are without power after hurricane helene hit the southeastern united states. and in westminster, labour mp rosie duffield quits the party, accusing prime minister keir starmer of hypocrisy. hello, i'm helena humphrey. hezbollah has confirmed that an israeli strike on a beirut apartment block on friday killed its long—time leader. hassan nasrallah led the lebanese based group for 32 years. his assassination deals a huge blow to the organisation he has been in charge of since 1992. israel had already killed a number of other senior commanders in recent weeks. israel's prime minister called nasrallah's killing an historic turning point and said israel had settled the score. in a moment, we'll bring you more reaction from the region. but first, a look at

the impact in lebanon where the health ministry said 33 people were killed and nearly 200 were injured in new israeli air strikes on saturday. our senior international correspondent orla guerin has the latest from beirut. explosion. this is what beirut has been enduring, massive israeli strikes that could ignite the whole region because israel killed its target, sheikh hassan nasrallah. for his followers, it's a devastating blow, for his iranian backers, a strategic loss. the long—time leader of hezbollah was a long time in hiding. this was the moment,

in a new york hotel room on friday, when binyamin netanyahu approved the strike on his old enemy. translation: the state - of israel yesterday eliminated the master murderer hassan nasrallah. we settled accounts with the one responsible for the murder of countless israelis and many citizens of other countries. nasrallah was not another terrorist, he was the terrorist. israel claims this is a historic turning point. for many in beirut, it's a time of fear. plenty were fleeing the city today, clinging to the hope of finding safety somewhere. but there is danger in every direction in lebanon. we travelled through dahieh, the hezbollah stronghold now looking anything but. it's been bombed

time after time. this is just one of the locations that has been hit. there's smoke still rising here. there's ash in the air and you can smell the explosives, and i can hear a drone now overhead. the strike here happened overnight, and since then, there's been no let—up. in beirut�*s martyrs�* square, many slept in the open and remained there today, new homeless from the middle east's newest war. the governor of beirut, who has no connection with hezbollah, fears for his city. what do you think is the israeli plan here, what are they trying to do? i don't know, but israel want to kill and to kill and to kill. you cannot predict what israel can do. but you fear the worst? may god protect this country.

it seems a very sad moment for you. it's the saddest moment in my life. thank you. and a moment of grave danger for lebanon and the middle east. israel says its work is not finished. no—one can be sure what will come next. orla guerin, bbc news, beirut. let's bring you some more reaction now from the region. isreal�*s chief of general staff justified the strike saying, "nasrallah indiscriminately murdered israeli civilians and aimed to end this war with the destruction of the state of israel". adding, "we are determined to continue destroying the hezbollah terrorist organisation and to keep fighting." in the past hour iran has called for an emergency un security council meeting. its ambassador saying this: "iran will not hesitate to exercise its inherent rights under international law to take every measure in defence of its vital national and security interests. "

and the iran—backed houthis in yemen released a statement saying: "the martyrdom will increase the strength of sacrifice determination and continuity." zero let's get more on what we know about the israeli strikes that have been taking place with bbc verify�*s merlyn thomas. as the sun was setting over beirut on september 27, the city was rocked by a series of large explosions. it concluded a week of israeli strikes on southern areas of the lebanese capital. here bbc victorify has confirmed. the —— verify has confirmed. the —— verify has confirmed. the —— verify has confirmed. the health ministry says hundreds of people have been killed since september 23. israel says its intended target in the strike was hezbollah leader, hassan nasrallah, whose death has now been confirmed by the group. dramatic footage flooded social media in the immediate aftermath, which our

team at bbc verify has been analysing. verification like this is key to our understanding of a developing story. as well as helping to root out old or misleading footage, which regularly emerges online during major events. this footage gave some sense of the location. in the foreground, you can see the runway of beirut airport, and a distinctive building which confirmed we were facing north. as more footage emerged, further clues about the location were revealed. for instance, this dramatic shot filmed from a building close to the blasts offered several clues — these solar panels facing directly towards the camera confirmed that we're looking north from around this point. finally, this footage from the ground emerged which helped to pin point the location — based on the surroundings, we could confirm that these multistorey buildings were struck and subsequently collapsed. israel says it's targeting weapons and members of hezbollah. but in doing so, its strikes are

