the security council must deliver its responsibility for global peace and security. here in lebanon, at least 50 people have been killed and more than 200 injured today. as thousands of lebanese people are forced from their homes, uk citizens are told to leave the country. also tonight, the women accusing the late mohamed al fayed of sexual assault, dozens have now come forward. and we hearfrom and we hear from the lucky tourist from warwickshire who survived a hippo attack in zambia on the holiday of a lifetime. and coming up on bbc news... the opening night of the europa league brings manchester united's erik ten hag up against the team he holds most dear — fc twente of the netherlands.

good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the head of israel's army has told troops to prepare for a possible ground invasion of lebanon, telling them their military boots will enter enemy territory. israel has carried out hundreds more air strikes across lebanon today as hezbollah fired back across the border, targeting tel aviv with a ballistic missile for the first time. the continued escalation comes as world leaders are gathered at the united nations in new york. president biden has warned that all—out war in the middle east is possible. we'll be live in lebanon in a moment, but first, let's talk to our international editorjeremy bowen injerusalem, and our diplomatic corresponden, james landale, at the united nations in new york. jeremy, israel's army chiefs telling troops they will go in and destroy the enemy there. how big a moment is this? it the enemy there. how big a moment is this? , ., , ., .,, �*

this? it is a big moment. he hasn't said when it _ this? it is a big moment. he hasn't said when it will _ this? it is a big moment. he hasn't said when it will happen, _ said when it will happen, potentially there may be a brief window for diplomacy but frankly i think if it hasn't worked thus far it probably isn't going to work in a very rapid... they went up to the border, they have also mobilised two infantry brigades, that's i think 4000, 5000 soldiers. they are increasing their readiness, they are doing theirair increasing their readiness, they are doing their air strikes. it has been clear it has been going this direction, i think. clear it has been going this direction, ithink. theirargument is that by causing hezbollah greg payne they will persuade them to stop firing into israel. frankly i think most observers of hezbollah think most observers of hezbollah think that will not influence them. but the israeli army released a clip of a general speaking and this is what he had to say. we are not stopping. we will keep attacking and harming them everywhere. to do this we are preparing to move. the sense is your military boots, your manoeuvre boots, will enter enemy territory. your entry there, with force,

will show them what it's like to meet a professional combat force. they are undoubtedly a professional army, as he says, but hezbollah, like israel, have been preparing for this kind of war since the last one endedin this kind of war since the last one ended in 2006. israel has caused hezbollah some real pain and suffering in recent days. they have destroyed a lot of their weapons. but what they haven't necessarily done is destroy their prepared positions in the south. hezbollah have already said, its leader has said, come on, then, come and get us if you think you can. he was essentially almost taunting israel to do this. and while the timing hasn't been announced, the intention seems very much there. there is talk of a quick in and out perhaps expedition, but actually in lebanon

quick victories in wars historically don't happen. quick victories in wars historically don't happen-— quick victories in wars historically don't ha en, y ., , ., ., don't happen. james landale in new york at the united _ don't happen. james landale in new york at the united nations, - don't happen. james landale in new york at the united nations, what - don't happen. james landale in new york at the united nations, what is l york at the united nations, what is the feeling and what is the feeling all—out war be averted? the the feeling and what is the feeling all-out war be averted?— the feeling and what is the feeling all-out war be averted? the fear of this getting — all-out war be averted? the fear of this getting worse _ all-out war be averted? the fear of this getting worse is _ all-out war be averted? the fear of this getting worse is hanging - all-out war be averted? the fear of this getting worse is hanging heavyi this getting worse is hanging heavy over this annual gathering of world leaders. there are the inevitable calls for de—escalation and a diplomatic solution. in the last hour sir keir starmer has addressed the assembly and called for an immediate ceasefire between israel and hezbollah. there is an emergency session of the security council later this evening to stop diplomacy is taking place. leaders are putting pressure on the iranians to put pressure on the iranians to put pressure on the iranians to put pressure on their proxy hezbollah to defuse the crisis. there is talk of american french plan to get a joint ceasefire both in the north and in gaza but it is early days. and there is, i have to say, some frustration and disappointment felt by some countries here who believe the us is not doing enough to put pressure on israel. so the fear here is of a

regional war that spread sound effects more members here, and their fear is that a ground incursion could trigger that. so diplomacy is taking place, it's not having a great deal of impact on the ground. james landale in new york and jeremy bowen injerusalem, thank you. well, let's go to lebanon now and anna foster is there in the capital beirut. the feeling here in beirut tonight feels so many miles from new york and the discussions happening about de—escalation because even injust the last few hours here you feel a change in the mood, a resilient people who have seen what has happened over the last seven days or so since those pagers and walkie—talkies belonging to members of hezbollah exploded. they have seen now three days of idf strikes in lebanon which we know have hit around 1600 targets, hezbollah weapons storage centres and some of the group's most senior commanders. but there is a feeling now, friends

