many here were still incredulous. translation: people were walking, going . out and coming home. people were heading back from work, and there were those who were coming to pick their children up from the nursery. this is a terrorist act. unbelievable. among the missing, a four—year—old girl caught up in a war without being a threat to anyone.

this is as close as we can get to the site of the attack. and as you can see, this is a densely populated neighbourhood of beirut. and all morning there's been intense activity from emergency services. the search continues for people who are believed to be under the rubble. and the situation here is still very tense. this footage captured the moment of the attack. israel has called it a precision strike targeting top hezbollah officials. it says they were meeting on the ground of this building to plan more attacks. among the dead is ibrahim aqil, a senior military commander. the us had put a $7 million bounty on his head, accusing him of being involved in the killings of americans in beirut in the 1980s. this is another humiliation for hezbollah but it is also a blow to a country already

exhausted by this conflict. translation: the israeli army, with all its continued crimes - with the excuse of pursuing the hezbollah movement, has targeted a residential compound. it's committed a massacre in a residential building against unarmed children, women at home. how hezbollah is going to respond isn't clear. it doesn't want to spark a wider war with israel, and its supporters in iran don't want a major confrontation, either. but israel says this is just the beginning. hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut. a short while ago, israeli military spokesperson daniel hagari said their fighterjets were targeting hezbollah in southern lebanon translation: in the past hour, we have been striking _ extensively in southern lebanon following detection of hezbollah preparing to fire toward israeli territory. dozens of israeli air force aircraft are currently striking terrorist targets and rocket launchers to remove the threat to israeli civilians.

we are methodically targeting and degrading hezbollah s launching capabilities, eliminating commanders and terrorists, as we did throughout the day. overall, today we struck approximately 400 hezbollah launchers, including thousands of rocket launcher barrels. the us national security adviser, jake sullivan, earlier warned that the escalation in fighting could ignite a regional war. let's speak to our correspondent in washington, jenny kumah. tell us more about the us reaction to the recent of elements in the region and the strikes in beirut yesterday. jake's element was speaking ahead of the quad summit of leaders, the leaders ofjapan, india and and they were meeting

president biden this afternoon his hometown wilmington, and this was the first official that the americans had given to the, in reaction to the comments, he was asked about the strike and the killing of ibrahim aqil, and he said it was a good outcome, any time a terrorist was murdered americans is brought to justice. he was wanted, ibrahim aqil by the us for killings in the 80s which resulted from the performance of the american embassy and a marine barracks and he described the escalation in the region as real and acute and when asked about whether the ease strikes represented on escalation, he said it was not for the us to keep score, and said it was not a useful

exercise, he did say that what he thought was beautiful it was to drive both parties to reach an agreed and durable outcome to end the cycle. we also recently had a response from un officials who have warned that the conflict risks dwarfing the devastation that has been seen in the middle east already. find in the middle east already. and jenn , in the middle east already. and jenny. while — in the middle east already. and jenny. while we _ in the middle east already. and jenny, while we are _ in the middle east already. and jenny, while we are speaking —— we're looking at my pictures from that court summit, a round table summit, at the table that we have the leaders of japan, australia, india, withjoe australia, india, with joe biden, australia, india, withjoe biden, presidentjoe biden and secretary of state antony blinken, and looking at this more widely, what is it thought that recent developments mean for any potential gaza cease—fire and hostage deal? this was something jake sullivan was asked about at

this press meeting i had of the quad meeting earlier today, and he said that he still believed there was a path forward. talks are continuing with qatar and egypt, are continuing with qatar and egypt.they are continuing with qatar and egypt, they are still involved, but he said that he felt they were not such a point where they could put forward a proposal that both sides would agree on. proposal that both sides would auree on. g , . proposal that both sides would aureeon. , ., , agree on. jenny kumah reports in there from _ agree on. jenny kumah reports in there from washington. - let's speak to najat saliba in beirut. she is a member of the lebanese parliament, she was part of the 12 change mps who were elected after the 2019 revolution. thank you for talking to us. as a citizen of beirut, what are things like there right now? $5 things like there right now? as of things like there right now? sis of now, things like there right now? is of now, people are hearing the strikes, overioo of now, people are hearing the strikes, over 100 strikes that were launched from israel, and were launched from israel, and we are also seen pictures of fires and bombs everywhere. people are worried about a

full—scale war or a larger scope of war which is really something that most people do not want to see in lebanon, and people are already deeply disturbed by what happened to gaza, and i hope this scenario does not get repeated in lebanon. this is really a moment, ora lebanon. this is really a moment, or a time that is not something that we wanted to see. we wanted to condemn all of the indiscriminate killing of the indiscriminate killing of the indiscriminate killing of the civilians, of course, and for the past three days, we have seen lots of killings in many different ways. first of all of the pagers blast, and then the walkie—talkies, and tonight the escalation of the bombing and the fires, and more destruction. we are not in a good position at this moment, i