causing death and destruction in lebanon. for more, i'm ever speaking to thomasjuneau. the university of ottawa's graduate school of public and international affairs. to begin with then, hezbollah now without a leader. some say that many of its followers, this is the only leader that they've ever known if you look at the past three decades. i wonder where you think in your assessment where this leaves the group? clearly in some kind of disarray right now, but how diminished do you see it as being? or could we also face the possibility of it reorganising in a way that we might not fully understand yet? well, i think the last part of your question is really the most important one. we need more time and more... we need to let the dust settle much more before we have a good idea of how to answer that question. in the past, looking at other terrorist groups, when there has been instances of leadership decapitation, the impact is extremely unpredictable and can go

in multiple ways. if the dead leader is replaced by a more competent and radical leader, you can be worse off with that. that's what happened after hassan nasrallah himself came to power 30 years ago. it's notjust hassan nasrallah who was killed. several other layers of leadership have been killed. according to media reports, significant damage has been done to hezbollah infrastructure, weapons caches. there was the pager attacks from a cup of weeks ago that injured hundreds of hezbollah fighters and created significant psychological damage as well. so at the very least, hezbollah is very much off balance and is will likely be weaker down the road. how much weaker, we will have to see. i'm sure you've seen the comments of hezbollah vowing to avenge hassan nasrallah's killing. i wonder how they can do that without escalating the situation further? does it essentially have to calibrate its response here?

iran is in a very difficult position now. and iran has been suffering a lot of losses in the last few months, with hamas being severely weakened and now with everything that's going on with hezbollah. the dilemma for iran is that if it doesn't respond, if it doesn't do anything, it will lose face. it will lose face with its adversaries, especially israel. they will perceive weakness and push harder against iran. that's already what we're seeing. but iran will also lose face and credibility with its own allies and partners, such as hezbollah and hamas and the houthis who will see iran as not responding. at the same time, if iran does respond, there is a serious risk of escalation, as you said, and that is something that iran absolutely wants to avoid, because in a scenario of escalation, israel and probably the us, will hit back iran much harder than iran can hit israel, and iran will suffer the most. and that's right now priority number one, i think, for iran to avoid. looking down the line at this, if iran feels that it may be perceived as being weakerjust

by the fact that hezbollah has been dented in this way, where does it go next? and does it make the regime, for example, look towards its nuclear capabilities and think about that being important in terms of a deterrent on the world stage? so that's an extremely important question. there's been a fair bit of talk that has intensified a lot in the past 2a hours, but that was already intensifying in the past few weeks given iran's mounting losses. could this be the final shove that would push iran towards taking that last step with its nuclear weapons programme? and actually getting a nuclear weapon, which it doesn't at this point, even though it is getting close. on the one hand, with iran's other deterrent capabilities being very much weakened, hezbollah and hamas, there is a good argue am on that side from iran's perspective. but the counter argument to that which think is also quite convincing from iran's perspective is that israel has very clearly shown, especially since yesterday, but also in the last couple

of weeks, that its own red lines have been significantly pushed back, and that israel has made the decision to push back much harder than it did until not so long ago against hezbollah in particular, but also against iran and the houthis in yemen. so if israel sees iran as making those last steps towards a nuclear weapons capability, there is a very, very high chance that israel would hit iran hard, and again, it comes back to this point that that is exactly what iran wants to avoid. i'm glad that you mentioned the houthis there, because ijust wonder — do you think that all of a sudden, the spotlight at least from iran's perspective could be shining more brightly on them as a group, as them as an ally proxy, and so on, in light of what we've seen happen to hezbollah — often referred to as the crown jewel? absolutely. with hamas severely weakened, hezbollah weakened but not severely — at least not at this point, the houthis are the one player in iran's axis of resistance, the network of violent groups that it supports throughout the region

that has been rising. the emergence of the houthis in the last year has been very strong. and now, they are, ithink, much more prominent in iran's calculus given the weakening of hamas and hezbollah in particular. that being said, there is a major difference between hamas and hezbollah on the one side and the houthis on the other, and that's geography. it's 2,000km. the houthis are dominant in yemen. they have strong capabilities to pressure saudi arabia, in particular on the arabian peninsula, but they're 2,000km away from israel. they have shown the capability to have drones that could hit israel, but because of distance and israel's very strong air defences, their ability to seriously hurt israel is really not as much as hamas�*s capability. so yes, at a regional level, i think that we will see the houthis continue to gain in prominence, but from israel's perspective, that is a bit less concerning. and lastly, and briefly if you don't mind — we've been talking about de—escalation, diplomatic solutions,