i have spoken to, who thought they might stay and stick it out, who are talking now about leaving, trying to get out before a potential ground invasion from israel into lebanon begins. tens of thousands of people have already fled their homes in that part of the country foot of our senior international correspondent orla guerin sent this report from the city of tyre. sirens wail. hezbollah targeting the city for the first time. a clear message to israel — "we can escalate too." some of hezbollah's rockets got through today. drivers had a narrow escape on this highway in israel. but the major destruction and loss of life is across the border. this was southern lebanon, israel hitting 60 sites it says were linked to hezbollah

intelligence, some of them in front of us in the city of tyre. well, there'sjust been more incoming israeli fire, and there is smoke rising now. we can't tell exactly what has been hit, but that is a residential area with residential blocks. there was some outgoing fire from hezbollah a few hours ago, and this is now a familiar routine in southern lebanon. the gathering storm here this week means british nationals have been told to leave lebanon immediately. isabella baker, a human rights student, will be on a boat tonight because she doesn't want family and friends back home to worry. but she's critical of the uk government. i100% think the uk government should be doing a lot more, and, of course, it has to worry about its citizens, i understand that.

but i think there are priorities, and we wouldn't have to leave if it weren't for the fact that israel is bombing this country. tonight, these men are wondering if they could be the next to be bombed. they are the government's civil defence team here in the city of tyre, and theyjust had a call telling them to leave their headquarters. an israeli voice claimed there was a hezbollah target nearby. this station chief fears history is repeating itself. "my daughter was killed in the war in 2006 in an israeli strike on the centre," he tells me. "i had brought her there for safety. my wife was badly maimed and is still suffering.

i don't want to lose any of my men in the centre this time." they say they will now work from the street to keep saving lives. orla guerin, bbc news, tyre. we will speak to orla guerin live in a moment. but first we can speak to paul adams in the north of israel. we have heard a change in rhetoric in the last few hours but are there visible signs the israeli army is preparing for this invasion? hat preparing for this invasion? not reall . it preparing for this invasion? not really- it is _ preparing for this invasion? not really. it is rhetoric for them for the time being and i don't think anyone anticipates any kind of ground operation happening anytime soon. i think we are in for a lot more bombing before israel reaches that point. are speaking you from a kibbutz where there are 200 israeli civilians waiting to go to the homes they evacuated from a year ago. some

of them are from a kibbutz 25 miles north of here, and we were there this afternoon being shown around by the israeli army, seeing evidence of houses damaged by rocket strikes. the army personnel we spoke to said hezbollah has to be pushed back from the border, has to be pushed back as far as the litani river, a significant distance back from the border and they said only then would it be safe for civilians sheltering here and elsewhere in the country to return to their homes. to drive home the level of danger still experienced in places like this, just as we were getting ready to leave the sirens were wailing and we heard rockets being fired from the border across from lebanon a couple of miles away unresolved rockets being intercepted by israel's iron dome system above our heads. no one is going back to any of those communities until hezbollah has been pushed well away from the border. paul adams in northern israel, thank

you. we can go to orla senior international correspondent in tyre. we saw in your report to the difficulties of being in that part of lebanon at the moment. how has the mood change there tonight giving the new information we are hearing from the israeli army? there has been a quite _ hearing from the israeli army? there has been a quite marked _ hearing from the israeli army? there has been a quite marked a _ hearing from the israeli army? there has been a quite marked a change in the mood and also in the level of israeli military strikes. this was a conflict that for the past year had red lines and everyone knew where they were. this week that has changed. we are in a new war. israel killed 550 people on monday here in lebanon and another 50 people here today. it is striking harder and deeper. today we also had hezbollah targeting tel aviv for the first time. in terms of the attacks here in the city of tyre they have been getting louder and they have been getting louder and they have been getting closer. through the afternoon we have been hearing very, very loud explosions. one of those