guess. i good position at this moment, i cuess. ., , good position at this moment, i cuess. . , ., ., good position at this moment, i cuess. ., , ., ., y., guess. i wants to ask you, first of all— guess. i wants to ask you, first of all israel— guess. i wants to ask you, first of all israel is - guess. i wants to ask you, first of all israel is caught | first of all israel is caught in the precision attacks against top hezbollah officials, and launch the latest attack after it learned hezbollah was prepared to launch a larger attack against israel, but what is it like in terms of perception for people in lebanon do this he does a war between israel and lebanon or the war between israel and hezbollah? it or the war between israel and hezbollah?— hezbollah? it is true that hezbollah _ hezbollah? it is true that hezbollah cause - hezbollah? it is true that hezbollah cause for- hezbollah? it is true that hezbollah cause for this | hezbollah? it is true that i hezbollah cause for this war unilaterally without discussing this issue with the parliament, but nonetheless, the killing and the indiscriminate killing thatis and the indiscriminate killing that is happening is not something that anyone could accept. this is against humanity, it's against human life, it's against anybody who can conceive the mass killing of people, so i think we all as human beings do not want to see any masculine, the same way we

site and gaza. and that is why we can then —— condemn any act of atrocity and any act of killing that is happening now in lebanon. irate killing that is happening now in lebanon.— killing that is happening now in lebanon. . ~ ., , ., in lebanon. we know israel says it wants his _ in lebanon. we know israel says it wants his aim _ in lebanon. we know israel says it wants his aim to _ in lebanon. we know israel says it wants his aim to be, _ in lebanon. we know israel says it wants his aim to be, it's - in lebanon. we know israel says it wants his aim to be, it's a - it wants his aim to be, it's a new waraim, to return it wants his aim to be, it's a new war aim, to return the 60,000 israelis who had to leave their homes in north israel due to constant hezbollah rockets, but i want to know how much force is hezbollah compared to the lebanese military, and what do you think that the lebanese government should be doing? in parallel to the 60,000 people who left their homes in israel, there are over 100,000 people who left their homes from the south as well. i think both parties, lebanon and israel, need to honor the un security council resolutions 1701, and both need to apply and ——

comply to indoor war zone the same way they did in 2006, and we need both governments to comply with this. this is the only way we can find a peaceful agreement so that people can live in peace.— live in peace. how optimistic or otherwise _ live in peace. how optimistic or otherwise are _ live in peace. how optimistic or otherwise are you - live in peace. how optimistic or otherwise are you about l live in peace. how optimistic. or otherwise are you about what you want to happen happening? we have no way other than reinstating the state that when it's all have. we want the lebanese army forces to really take the self injury and security of the country, and for that we need people, we need members of parliament to come to the parliament and elect a president as soon as possible as per the constitution to fill in the void so that the state becomes more active in calling for peace and during the negotiations need ——

negotiations need —— negotiations needed to save lives of all its citizens. najat saliba there in beirut, thank you for talking to us. the hamas—run gaza health ministry says at 22 people have been killed in an israeli air strike on a school sheltering displaced people. the un has found numbers from the health ministry in previous conflicts reliable. the health ministry says most of the victims were women and children. the israel defense forces say a hamas command room at the school was targeted. there are reports of an unborn child being among the dead. bbc verify has looked at several videos of the aftermath and clips appear to show a foetus being carried by a civil defence worker. bring you live pictures from delaware — the meeting of the �*quad summit�*, that�*s the leaders from us, india, australia at japan. they�*re at president biden�*s home in wilmington, delaware — it�*s the first time the us

president is hosting foreign leaders at his home. the situation in the middle eastis the situation in the middle east is something they are bound to discuss, and we will bring you more from wilmington delaware and those four leaders later this hour. lawyers representing women allegedly raped or sexually assaulted by the late egyptian billionaire, mohamed al fayed say they�*ve received about 100 new inquiries about the investigation. the former harrods owner has been accused of sexual assault by more than 20 ex—employees of the luxury department store while it was under his ownership. harrods�* current owners say they are appalled by the allegations. and fulham football club has said it�*s trying to establish if anyone at the club has been affected. al fayed bought the club in 1997 for £30 million. the manager of fulham�*s former women�*s team said precautions were put in place to protect female players from him. 0ur correspondent ellie price updated me on the story.

today we have had dozens of women contact us about all of this. i have testimony here. i have spoken to a number of them. of course, the egyptian billionaire mohammed al fayed owned harrods between 1985 and 2010. he died last year but we have been hearing about today a network of some have described as enablers. people who enabled the abuse to happen and there have been questions today about what their role was in all of that. i spoke to two women who described that they were pimped by senior members of harrods, of senior managers, who thought they were attractive, who thought that mohammed al fayed would find them attractive, and that they should be promoted intojobs. and they both allege that he later sexually assaulted them. another former worker said her line manager brushed it off when she voiced some of her concerns. we have been hearing more from the lawyers today, lawyers representing those victims who have described this as the worst case of corporate sexual exploitation of young women potentially that

the world has ever seen. only now are we getting to understand publiclyjust how much — and i used the word monster yesterday and i stand by that — just how much of a monster he was. did the bastions of society, did those in power and influence protect him? i don't know the answer to that question. what i do know is he died without taking responsibility. given the number of women who are now speaking out, how are they likely to seek justice, also because mohammed al fayed is no longer alive? absolutely. i have spoken to a number today who say this is about closure, this is about talking about what has been happened and feeling like their voices have been heard. there are 37 women involved in the civil case. hundreds more, we are told, have come forward. some of those are victims but some have evidence of what happened, so it is for the law firm to sort through what may be added to the case. i think it is worth noting