of course, around the world, for around 11 months in all of this. do you see anything that could potentially work in terms of a diplomatic de—escalation that hasn't been touted so far, that could work here? in the short—term, i don't. in the short—term, i think israel perreceives that it has momentum. israel perrieves that its adversaries are on the back foot, and that is from a technical perspective, correct. i don't think for domestic reasons. but for the military reasons, israel will be seriously interested in talking about anything else but de—escalation, but not actually doing it. good to talk to you. thanks a lot. thank you. at least 66 people have been killed in nepal since friday after persistent downpours triggered widespread flooding and landslides. most of the deaths took place in the country's capital in kathmandu valley. home to more than four million people, flooding closed major roads and disrupted domestic air travel.

3,000 rescue workers have been using helicopters and rubber boats to help people stranded on rooftops and elevated ground. police say that 64 people are still missing. here's what one local truck driver said about his experience with the floods. translation: water gushed into the cabin of our truck- at around 1am, wejumped, swam and got away from it but my purse, bag and mobile got swept away. i have nothing now. we stayed the whole night in the cold. several southeastern us states are seeing significant flooding, after hurricane helene hit the region. at least 63 people have died and officials fear number will increase. at least three million people are without power. the category four hurricane is the most powerful storm on record to hit florida's big bend area, and moved north into georgia and the carolinas after making landfall overnight on thursday. with gusts of 140 miles per hour and heavy rain, damages from the storm are estimated to be as high as $110 billion.

helene unleashed the worst flooding in a century in north carolina, essentially cutting off access to the western part of the state with forced road closures. and in atlanta, 13 inches of rain fell over 48 hours — the most the city has seen over two days since 1878. florida governor ron desantis says authorities are assessing the strom's damage throughout florida. clearly, you saw a storm surge in excess of 15 feet. so that is much, much more significant than what we've seen in recent storms, like idalia and also debbie that hit, and that is really, really destructive. so as you look around here, you see some homes that are now just rubble. this stuff's coming in. it's fierce, and it just is unstoppable. so there's a lot of damage that we're seeing here. i spoke with cristiarn benavides, miami correspondent with our us news partner, cbs.

bring us up—to—date with the level of destruction that's been seen on the ground. i should mention that you mentioned how helene impacted north carolina, the carolina scene, the most deaths up to this point. there are also part of north carolina that currently have no cell service or internet service so there are officials that are trying to get communications up and running there. this was a monster of a storm. if you just take a look at it, it was fast—moving, still over tennessee. the state of tennessee in fact has some flash flood warnings at this point. the clean—up will take some time, it will — it's quite incredible to see some of the images particularly when you look at florida and cedar key, this is a small community which was impacted by idalia last year and now you have this major storm impacting it once again.

these are homes that have been completely wiped out there. it'sjust so much rebuilding that needs to take place across the south—east. at this point, we've got about 3 million customers, 3 million homes that have no power across the southeast. most appear to be in georgia where there are a million customers without power there but again, the impact in the carolinas, particularly north carolina is of historic proportions. i have to say, i know cedar key, i was there on the ground last year for hurricane idalia, some people using the entire homes, not everyone there having insurance because of the risk so how are they doing? how are they coping? it's going to be a difficult road ahead. you had a number of insurance carriers that have pulled out of the state of florida at this point. for many residents in florida,

the only available insurance company is the one that is a state—funded and funding for that company is quickly running out. it's got a lot of people seeing premiums that are larger than their mortgage payments. so, there is a real reckoning that is happening with florida residents that they have to decide whether or not the state continues to be affordable. 0verall, you have to — it's notjust what's happening in cedar key, you have to take a step back and look what when hurricane ian made landfall two years ago in fort myers beach, completely wiping out the community and now, the having to rebuild. they're still not up to speed to where they should be. they haven't fully rebuily so this is a process that takes years and it's going to be quite challenging. i think what's even more incredible at this point is that there is potentially another system that is developing out in the gulf,