which we could see behind us was less than about a kilometre away, around half a mile. less than about a kilometre away, around halfa mile. in less than about a kilometre away, around half a mile. in the last half an hour or so, around half a mile. in the last half an hour orso, just around half a mile. in the last half an hour or so, just before we came on air, we heard three very loud bangs, a very loud explosion nearby, we heard ambulance after ambulance rushing to the scene after that and i think there is a real sense here in southern lebanon tonight that the war is coming closer. firia in southern lebanon tonight that the war is coming closer.— war is coming closer. orla guerin and pauladams, _ war is coming closer. orla guerin and paul adams, thank - war is coming closer. orla guerin and paul adams, thank you - war is coming closer. orla guerin and paul adams, thank you for l and paul adams, thank you for joining us. so for, you get a sense of how not just have changed in the last week but also how things have changed in the last few hours here. people are getting used to waking up in the morning and not knowing what the day will bring. i think in the next few hours and days that will become even more acute. hours and days that will become even more acute-— well, the prime minister sir keir starmer is in new york at the united nations. he has again told british nationals who are in still

in lebanon to leave at once. 700 more uk military personnel are on their troops personnel are on their way to cyprus to prepare for a possible evacuation. our political editor chris mason reports from new york. the lofty urban heights of new york, the prime minister swapped his party conference for the ultimate conference of world leaders — the united nations general assembly. and uppermost in mind, lebanon. i call on the security council to seek political solutions that can break repeated cycles of violence, like that in the middle east. the region is on the brink. and his message to uk citizens in lebanon... leave now. it's very important — the situation is escalating. we need the situation to de—escalate, but i say to british nationals, don't wait, leave now. i'm very concerned about the increasing escalation, which is notjust day on day but almost hour on hour at the moment. you're deploying hundreds of trips to nearby cyprus.

would you put troops into danger on the ground to help evacuate britons if that becomes necessary? i'm not going to get into the details of evacuation plans, as you would expect. we put contingency pleasure measures in place. the international picture dominating here, but things back home follow a prime minister everywhere. have you noticed how keir starmer likes to say, "country first, party second"? all the doom and gloom that we've heard from you guys in the last few months, that was talking the country down, wasn't it? that wasn't "country first". i think if we're going to have to take difficult decisions, and we are. it's important that we do the diagnosis, what's the state of the country? what's the state of the economy? the bbc is reporting today about growing unease within the nhs about that language, talking about it as being "broken", that might put off patients seeking help. well, i say broken but not beaten. i do understand from the staff perspective, it's really hard, but it's really hard. does it give you pause for thought, though, in the round that the language that

you might have used, the net result of that sounds incredibly negative? it talks the country down. no, that's not right. we have to have an accurate diagnosis of what the problem is and then ourjob is to say, "what are we going to do about it?" three months in, according to ipsos mori, you are the second least popular prime minister since the 1990s, beaten only by liz truss. does that give you pause for thought? no. i will be judged at the next election on whether i've delivered higher living standards, so people are better off, better public services with the nhs functioning properly again. you know, popular decisions are not tough. tough decisions are unpopular. there are people in your government who are deeply unhappy with your chief of staff, sue gray, sufficiently so that they were willing to leak me confidential information. i should be clear, there are other people who hugely rate her. i wonder how you are going to sort this. are you going to get rid of them,

those grumblers, or get rid of her? i don't believe that my staff should be the subject of public debate like this, and i acknowledge that briefings to you are not helpful to the government. my focus is on what we need to do as a government to change the country for the better. shake hands. next for the prime minister, diplomacy in front of the cameras, which looks and sounds like this. plenty more handshakes and meetings in the next few days. a growing sense here of how bleak the situation in lebanon increasingly looks, it is our understanding there are between 4000 and 6000 uk nationals in lebanon, including dependents and a dominating theme of conversation it is here. ukraine also been talking about, the prime minister will meet president zelensky in the next couple of hours with his focus on the international scene, conscious

that the domestic dilemmas continue to play out at home. ichris that the domestic dilemmas continue to play out at home.— to play out at home. chris mason our olitical to play out at home. chris mason our political editor _ to play out at home. chris mason our political editor in _ to play out at home. chris mason our political editor in new— to play out at home. chris mason our political editor in new york, - to play out at home. chris mason our political editor in new york, thank i political editor in new york, thank you. well, the prime minister left liverpool last night before the end of labour's party conference. it ended today with delegates embarrassing the labour leadership over one of their most prominent — and controversial — policies. delegates voted for the government to reverse its decision to cut winter fuel payments. ten million pensioners stand to lose the benefit after the chancellor announced she was planning to restrict winter fuel payments to only those pensioners who are receiving pension credit. our political correspondent, hannah miller, is in westminster. the vote is non—binding but what impact is this likely to have? well, sophie, you can call this vote awkward, inconvenient, but it isn't likely to actually change any policy at all. it was scheduled for when keir starmer had already left the conference and it is definitely not the first time that unions have voted against a labour prime

minister. the challenge, though, for keir starmer is this was his first conference as prime minister, he would have hoped to have a more positive story and he struggled to dampen down the criticism around this policy. the leader of unite sharon graham accused him of making everyday people pay while the wealthiest don't get touched at all. ministers have repeatedly insisted that they had to make this saving in this financial year, but that was why the decision had to to be taken but they will be looking to change that narrative when it comes to the budget in five weeks' time when keir starmer has said that those with the broadest shoulders should bear the heaviest burden. the question for many is whether their actions will match those words.— many is whether their actions will match those words. hannah, thank ou. the time is 6:20. our top story this evening... israel launches hundreds more air strikes against hezbollah today, as the head of the army tells troops to be ready for a possible ground invasion into lebanon.