that this is, as the lawyers say, an international case now, and we are focusing on harrods and fulham football club. but the abuse has been detailed as happening in properties paris. there are also victims who have come forward from the us, from dubai, australia, romania. the list goes on. this becomes an international case where lawyers will seek to sort through exactly what happened in that entire network. it is worth noting, harrods have said that they are appalled by what has happened and they accept that many victims were failed. and they are under new management now. absolutely. the business was sold to them in 2010 and so we are talking about 1k years ago. but quite clearly this is very raw for a number of people who are affected. this case will very much ask questions of who was involved then and of course there are a number of people who were involved during the time in the business who have remained in post or who have

gone on to other senior roles in business here in the uk. more on that and many other stories on our website. now it�*s time for a look at today�*s sport with karthy. early days in the premier legaue season, but liverpool are making their intentions clear by going top of the table after a 3—0 win over bournemouth. luis diaz scored twice in two minutes with darwin nunez adding the third in a comfortable win for liverpool at anfield. as a group, we were disappointed last week with the performance we put in, we did not feel that was us, and then we bounce back midweek, and i�*m happy again to come back into the premier league and back it up with a good performance, so good character from the team, we just need to keep going. tottenham came from behind to beat brentford 3—1 in what was an entertaining game at the tottenham hotspur stadium. dominic solanke scored his

first goalfor the club since his £65 million move from bournemouth in the summer. spurs clinching a second league win of the campaign. newcastle missed the opportunity to move to the top of the premier league as their unbeaten start to the season was ended by a 3—1 defeat to fulham. summer signing emile smith—rowe continued his impressive start at fulham by doubling his sides�* lead. the london club are now in eighth place after taking all three points. the big game of the weekend is on sunday when leaders manchester city host arsenal. manchester united missed a number of big chances as they were held to a goalless draw by crystal palace at selhurst park. chelsea eased to a 3—0 win over west ham at london stadium. it�*s a third straightaway victory for chelsea in the legaue. aston villa scored two late goals as they beat wolves 3—1. leicester city and everton drew 1all with both sides leicester city and everton drew 1—1 with both sides still searching for a first win this season. southampton and ipswich also drew 1—1. india have the upper hand after day three of the first test against bangladesh in chennai.

bangladesh need an unlikely 357 more runs to win with only six wickets in hand when they resume on day four. and australia have beaten england by 68 runs at headingley to win the second match of their best of five one day international series and go 2—0 up. it�*s a 14th straight win in this form of the game for australia, as england, despite bowling them out inside 50 overs, couldn�*t capitalise on their chase britain�*s lando norris is on pole position for the singapore grand prix. it�*s the mclaren driver�*s fourth pole in six races. norris is currently 59 points behind championship leader, max verstappen, who�*ll start in second place on the grid for red bull with lewis hamilton�*s mercedes in third. but carlos sainz�* car will need plenty of work to be ready to race on sunday after he made a mess of a bend and crashed his ferrari during qualifying. the session had to be paused for the car to be removed. after a positive showing at the korea 0pen there�*s been another injury blow for the former grand slam champion, emma radacanu.

the british 21—year—old was forced to retire just half an hour into her quarterfinal against the top seed, daria kasatkina. raducanu was trailing 4—1 in the opening set when she had a medical time out because of a problem with her left foot. that retirement meant kasatkina went through to the semi—finals, which had to be played on the same day due to weather delays, and the top seed beat diana shnaider in straight sets. kasatkina will face the third seed beatriz haddad—maia in the final on sunday. anthonyjoshua has a chance, later on saturday, to join an elite group of legends, including the likes of muhammad ali if he can become a three—time world heavyweight champion. joshua is taking on english compatriot daniel dubois, the ibf champion, in this all—british heavyweight title fight. the two boxers had their traditionalface—off in trafalgar square. joshua weighed in at 18 stone, with dubois a few pounds lighter at 17 stone ten pounds — that�*s still the heaviest he�*s been. a post—war record crowd

of 96,000 fans, are expected to pack out wembley stadium later. and that�*s all the sport for now. votes are being counted in sri lanka�*s presidential election — widely seen as a referendum on the government�*s handling of the economy. there were a record 38 candidates running to lead the country, including the incumbent, ranil wickremesinghe. all of them are men. the full results are not expected until at least sunday. sri lankans are looking for a leader who will be able to further repair the country�*s finances, after an economic collapse two years ago. thousands of protesters faced with skyrocketing inflation and severe food shortages forced the country�*s president at the time, gotabaya rajapaksa, to flee and later resign. 0ur correspondent samira hussain is following the story from colombo, and sent this update. the economy was certainly one of the biggest issues for voters going into this election.

the country is still reeling from the effects of that economic crisis two years ago. sri lanka had to borrow billions of dollars and as a result we are seeing that actually everyday sri lankans are paying higher taxes and they are paying much more for basics like food and medicine. at the same time, what has also been important, is to see political stability. that economic crisis was largely due to financial mismanagement by previous governments. and so a lot of voters were also talking about looking for a government that was no longer corrupt, that would actually have the best interest of sri lankans in terms of their mandates. if you look at the voter turnout we see that about 75—80% of people came out to cast a ballot in these elections. and that is a little bit lower than what we have seen in the past two elections in sri lanka.

