are children and families — we report from a hospital in the bekaa valley. well, within the last few seconds, we have had a strike. we heard the plane in the air. then we felt the impact. the windows here shook, they rattled. and it's an indication of how nowhere here is safe. kemi badenoch walks into a row over maternity pay, as the tory leadership contenders vie for support at the party conference in birmingham. austria's far—right freedom party is holding its lead as votes are counted in sunday's general election. the american country singer, song writer and actor, kris kristofferson

has died aged 88. welcome to bbc news. we begin in the middle east, where israel has again expanded its military operations by bombing targets in yemen. further air strikes on hezbollah in lebanon have also continued throughout the day. a blast has rocked the south—west of the lebanese capital beirut in the last hour, and these are live pictures. the news agency says two people were killed, the first such strike outside of beirut�*s southern suburbs. the killing on friday of hezbollah�*s leader hassan nasrallah has marked a rapid escalation of this conflict. israel says its

airstrikes in yemen, targeting power plants and the port of hodeidah, were their response to missile attacks by the iranian—backed houthis. the houthi—run health ministry says at least four people were killed and 29 wounded. in lebanon, israel attacked more than 120 targets across the day. in a moment, we'll hear from our senior international correspondent orla guerin, who's returned from the bekaa valley in lebanon's east to look at the impact of the israeli operation there. but first, let's get the latest on those israeli attacks in yemen with our correspondent injerusalem, jon donnison. israel's military reach and power is long and strong. this is not lebanon, or gaza, but almost 2,000 kilometres away in yemen. the target — one of the country's biggest ports and two power stations, controlled by iranian—backed houthis, the operation directed by israel's defence minister.

translation: we have no i interest in expanding the war. we have no interest in looking for additionalfronts. but if somebody attacks israel, as the houthis have recently done with missiles and throughout the war with cruise missiles and drones, anyone who carries out such an attack, we will settle the account with them, and we know how to do it. israel is not holding back, its air force releasing footage as they set off for the raid. and earlier today, it says it shot down another drone launched from yemen. for the past year, the yemeni houthis have been trying to influence the conflict in the middle east. this is their commandos seizing a british—owned ship in the red sea last november. they have long—range missiles, are supported by iran and are fiercely opposed to israel. speaking yesterday, the houthis�* military

spokesperson yahya saree said they wouldn't stop until israel ended its aggression against gaza and lebanon. today's strikes in yemen highlight another dangerous front in a war that threatens to engulf the region. jon donnison, bbc news, jerusalem. israel is continuing to launch strikes against what it says are hezbollah targets inside lebanon. at least 50 people are reported to have been killed in a series of attacks in the east of the country. 0ur senior international correspondent 0rla guerin reports from the bekaa valley. a warning you may find some parts of it distressing. israel keeps hitting hard. for now, it looks unstoppable. this is the bekaa valley this afternoon. there were at least 30 air strikes in an hour. danger in every direction.

and new dead. "0ur neighbours, the jamil family, are all gone", he says. as more air strikes rain down, noor lies in intensive care. she is six years old and was injured on her own doorstep on monday. her family says she is intelligent and chatty, and loves meeting new people. but here, shortly before the attack, she was afraid and praying. her mother now prays by her bedside. and suddenly, as we filmed, the planes were back. well, within the last few

seconds, we have had a strike. we heard the plane in the air. then we felt the impact. the windows here shook, they rattled. and it's an indication of how nowhere here is safe. even patients in hospitals can't feel completely safe. minutes later, new wounded. an ambulance has just arrived now, bringing casualties from the latest air strike. they are being treated in the emergency department. there is a lot of anger and tension. people are stressed, wondering when this is going to stop. back in intensive care, noor�*s father abdullah wants the world to see his child. "was she fighting?", he asks. "she was playing at home. does she have weapons?

half of her brain is gone." noor was born after her parents had ten years of ivf. her father says he is not in hezbollah, but now wishes he was. 0rla guerin, bbc news, in the bekaa valley. live pictures from the international space station, where nasa astronaut nick hague and roscosmos cosmonaut aleksandr gorbunov are arriving on a spacex dragon spacecraft. the hatch has been opened, all smiles as they are welcomed into the international space station, getting familiar with their surroundings. the spacex rocket with those crew successfully docked moments ago. there are two spare seats on the dragon vessel, needed to

bring back two astronauts stranded on the station since june, butch wilmore and sonny williams were supposed to spend eight days on the station but had to prolong because of a technical problems. the spacecraft has arrived to retrieve them and has docked successfully with the iss, pictures of the american astronauts and russian cosmonauts getting acquainted with each other ahead of their next step where the boeing star liner spacecraft, well, it developed a fault leading to the two american astronauts being stranded on the international space station. more updates as they come. us presidentjoe biden has said he'll be speaking to the israeli prime minister. taking questions from reporters in delaware as he prepared to return to the white house on air force one, he also said a wider war must be avoided.

are you going to talk to prime minister netanyahu, anything to say to him? yes, i will be talking to him. i will tell you what i say. can all—out war in the middle east be avoided? it has to be, really has to be avoided. we've taken questions relative to embassies and personnel who want to leave... we're not there yet but we are working like hell with the french and many others. for more on the relationship between the us president and benjamin netanyahu, we spoke tojonah blank, who worked withjoe biden for nine years and is a senior political scientist at rand corporation. i'm sure he will be strongly urging netanyahu to de—escalate tensions, but he's given this message are so many times.