still to come, so alan bates received his knighthood for services to justice. coming up on sportsday on bbc news... after a historic win on sunday, the roses couldn't repeat the feat today losing the deciding game of their series against world and commonwealth champions australia. we speak to the england head coach. almost 200 women have now come foward to accuse the former harrods owner mohamed al fayed of sexual assualt. the fresh accusations come after the bbc�*s documentary last week exposed decades of serious allegations against al fayed who died last year. now five of his original accusers have come together to share their experiences and call forjustice, describing themselves as "lambs to the slaughter". our correspondent ellie price has the story. he would call me into his office and

this doesn't — he would call me into his office and this doesn't work and this is distracting and then would rip my buttons_ distracting and then would rip my buttons open off the front of my shirt _ these women didn't know each other�*s stories until the bbc documentary last week. we arejoined here on breakfast right now byjen, nicole, lindsay, gemma and katherine. they all described being isolated by mohamed al fayed at the time. now they realise they were not alone in what they experienced. we all have the same pattern, even though if you lined us up, i think we go from working there in the �*80s to the mid—2000s. all of us had the same experiences. and being all together, i think it's quite good to think, "oh, god, ithought for ages this was just me." you kind of accepted what was going on and internalised that actually, you know, "is itjust me? am i the victim of the really hard behaviour?" you were terrified to speak out. jen was too, and this morning she waived her anonymity for the first time. initially i didn't want to be involved because mohamed was still alive.

and as ridiculous as that may sound to people not involved, he still felt like a threat until the moment he died. mohamed al fayed was chairman of harrods between 1985 and 2010. he died last year aged 94. he won't face justice now but these women say there was a web of corruption within the company that allowed the abuse to happen and kept it hushed up. i almost had given up hope that anyone was going to actually find out anything, really, because he was so successful at putting people up in front of him that he could hide behind. they enabled — all these people, enabled the situation, and left us like lambs to the slaughter. harrods declined to come on bbc breakfast this morning. the department store, which came under new ownership in 2010, has previously said it's appalled by the allegations. harrods also told the bbc it was investigating whether any current employees were involved in any of the allegations, but they haven't told us if any

individual has been identified or any action taken. the monster that was al fayed was at the centre of all this, but it's easy and convenient, if i may say so, to actually just say it was him. there was a system, there was a process which enabled and facilitated the sexual abuse of these women. and there are people still working at harrods who you think were involved in this? that's my belief. many women later abused by al fayed were asked to take intrusive sexual health tests when they started at harrods. today a complaint has been made to the general medical council about one of the doctors who carried out such tests. i never got my results either. they went straight to mohamed al fayed. i never got them. they never even shared them with you? they never shared them with me. shocking. since the bbc documentary was released last week, lawyers for al fayed's accusers say hundreds more women have come forward. and with every new story, the call forjustice grows stronger. ellie price, bbc news.

phillip schofield has announced he will appear in a new tv series for the first time since his resignation from itv in may last year. the 62—year—old will appear in channel 5's cast away series, which sees him stranded alone on an island off madagascar for ten days. the presenter left itv�*s this morning after he admitted to having had an "unwise but not illegal" affair with a younger male colleague. fraud accounted for more than 40% of crime in england and wales last year — it's now the crime that you're most likely to fall victim to. now new rules will force banks to refund victims of fraud and scams with up to £85,000 within five days. but that is substantially less than some consumer campaigners were hoping for. our cost of living correspondent colletta smith has been speaking to victims impacted by the scams. really, really scared. i mean, i collapsed. ifelt i'd colluded. carol is a lecturer in finance.