and there are some that actually attributed that to a real loss of confidence among the people in terms of their political leaders. going forward, in terms of when we are going to get some kind of result, most people don�*t expect to know any clear winner until well into sunday. that is because there are 38 candidates that are vying for the position of president, which means that it is going to take, notjust everyone�*s first choice into consideration, but it is going to have to take people�*s second and third choices into consideration when calculating who has won these elections. us presidential hopeful kamala harris has challenged donald trump to a second debate. in a statement, the harris campaign says the vice president has accepted an invitation from cnn for a debate on the 23rd of october. donald trump has been campaigning in north carolina today — a crucial state for him in this election equation. he appeared to rule out

having another debate i�*ve already done two. one with crooked joe biden at cnn, and the other one with kamala harris on abc. cnn was very fair, i thought. joe was driven out of the race, it was a coup by the way, but he was driven out of the race, and they have been widely criticized by the radical left lunatics for all of the fairness, they were very fair, in other words, they won�*t be fair again because they took a lots of abuse from that radical left. abc was three on one, but i was given credit for having done a very good job, i appreciate that. we did a greatjob. it was three on one. the problem with another debate is that it�*s just too late. voting has already started. donald trump in north carolina. we will have more alive from north carolina next half an hour of bbc news, stay with us, i am karin giannone noni in

london. hello there. we�*ve had a lot of stubborn fog around the north sea coast today, but also some big thunderstorms, torrential downpours — really nasty if you�*re caught in one of those. they will continue through this evening, overnight, and indeed, they�*ll be around through sunday and monday. there are met office warnings because we�*re expecting quite a lot of wet weather to come along — a month�*s worth of rain potentially in places. so notably, we�*ve had those big storms through the midlands, to name but a few areas — those continue through this evening, meandering around an area of low pressure, and actually becoming more widespread, we think, as they move up from the south. whilst further north, a little bit of mist and fog — a fresher night here, so quite warm and close in the south — but the return of the mist and low cloud off the north sea coast. let�*s focus on some of that wetter weather — this is what the computer model thinks of the rainfall amounts in the next 2—3 days. so you can see we�*re edging towards a month�*s worth of rain in some parts of england and wales. it really could be quite wet, so there�*s a concern for flooding, clearly. and once again, as we come into sunday morning, as i say, they�*ll become more numerous

overnight as outbreaks of rain with embedded thunderstorms in them, lightning, certainly, they�*re around as we go into sunday morning. rather grey and misty again near the north sea coast, and damp, damp and drizzly — but further west, under the clearing skies overnight, we may have had a little bit of mist and fog to clear away, as well, and that does linger till mid—morning at this time of year, as well. but once it clears, good spells of sunshine again — hopeful that that cloud will also break for the central belt where it didn�*t during the day today. but look at this further south — because we�*ve got more extensive outbreaks of rain, thundery rain, there�*ll be more cloud, so temperatures won�*t be quite as high. but once again, if you�*re caught in those torrential downpours, where there is spray and standing water, really quite treacherous on the roads. now that low pressure eventually moves out of the way, but not till the end of monday. we�*ve got a little bit of rain towards the north, but we�*ve got another low pressure rushing in midweek — this time, more rain again in the south and perhaps strong winds. but let�*s get back to monday — still that band of slow—moving, heavy, thundery rain with us — again, mostly across england and wales, not for all, but more widely, as i�*ve said,

than we�*ve seen today. there�*s just uncertainty as to how far north it�*s going to drift. by tuesday, a little bit of rain also for the far north of the country, but some brighter weather in between. but, as that brighter weather comes down from the north later, it will see the temperatures tumbling away, but there�*s more wet and windy weather to come midweek on, as i say.

this is bbc news, the headlines. the israeli military says dozens of its planes have carried out more widespread airstrikes on hezbollah targets in southern lebanon. the us national security advisor, jake sullivan, has warned that the escalation in fighting could ignite a regional war. lawyers representing women allegedly raped or sexually assaulted by mohammed al fayed say they�*ve received about 100 new enquiries about the investigation. harrods�* current owners say they are appalled by the allegations. sir keir starmer has promised to show how his government will "fix the foundations" and rebuild the country during his address to the labour conference in liverpool. but ministers are expected to deliver sobering messages. the us vice president kamala harris accepts an invite from cnn to have a second televised debate with donald trump. but he appears to reject

the idea, saying it�*s too late. let�*s return to our top story this hour — that�*s the latest from the middle east. the israeli military says dozens of its planes have carried out more widespread air strikes on hezbollah targets in southern lebanon. they say the took the action after identifying plans by the movement to escalate rocket attacks on israel. the us national security advisor, jake sullivan, earlier warned that the escalation in fighting could ignite a regional war. on friday, an israeli airstrike killed at least 37 people — including children. israel says 16 of those killed were hezbollah members, of who 12 were senior commanders. nomi bar—yaacov is an international negotiator and expert in diplomacy and the middle east, and associate fellow at chatham house. i asked her about the likelihood of an escalation. i think there is definitely going to be an escalation.