exactly where helene developed and that could turn into a storm in the coming weeks. you were just mentioning the thought process that people have to go through when they're think being this. and when making that calculation, are they also having to think about whether these hurricanes are becoming more frequent? is the science seeing that? well, they're becoming certainly more impactful in that these are major storms that are developing in under 24 hours. in the sense that they are rapidly intensifying from a tropical system to a tropical storm, to a major hurricane. and all of that is happening within such a short amount of time. and that just appears to be the norm. that we've seen in the past three years. so i think a lot of people are looking at that anecdotally, and there has been some reporting on this that there are folks that are looking at florida and considering whether or not

it is worth to live down here. in westminster, a labour member of parliament has quit the party, over what she says is sir keir starmer�*s �*cruel and unnecessary�* policies, as well as his acceptance of gifts from political donors. rosie duffield�*s resignation letter criticised the prime minister�*s decision to remove an annual fuel subsidy from ten million pensioners, and his approach to child poverty. she also attacked sir keir for accepting more than £16,000 of designer suits and glasses — writing, "i am so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party". ms duffield — who voted against keir starmer becoming leader in 2020 — will continue to serve in parliament as an independent mp. downing street has yet to reply. 0ur poitical correspondent damian grammaticas gives us the background to the resignation.

well, i think it is important, of course, and it�*s significant because it comes so soon into sir keir starmer�*s time as prime minister. less than three months since he walked through the door of downing street, one of his own mps has chosen to stand down. and with a blistering attack in this letter, which she released publicly to the newspapers. so designed to wound. and it�*s worth going through some of those quotes. you heard some of them that you read out already. but she criticises sir keir starmer, she says, for his leadership. she says, it has never been true or inspiring leadership. she criticises him for his policies, particularly those cuts he�*s bringing in, which she says are cruel and unnecessary and will affect hundreds of thousands of the poorest and most vulnerable people. and she criticises him for his personal behaviour, his personal decisions, accepting gifts, sleaze, nepotism, avarice off the scale, which she says

tarnish and humiliate the party. she has been speaking to sunday with laura kuenssberg at the bbc and this is what she has told that programme. we all had our faith in keir starmer and a labour government, and i feel that voters and activists and mp5 are being completely laughed at and completely taken for granted. it is worth saying that rosie duffield has had a long difficult relationship with keir starmer and the leader before him, jeremy corbyn, and even with some in her local party branch. she has been a vocal campaign on issues such as anti—semitism and women�*s rights, she says she has faced abuse and threats internally and an investigation which had exonerated her, but complains the leadership never supported her in those times. the problem here is it is not those issues, it is the leadership of keir starmer that she is attacking. there is no sign other labour mps are likely to follow,

but we do know she is tapping into a vein of discontent among some in the party about his leadership, and while downing street and keir starmer are desperate to move on from the rows about gifts to delivering on the policies that they have promised, what will be very difficult for them is that this very public resignation simply perpetuates that criticism. let�*s turn to some other important news around the world. hurricanejohn — which made landfall twice on mexico�*s pacific coast — has left reportedly 22 people dead. in the worst—hit state of guerrero, local media reports deadly mudslides and flooding killed 18 people. while the rains have now stopped, the streets of acapulco remained flooded on saturday. nine people have been killed in twin russian drone strikes on a hospital in ukraine�*s north—eastern city of sumy, according to to ukrainian officials. the building was first hit on satruday morning and then

again as rescuers were evacuating peple. a nurse and police officer who had been aiding the evacuation were among those killed in the strikes. conservative delegates have been gathering for their party�*s annual conference in birmingham. it comes as the battle for the party�*s leadership continues. the four remaining candidates to replace former prime minister rishi sunak will each have an opportunity to address the gathering before the final two are selected on october the 10th. the next leader is expected to be announced in november. king charles has attended a ceremony in edinburgh — to mark the 25th anniversary of the scottish parliament. addressing msps at holyrood, the king described the formation of the scottish parliament in 1999 as "a landmark" in the nation�*s "long, rich and complex history". looking ahead, he warned of the dangers of climate change — saying the planet�*s biodiversity was being seriously depleted. a space x crew bound for the international space station took off on saturday with a mission to shuttle back two stranded nasa astronauts.