but after a call from someone claiming to be from her bank's security team, she downloaded software that gave fraudsters access to both of her bank accounts. they emptied everything that they'd transferred from santander and everything that was in my tide account. £80,000 taken between two different bank accounts. she got her money back from santander the next day, but it was an 18—month battle with the online bank tide to get her money back because she'd been tricked. these scams have become so sophisticated. the right number, knowing details of my account... i'm a specialist in financial markets and corruption and they managed to fool me! now, new rules coming into force in 12 days' time will give customers better protection. the rules mean anyone scammed will be fully refunded by their bank within five days, up to a limit of £85,000. once that's happened,

your bank will be able to claim 50% back from the bank where the money landed — the fraudster�*s bank. these new rules are supposed to turn the tables and give the power back to the victims of fraud. so i've come to meet the regulator in charge of making and enforcing the rules. whether you get reimbursed and the amount you get reimbursed can actually depend who you bank with. and that can't be right. we want to have a consistent experience for customers. with the limit of £85,000, our research shows that 99%, or over 99%, of claims would have been covered. fraud is at a huge scale at the moment. it's the most reported crime in the uk. are these changes too little, too late for customers? the shifting onto the fraudster's bank is really a game—changer because it gives them an incentive that they didn't have before. in brighton, carol got all her money back...eventually. tide told us they apologised for the stress she suffered and routinely remind members to look out for fraudsters. consumer groups say those facing

the highest level of fraud still won't get full protection. but for most victims, the new rules will make life easier. colletta smith, bbc news. sir alan bates, the man who helped to expose the post office horizon it scandal, has received his knighthood from princess anne at windsor castle. knight bachelor to receive the honour— knight bachelor to receive the honour of— knight bachelor to receive the honour of knighthood, sir alan bates for services _ honour of knighthood, sir alan bates for services tojustice. speaking after receiving his knighthood, siralan, who founded the justice for subpostmasters alliance, said the government needed to set a deadline for a compensation offer for subpostmasters affected by the scandal. a man from warwickshire says he's lucky to be alive after surviving a hippo attack whilst on holiday in zambia. 63—year—old roland cherry was on a trip of a lifetime with his wife, when the animal attacked their canoe. here's the dramatic account of what happened. when the hippo first hit the canoe,

there was a massive crash, much like a car crash, really, and the canoe reared up into the air. we were tossed into the river. i remember surfacing in the water realising that my shoulder was quite badly injured. i realised i had dislocated it from the outset and then the consequences was that i couldn't actually swim so i was really a sitting duck trying to swim with one arm which was never going to end well. well, ijust remember this sensation of being grabbed from underneath and then being dragged down and i do rememberthinking, "oh, no, what a way to go! i am not ready to die." and i thought, this was it. i was grabbed again and then thrown through the air like a rag doll but towards the bank which was the godsend. and then they managed to get me out and then lay me across the first three seats of a minibus and the driver said, "we should take him straight to the hospital."

and they took one look at me and said, "you are in a bad way, we are going to operate now." so that early intervention is probably what saved me. i am forever in their debt. they gave me everything they had which was my life. wow, roland cherry, a very lucky man, very lucky to survive that. time for a look at the weather. here's louise lear. afamiliar a familiar sight recently, it has been pretty wet, how wet? across southern england, some places have seen three times more than the average rainfall as you can see quite clearly and guess what? there is more to come. in fact, if you take a look at rainfall accumulation through now to friday, the brighter green colours across north—east england and close to the midlands where we have seen that heavy rainfall, we could see a further 80 millimetres, so there is more heavy rain to come before we close out the month of september. here is the next

low—pressure starting to push on and it is going to sweep its way steadily eastwards. through tonight, heavy rain moving through the midlands, the south—east, north—east of england and northern ireland where here it is likely to likely to grind to a halt for a time. clearer skies up into scotland, here single figures first thing in the morning. not quite as cool a start as the morning just passed. further south, an unsettled one. we are going to see some rain tomorrow, some heavy, it will linger across northern england and northern ireland accompanied by a brisk north—easterly wind here as well. across england and wales, a case of sunny spells and scattered showers but those showers could really be quite torrential at times with hail and may be thunder. the best of any dry weather is likely to be into scotland but a cool —ish feel, 11 to 12 degrees and that is the story into friday. a northerly wind will clear the rain but at a price. it is going to feel quite cool for this stage in september, the rain lingers in the south—east to begin with,

easing away, sunny spells and scattered showers for many on friday. you have to factor in the direction of the wind, that is going to be a little bit of a shock to the system, top temperatures generally below par for late september, between nine and 13 degrees. thanks, louise. and that's bbc news at six. you can keep up with all the latest developments on the bbc website. now it's time to join our colleagues for the news where you are, goodbye. zero believed with manchester united manager leading his team against the one who holds most dear. this is the club that lynch is the revolution will see how money can flow to the wsf. and the roses fall short down under losing their serious decider to australia. also coming up on

sports day this evening. after the worlds