it is very unfortunate, but that�*s very clearly the case. on tuesday we saw the beepers, the pagers go, on wednesday, the radio communication. huge, huge toll, both in terms of deaths and in terms of and then the targeted assassinations of very senior hezbollah leaders. this was followed by intense bombardment of hezbollah rocket launchers. so, there is definitely an escalation. so, there�*s definitely an escalation. it�*s not a question of whether there is going to be an escalation. this is a huge escalation to the crossfire that we have steadily seen operate under unwritten rules since the 8th of october. how do you assess the potential for this to spin out of control? whether it is spinning out of control, it certainly will have regional ramifications.

i think there are shia militias in iraq. militias in iraq, in syria, we have the houthis in yemen. there is no doubt whatsoever that there will be a response. the question is the nature and scope of that and how things are going to evolve in gaza and the west bank, and it�*s not looking good. it doesn�*t look like there is going to be a ceasefire in gaza, but the military operation is continuing there. there are 101 hostages home and it is dividing israeli society. i think as long as netanyahu is in power — until november, at least until the us elections, i don�*t think there is going to be a ceasefire. and that really is terrible because that is the key to stability and the de—escalation in the region. and at the same time, the west bank is on the brink of explosion. you mentioned october the 8th.

we of course are nearly a year since the terrible events of october the 7th. where does this end? does it? it�*s not looking like it�*s going to end any time soon, unfortunately. it looks like the israeli government and army have made a decision to continue the attacks against hamas, escalate the attacks against hezbollah and they�*re using quite a lot of force in the west bank. and at the same time, you�*re seeing more and more resistance, strengthening of hamas in the west bank, and i think the attacks on hezbollah will only embolden them. they are maybe weakened militarily at the moment. their communications have been disrupted, and certainly they have taken a moral hit and a physical hit on launchers, but it will only embolden them and make them want to fight even more once they recover, and they will recover their capabilities.

let�*s return to one of our top stories today. dozens more women have come forward to the bbc — or their own legal teams — to make fresh sexual assault allegations against the former harrods boss, mohammed al fayed. he�*s been accused of sexual assault and rape. a woman who worked at harrods when al fayed owned the store says other bosses there "colluded" with his misconduct. the current harrods owners have said they are appalled by the allegations — and that the business today is "a very different organisation". (read 0n) dean armstrong kc is one of the barristers representing the alleged victims — he outlined to my colleague azadeh moshiri the developments over the past two days. the bbc was, and has been, and continues to be fundamental to the ability to allow these women to show bravery to come forward. in terms of the... it�*s important that i stress the distinction. we still are 37 signed up in terms of clients. but obviously since

the documentary and since the press conference, there have been a wealth of enquiries to our team over the last couple of days. doing the best i can, we are certainly, and including the 37 already, i think we�*re now at a number of, including inquiries, therefore, of about 150. huge, huge toll, both in terms of deaths and in terms of very serious injuries including blindness, in terms of the... it�*s important that i stress the distinction. we still are 37 signed up in terms of clients. but obviously since the documentary and since the press conference, there have been a wealth of enquiries to our team over the last couple of days. doing the best i can, we are certainly, and including the 37 already, i think we�*re now at a number of, including inquiries, therefore, of about 150. and in terms of some of what you mentioned there yesterday at that press conference, you urged more women to come forward. to come forward, you said there�*s a community there to support them. harrods, the current owners, have said that they�*ve set up a process that will allow women to settle their claims quickly, therefore avoiding a lengthy legal process. i wonder what your advice is to women as they

consider their options. well, my first piece of advice is whoever, if they getjustice, that�*s the most important thing. it is ironic, and there�*s a huge sense of irony as far as i am concerned, that harrods are now suggesting that there�*s a speed of process about this. but let�*s be clear about this. harrods was sold in 2010. they then say in 2023, "we�*re very sorry and we want to proceed very speedily with this." i find all that, i�*m afraid, rather unacceptable. it�*s particularly unacceptable for these incredibly courageous survivors who�*ve had the courage to come forward and contribute to the programme on the bbc on thursday evening, and for harrods to say they are pursuing this effectively, or certainly the inference is with expedition, i just candidly do not accept that. meanwhile, a former manager of fulham�*s women�*s team says extra precautions were put in place to protect female players from the club�*s

late owner mohamed al fayed. gaute haugenes, who managed the team from 2001 to 2003, told the bbc that members of staff became aware that the late billionaire "liked young, blonde girls". he said that as a result players were not allowed to be left alone with al fayed, who owned the club for 16 years. on friday, fulham issued a statement saying they were "deeply troubled and concerned" by what they called the "disturbing" reports about al fayed during his time as owner of harrods. we can hear more now from dean armstrong — who told us about his concerns. what we have here, it seems to me, is the clear inference, the clear knowledge that he is not to be trusted around young girls and women. and if it�*s the case that fulham are saying, well, "we didn�*t put him near young women or young girls," is that really enough? that effectively is an acceptance that they were under high risk. but my whole point about the system of work that

prevailed at harrods — and i�*m given to understand that fulham footballers — i don�*t know about the women�*s team, but fulham footballers i think are also were also employed by harrods at the time. i�*m given to understand that. but the circumstances, therefore, were that these women were extremely vulnerable. it was known that they were at risk. they were a target effectively for him, and yet all that seems to have been done is the suggestion that he was kept away from them. we don�*t know how successful that was, but in any event, it would have been, and i absolutely, fundamentally believe this to be the case. it would have been — and i absolutely, fundamentally believe this to be the case — there would have been the right thing to do in order to protect these women and to protect other women, including my clients, from this