suni williams and butch wilmore were meant to return to earth after a brief mission, but technical problems with the boeing starliner craft turned an eight—day test into what will be an eight—month mission. the spacex capsule has two seats reserved for the stranded astronauts, and will make its way home in february 2025. it will be good to see them back soon. you�*re watching bbc news. thank you from everyone here in washington. 0ur colleagues in london take over from now. goodbye for now. hello there. saturday�*s sunny skies will gradually be eroded by cloud and then wind and rain for many as we close out sunday. yes, it�*s going to gradually turn wet and windy, particularly from the south and west. now, we�*ve already, in southern england, seen some record—breaking rainfall totals for the month,

and we�*re just going to add to those totals over the next few days. some areas could see another 50—60mm before we close out the month. so here�*s that area of low pressure gradually winding its way in from the south—west. ahead of it, though, clearer skies, so it will be a chilly start to our sunday morning. some early—morning sunshine, but gradually we�*ll see that cloud pushing its way steadily north and east. perhaps north—east england and eastern scotland clinging on to the best of the brightness throughout the day. so as we go through to the afternoon, we mightjust see some sunny skies continuing. cloudier skies out to the west. a few isolated showers. temperatures generally between 12 and 14 degrees. not too bad in the afternoon into northern ireland and north—east england as well, but you can see the cloud arriving. there�*ll be a few outbreaks of showers ahead of it moving through the midlands. gradually, the heaviest of the rain pushing into south and west wales, along with south—west england, and the winds will strengthen to gale—force gusts with it too. top temperatures generally, then, 12—15 degrees as we go through sunday afternoon. so the gusty winds will strengthen further overnight as that rain continues to move its way steadily north and east, pushing into

the midlands, south—east england and to the north of england by dawn on monday morning. we keep the clearer skies in scotland. here, still single figures, but not quite as cold to start monday morning, with the cloud, wind and rain. there is still a level of uncertainty exactly where this low pressure is going to sit. it�*s going to be pretty slow—moving. potentially, the heaviest of the rain will always be across england and wales, with a few scattered sharper showers into northern ireland and a drier story for much of scotland. but we�*ll keep a close eye on that. some of that rain really quite heavy across north—west england for a time, potentially brightening up by the end of the afternoon across central and southern england, 13—17 degrees. the low pressure slowly starts to ease away on tuesday, and then on wednesday a quieter story, with a greater chance of seeing more sunshine for early october.

voice—over: this is bbc news. we�*ll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. corps yeah, i went back to harrods about a year ago probably the first time since i left and 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. side i'd be in a good place to be talking to you.— be talking to you. when i walked through - be talking to you. when i walked through the - be talking to you. when i | walked through the doors be talking to you. when i i walked through the doors to start— walked through the doors to start my— walked through the doors to start myjob there, i was excited _ start myjob there, i was excited. at no point in time did i— excited. at no point in time did i ever_ excited. at no point in time did i ever anticipate being on the receiving end of an attempted rape. |