kind of behaviour, and notjust to allow it to run. sir keir starmer has promised to show how his government will "fix the foundations" and rebuild the country, during his address to the labour conference in liverpool. there have been protests outside the conference calling for an end to the war in gaza and urging the uk government implement a full arms embargo on israel. 0ur political correspondent iain watson is following events. cheers for keir starmer, but it�*s been a difficult week — his suits, specs and his staff salaries, dominating the headlines. the labour leader now wants to shift the focus. welcome back to liverpool. welcome to conference. our biggest conference ever. last time labour held a conference in government was 15 years ago. so long ago, some of its many new mps weren�*t even old enough to vote. the last time we were in government, i was a teenager. i couldn't even grow a beard back then. it's now turning grey.

so it's great to be here and great to be in government. but there are rather sober messages amid the celebrations. the head of the pro—starmer group, labourtogether, lost his seat and he warns that labour�*s victory is more fragile than some of its mps might think. voters can easily give, they can easily take away. if anything, i am the living, breathing, walking, talking proof of that. the days of safe seats or mps having seats for life are long gone. and that is why my message to my colleagues in the parliamentary labour party is to really focus on the people�*s priorities. despite labour�*s massive majority at the election, there are fears here about voter volatility. unions have been meeting keir starmer behind closed doors and some of them are suggesting there might even need to be a change of direction for some key policies to maintain voters�*s trust. voters�* trust. labour, now in government, are having to face the harsh realities. if labour fails to listen to us on the issues about realjobs in places like oil and gas

and steel and manufacturing and industry, the difficulty they will have is, communities will get hollowed out, people lose theirjobs and the only winners will be the far right in this country. should you have taken those freebies, prime minister? i the row over who paid for his specs hasn�*t subsided, but this week, keir starmer wants to refocus on his political vision. iain watson, bbc news, liverpool. a first for us president joe biden this weekend. he�*ll be hosting foreign leaders at his house — not the white house, but rather his home in delaware. these are pictures of the leaders from the �*quad�* — an alliance of the us, australia, india and japan — meeting in the city of wilmington today. maritime security is expected to be high on the agenda, particularly issues concerning the south china sea. reuters, citing a senior us official, are reporting that quad leaders will announce at the summit their firstjoint coast—guard exercises. pj crowley is former us assistant secretary

of state for public affairs. the quad is focussed on the indo—pacific region. during the biden administration, it has been upgraded from a periodic meeting to leadership meeting. so, you�*ve got the prime ministers ofjapan, australia and india meeting with the president. they will be focussed on issues such as the growth of the chinese presence in the in the south china sea. it has more of a humanitarian focus, perhaps, than a security focus. i think they�*ll announce, for example, an initiative on combating cancer across the indo—pacific region. in a way, it�*s perhaps a means of counteracting the chinese belt and road initiative that has had a similar focus across the region. how much can we read into the fact that this is actually at the president�*s home?

it�*s not a formal setting like the white house, but it feels a bit more special. well, you know, the president of the united states, the united states have long standing and deep relations with japan, and australia — they�*re treaty allies, for example. the biden administration has spent a lot of time courting prime minister modi of india. they have a very solid relationship. and i think, you know, this is simply a gesture that there�*s a comfort level across the four of them. and and it is a reflection of of the deepening conversations, regional conversations that they�*re having, across japan, australia and india and the united states. you mentioned how special, how important india

is to the united states. i mean, we remember only a couple of months ago or so, we saw narendra modi in moscow hugging vladimir putin and putin calling modi "my dearest friend". is that a problem for the us? no, it�*s not a problem for the united states. it is a reflection of india�*s cautious rise, if you will, as a regional and potentially a global power. and so i think this both is something that is is a work in progress. you know, the united states is is trying to build a relationship with india on the regional and global stage, but it�*s also a reflection of india�*s caution that it doesn�*t want to put itself in the middle of a great power struggle among china, the united states and russia, even though it has its own challenges with china. and obviously, that element of the security of the region will be an important topic of discussion. and obviously, on everyone�*s mind will be the fact that there�*s a forthcoming us presidential election in a matter of weeks. how do they make deals or talk about stuff

that is future—proofed against a major change in administration? well, absolutely, and this is not only a challenge for the united states, it is also a challenge forjapan. they�*re in a leadership transition as well. but i think the the efforts by the biden administration a leadership level i think will be important. so, this is going to be a long—term focus of the united states and these leaders and these countries, so it will outlast the biden administration and the kishida administration. let�*s return to the us. vice president, kamala harris, has accepted an invitation from cnn to hold a second debate with donald trump in the run up to november�*s presidential election. in the run—up to november�*s presidential election. her campaign team said mr trump should have no problem agreeing to the challenge, given that he believed he�*d won their recent head to head, and the format was the same. the former president said it was �*too late�*.

he�*s been campaigning in north carolina today — a crucial state for him in this election equation. let�*s speak to bryan anderson — a politicaljournalist in north carolina. it's it�*s worth noting that trump says it�*s too late to debate. if you remember back in 2016 and 2020, those were scheduled for later. he�*s excepted debates university in 2016 and in 2020 at later times and we�*re in right now. in 2020 at later times and we're in right now.- in 2020 at later times and we're in right now. right, so he sa s we're in right now. right, so he says it's _ we're in right now. right, so he says it's because - we're in right now. right, so he says it's because voting l we're in right now. right, so i he says it's because voting has he says it�*s because voting has already begun, but you think it�*s for other reasons. already begun, but you think it's for other reasons.- it's for other reasons. well, votin: it's for other reasons. well, voting has _ it's for other reasons. well, voting hasjust _ it's for other reasons. well, voting hasjust started - it's for other reasons. well, voting hasjust started in i voting hasjust started in north carolina, where military and overseas ballots without just yesterday. so, early in person voting doesn�*t begin until next month. generally speaking, not specific to this race, butjust generally and in

my experience, people want to debate when it helps them and they don�*t want to debate when they don�*t want to debate when they feel it doesn�*t. they don't want to debate when they feel it doesn't.— they feel it doesn't. you've been around _ they feel it doesn't. you've been around too _ they feel it doesn't. you've been around too long! i i they feel it doesn't. you've i been around too long! i wanted to talk to you also about the other situation going on in north carolina. it�*s no coincidence that mr trump is there, but there�*s also been a scandal around the turn of gubernatorial race. is scandal around the turn of gubernatorial race.- scandal around the turn of gubernatorial race. is a big mess. lieutenant - gubernatorial race. is a bigj mess. lieutenant governor gubernatorial race. is a big i mess. lieutenant governor mark robertson is running against the attorney generaljosh stein. robinson has made a number of inflammatory comments against lgbtq people, against lg btq people, transgender against lgbtq people, transgender people, linking transgender people, linking transgender people, linking transgender people to feel thinned his words. it came out a couple days in his video that he had watched transgender pornographic material and spoke on it rudimentary —— linking transgender people to filth. he is someone who has been

campaigning with trump in the past, but wasn�*t there today, and trump gives a number of elective officials sought out— dan bishop, to senator ted bunn, notably absent was mark robinson. , ., ., robinson. they are worried about the _ robinson. they are worried about the potential - robinson. they are worried | about the potential damage. what is it like being in a state that�*s so important in a presidential election? what�*s the harris tent doing and what is it feel like to be at the centre of their focus —— harris campaign? centre of their focus -- harris campaign?— campaign? it's felt like a t for democrats _ campaign? it's felt like a t for democrats since - campaign? it's felt like a t for democrats since 2008. democrats are optimistic, but in north carolina, what this feels like it comes down to is the maybe one in ten for tradable people in the middle —— persuadable people and who can pick up the people. is it harris who can say trump is dangerous? is it trump who can

say your life is better or worse? that�*s the open question and that seems that�*s where the race will come. and that seems that's where the race will come.— race will come. you're going to be very busy — race will come. you're going to be very busy for— race will come. you're going to be very busy for the _ race will come. you're going to be very busy for the next i race will come. you're going to be very busy for the next 44 i be very busy for the next 44 days, i think it is a.— days, i think it is a. we're talkin: days, i think it is a. we're talking on _ days, i think it is a. we're talking on a _ days, i think it is a. we're talking on a saturday, i days, i think it is a. we're talking on a saturday, sol days, i think it is a. we're i talking on a saturday, so it's talking on a saturday, so it�*s always busy north carolina. saturday night here in the uk, absolutely. brian anderson, thank you very much. we wish you all the best in the campaign. thank you forjoining us. campaign. thank you for “oining us. . campaign. thank you for “oining us, ., ", ., campaign. thank you for “oining us. . ., ., a pilot from new zealand says he is "very happy�* to be going home after spending more than a year and a half held hostage by separatist rebels in indonesia. the 38—year—old was released after lengthy negotiations. stephen murphy has the story. after 19 months in captivity, philip martens was free. the indonesian army said he has lost a lot of weight, but in good health. he is kidnapped in february last year in west p°p�*up' february last year in west pop—up, i would february last year in west pop—up, iwould dutch february last year in west pop—up, i would dutch colony —— a dutch colony near papua new

guinea. among several... the kidnap of the pilot as part of a violent long—running dispute between the government in jakarta dispute between the government injakarta and the indigenous people of west papua. earlier this year, at least one indonesian shoulder was killed after group searching for the pilot ambushed by rebels. 0n pilot ambushed by rebels. on saturday, the pilot arrived back and was into the care of indonesian officials and spoke of his relief. —— indonesian soldier. translation: of his relief. -- indonesian soldier. translation: today finall i soldier. translation: today finally i have been _ soldier. translation: today finally i have been freed. i'm| finally i have been freed. i�*m very happy that shortly, i will go home and meet my family. philip martens was greeted back in jakarta after effort to get injakarta after effort to get him home. the new zealand foreign minister said his family will be over the moon to have him back.