the receiving end of an attempted rape. i “oined hamish attempted rape. i “oined harrods because _ attempted rape. i “oined harrods because 1h attempted rape. ijoinedl harrods because i wanted attempted rape. ijoined - harrods because i wanted to be a buyer— harrods because i wanted to be a buyer and _ harrods because i wanted to be a buyer and i_ harrods because i wanted to be a buyerand i ended— harrods because i wanted to be a buyerand i ended up- harrods because i wanted to be a buyer and i ended up workingj a buyer and i ended up working foran— a buyer and i ended up working for an absolute _ a buyer and i ended up working for an absolute monster. - a buyer and i ended up working for an absolute monster. [- for an absolute monster. think you damaged me for an absolute monster]- think you damaged me some for an absolute monster.|_ think you damaged me some way. he hasjust left a think you damaged me some way. he has just left a scar. the he hasjust left a scar. the billionaire _ he hasjust left a scar. the billionaire businessman mohamed al fayed _ billionaire businessman mohamed al fayed who went from selling soft drinks in egypt to owning harrods — soft drinks in egypt to owning harrods and the paris ritz has died _ harrods and the paris ritz has died at — harrods and the paris ritz has died at the age of 94. the egyptian _ died at the age of 94. the egyptian businessman mohamed al fayed _ egyptian businessman mohamed al fayed was— egyptian businessman mohamed al fayed was best _ egyptian businessman mohamed al fayed was best known _ egyptian businessman mohamed al fayed was best known for - egyptian businessman mohamed al fayed was best known for his - fayed was best known for his links— fayed was best known for his links to — fayed was best known for his links to the _ fayed was best known for his links to the british _ fayed was best known for his links to the british royal - links to the british royal family _ links to the british royal family. his _ links to the british royal family. his son- links to the british royal family. his son dodi - links to the british royal family. his son dodi wasj links to the british royal - family. his son dodi was killed alongside _ family. his son dodi was killed alongside princes— family. his son dodi was killed alongside princes diana - family. his son dodi was killed alongside princes diana in - alongside princes diana in i997~ _ alongside princes diana in 1997. ., , , ., 1997. he was the self-made billionaire _ 1997. he was the self-made billionaire determined - 1997. he was the self-made billionaire determined to - 1997. he was the self-made| billionaire determined to get into british society and became no to a new generation through the most recent series over the —— of the crown. to the most recent series over the -- of the crown.— -- of the crown. to be honest, this may _ -- of the crown. to be honest, this may be _ -- of the crown. to be honest, this may be really _ -- of the crown. to be honest, this may be really hot - -- of the crown. to be honest, this may be really hot and - this may be really hot and bothered. i think he comes across— bothered. i think he comes across as _ bothered. i think he comes across as pleasant. we all know he is _ across as pleasant. we all know he is not — across as pleasant. we all know

he is not. , . across as pleasant. we all know he is not-— he is not. just makes him look sort of funny _ he is not. just makes him look sort of funny and _ he is not. just makes him look sort of funny and gregarious . sort of funny and gregarious ahdm — sort of funny and gregarious ahdm and _ sort of funny and gregarious ahdm and he _ sort of funny and gregarious and... and he could- sort of funny and gregarious and... and he could turn- sort of funny and gregarious i and... and he could turn that on but — and... and he could turn that on but it— and... and he could turn that on but it 's_ and... and he could turn that on but it '5 all... _ and... and he could turn that on but it '5 all... he - and... and he could turn that on but it '5 all... he wasn't. i on but it '5 all... he wasn't. he — on but it '5 all... he wasn't. he was— on but it '5 all... he wasn't. he was vile _ on but it '5 all... he wasn't. he was vile. and _ on but it '5 all... he wasn't. he was vile. and that - on but it '5 all... he wasn't.| he was vile. and that makes on but it '5 all... he wasn't. - he was vile. and that makes me angry _ he was vile. and that makes me angry people _ he was vile. and that makes me angry. people shouldn't- angry. people shouldn't remember _ angry. people shouldn't remember him - angry. people shouldn't remember him like - angry. people shouldn'tl remember him like that. angry. people shouldn't. remember him like that. it angry. people shouldn't- remember him like that. it is not how— remember him like that. it is not how he _ remember him like that. it is not how he was. _ remember him like that. it is not how he was.— not how he was. i've been waitin: not how he was. i've been waiting for— not how he was. i've been waiting for 25 _ not how he was. i've been waiting for 25 years - not how he was. i've been waiting for 25 years for . waiting for 25 years for someone to believe me. to talk about the awful things that he did. i about the awful things that he did. ., ,, about the awful things that he did. ., ,., , did. i have spoken up about my time there _ did. i have spoken up about my time there on _ did. i have spoken up about my time there on numerous - time there on numerous occasions. most of the time it has been _ occasions. most of the time it has been shutdown. he tried to rape me more than once. and he pushed me onto the bed so i couldn't move and held my wrist— so i couldn't move and held my wrist so— so i couldn't move and held my wrist so i— so i couldn't move and held my wrist so i was face down on the bed and — wrist so i was face down on the bed and he _ wrist so i was face down on the bed and he pressed himself on me _ bed and he pressed himself on me get — bed and he pressed himself on me. get him off, get him off, -et me. get him off, get him off, get him — me. get him off, get him off,

get him off!