hundreds of nato paratroopers have been taking part in a jump close to the dutch city of arnhem. it marks the 80th anniversary of one of the most daring allied operations of the second world war. our correspondent anna holligan sent this report from the commemorations. how to say thank you without words. 700 paratroopers from several nato nations including the uk, poland and the usa who were involved in the campaign dropped onto the fields which saw some of the fiercest fighting. tens of thousands of people gathered on ginkel heath to witness a re—enactment of what was one of the bloodiest episodes of the second world war. during eight days and nights of hell, those magnificent troops of the first airborne division hung on. operation market garden — 35,000 airborne troops were dropped behind enemy lines in a creative attempt to carve out a short cut into nazi germany. this was the objective. if the bridge at arnhem

was taken, there was a hope of an early invasion that might have ended the war in december, 19114. after nine days of relentless fighting, a third of those involved were taken prisoner or killed. geoff roberts is among the few surviving veterans of arnhem. i�*m not a hero. the heroes are in the cemeteries. i�*m not a hero. i�*mjustan ordinary old squaddie. we did as we were told. operation market garden may not be remembered as a military victory, but perhaps even more strikingly, for the courage and tenacity demonstrated by the allied forces. this drop zone, this heath here, was contested. the enemy were in the woods around it. it was on fire. the drama of that afternoon is something you canjust begin to realise as you look at the tree line and think about the place. this may have been one of the final opportunities to re—enact what was one of the most daring missions

of the second world war, while veterans who took part in the battle for arnhem are still here to share the experience. this isn�*tjust about remembering the past but ensuring future generations are conscious of how and by whom their freedom was fought for. anna holligan, bbc news, ginkel heath. it�*s been five years since game of thrones wrapped, but now a stunning collection of the tv show�*s memorabilia is to be auctioned next month. superfans of the award—winning show will be offered the chance to obtain their own pieces of westeros in a haul valued at more than £750,000. the collection, made up of more than 2,000 pieces, also includes tyrion lannister�*s hand of

the king pin and the black leather overcoat and dragon chain daenerys targaryen wore to her assassination. jax strobeil is director of studio relations at heritage auctions and he mentioned some of the items to look out for. one of the items that�*s up for sale is king robert baratheon�*s cloak, and it�*s beautiful, it�*s got a black mink and it�*s a gorgeous piece. and then you get to the finale, we have the melted iron throne. so, beginning to end, there�*s pieces all the way throughout the show, or throughout the auction, that represent them — every favourite moment from the show. versace has presented its latest collection during milan fashion week. it took place inside a courtyard of the medieval sforza castle. experts say it�*s actually quite conservative by donatella versace�*s standards. gigi hadid was among the models who showed off the designs — many of them with a floral theme. the silhouette and the mod hairstyles suggested an inspiration from the 1960s and 1970s. i'll

i�*ll be back soon. hello there. we�*ve had a lot of stubborn fog around the north sea coast today, but also some big thunderstorms, torrential downpours — really nasty if you�*re caught in one of those. they will continue through this evening, overnight, and indeed, they�*ll be around through sunday and monday. there are met office warnings because we�*re expecting quite a lot of wet weather to come along — a month�*s worth of rain potentially in places. so, notably, we�*ve had those big storms through the midlands to name, but a few areas — those continue through this evening, meandering around an area of low pressure, and actually becoming more widespread, we think, as they move up from the south. whilst further north, a little bit of mist and fog — a fresher night here, so quite warm and close in the south — but the return of the mist and low cloud off the north sea coast. let�*s focus on some of that wetter weather — this is what the computer model thinks of the rainfall amounts in the next 2—3 days. so, you can see we�*re edging towards a month�*s worth of rain in some parts of england and wales. it really could be quite wet, so there�*s a concern for flooding, clearly. and once again, as we come

into sunday morning, as i say, they�*ll become more numerous overnight as outbreaks of rain with embedded thunderstorms in them, lightning, certainly, they�*re around as we go into sunday morning. rather grey and misty again near the north sea coast, and damp, damp and drizzly — but further west, under the clearing skies overnight, we may have had a little bit of mist and fog to clear away, as well, and that does linger till mid—morning at this time of year, as well. but once it clears, good spells of sunshine again — hopeful that that cloud will also break for the central belt where it didn�*t during the day today. but look at this further south — because we�*ve got more extensive outbreaks of rain, thundery rain, there�*ll be more cloud, so temperatures won�*t be quite as high. but once again, if you�*re caught in those torrential downpours, where there is spray and standing water, really quite treacherous on the roads. now, that low pressure eventually moves out of the way, but not till the end of monday. we�*ve got a little bit of rain towards the north, but we�*ve got another low pressure rushing in midweek — this time, more rain again in the south and perhaps strong winds. but let�*s get back to monday — still that band of slow—moving,

heavy, thundery rain with us — again, mostly across england and wales, not for all, but more widely, as i�*ve said, than we�*ve seen today. there�*s just uncertainty as to how far north it�*s going to drift. by tuesday, a little bit of rain also for the far north of the country, but some brighter but some brighter weather in between. but, as that brighter weather comes down from the north later, it will see the temperatures tumbling away, but there�*s more wet and windy weather to come midweek on, as i say.

live from london.

this is bbc news israel says it�*s using dozens of aircraft to attack hezbollah in southern lebanon, as the us says it�*s worried about an escalation. lebanese officials say the number of people killed in friday s israeli air strike in beirut has risen to 37, including children. hezbollah confirms two of its senior commanders are among the dead. dozens more women contact the bbc — and legal teams — with fresh allegations about the former harrods boss mohamed al fayed. kamala harris accepts an invite from cnn to have a second televised debate with donald trump. but he rejects the idea — saying it�*s too late. a pilot from new zealand taken hostage by separatists in indonesia — is freed after more than a year and a half.