unless he's willing to really put forward a credible threat of blocking us military transfers, it really willjust be more discussion. transfers, it really will 'ust be more discussion.fi transfers, it really will 'ust be more discussion. why do you think he has _ be more discussion. why do you think he has so _ be more discussion. why do you think he has so little _ be more discussion. why do you think he has so little sway - think he has so little sway over netanyahu when it comes to israel's policy?— israel's policy? netanyahu has made it quite _ israel's policy? netanyahu has made it quite clear _ israel's policy? netanyahu has made it quite clear that - israel's policy? netanyahu has made it quite clear that he - made it quite clear that he does not wantjoe biden to be president, and he does not want kamala harris to succeed him. he got more out of donald trump during trump's presidency than any israeli leader has gotten from any prior us president, at least since harry truman. really, going back to 2015, he has made his calculations, in that case with president 0bama. so there isn't really much president biden could say short of cutting off arms that would have much sway with netanyahu.

with the election coming up in november, this course of action by netanyahu set to continue? that certainly seems to be the case. if netanyahu were interested in simply a decapitation strike on hezbollah, he could have ended things right after the death of nasrallah. the fact he has continued his assault shows he is not interested in de—escalation. iii is not interested in de-escalation. �* , ., de-escalation. if he's not interested _ de-escalation. if he's not interested in _ de-escalation. if he's not i interested in de-escalation, interested in de—escalation, the prospect of escalation is certainly there. with that in mind, john kirby have said the us is watching iran closely to see how it and hezbollah may respond. what sort of response is the us getting ready for? i think the us is trying to keep an escalator is spiral attached... we got a preview last year in april after israel assassinated an iranian general at a compound in syria. iran

could have responded in a way that kept the spiral more intense. instead it had an almost performative strike. enormous numbers of ballistic missiles and drones, but very carefully telegraphed and 99% of them were destroyed by the us, israeland of them were destroyed by the us, israel and other countries. so we may see something like this or perhaps iran will wait before giving a more robust and dangerous response. some breaking news from the entertainment world. the american singer, songwriter and actor, kris kristofferson has died aged 88. he played a major role in defining american country music in the 1970s. he was known for the songs me and bobby mcgee, and help me make it through the night. as an actor he starred in "pat garret and billy the kid" and "a star is born".

0ur arts correspondent david sillito looks back at his life. #0nmy # on my pillow... it was kris kristofferson�*s mix of songwriting talent and charm that turned this texan oil rig helicopter pilot into one of the biggest stars of the 70s. # i was born upon the tide. willie nelson, johnny cash and waylonjennings, he created a new sound. 0utlaw country. you are finished! there was more than a touch of that mood in his movie roles in films like the convoy.

and a star is born, in which he appeared with barbra streisand. he played a singer with a taste for the excesses of the music world. there were more than a few parallels with his own life. there are so many ways that i got away with murder, just rolling cars, you know? having accidents on motorcycles. just er... playing full tilt. but that hard living texan image was fast on the whole story. he had been a rhodes scholar at university and an army captain who was at one point offered a teaching post at west point. his family did not approve of him abandoning the military for music. # freedom'sjust the military for music. # freedom's just another word...

it's perhaps not a surprise that his best—known song me and bobby mcgee, sung here by his girlfriend at the timejanis joplin, was a celebration of freedom and escape. # help me make it through the night. and here with his wife rita, a reminder of the intense charisma of kris kristofferson. # help me make it through the night. kris kristofferson, who has died at the age of 88. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

in the uk, the four candidates left in the race to become leader of the conservatives are making their cases at the party conference in birmingham. kemi badenoch, robert jenrick, james cleverly and tom tugendhat are trying to win enough support, before mps whittle the list down to two. today saw very different opinions between the candidates on maternity pay, asjoe pike reports. this is the last time i will address you all as leader of our party. audience groan. 12 weeks after he said he would stand down, rishi sunak still hasn't gone. but in his departing message to members, he made a plea for party unity. whoever wins this contest, give them your backing. murmurs of agreement. we must end the division, the backbiting, the squabbling. it's hard to avoid that when, all day, the final four vying to succeed him have been battling it out. a central debate in this

contest is immigration and integration, after kemi badenoch wrote, "not all cultures are equally valid". which cultures in your view are less valid than others? 0h, lots of cultures that believe in child marriage, for instance, or that women don't have equal rights. i actually think its extraordinary that people think that's an unusual or controversial thing to say. of course not all cultures are equally valid. robertjenrick argues that its policy, notjust principles, that matter. look, i think culture matters for integration. that's an important question, but where kemi and i do disagree is on the fact that numbers also matter. that is ultimately what is putting the pressure on housing, on public services and community cohesion. so you have to have that cap. the leadership candidates are doling out so many freebies, one joked that it was only a matter of time before keir starmer arrived. and just a few hours into this conference, one of them is clearly making

more headlines than the rest. it's notjust kemi badenoch's comments on integration that have been causing a stir. she's also suggested that maternity pay has gone too far. whether you think that is controversial or common sense, she certainly seems to be the candidate shaping the debate. you need to talk to kemi about what kemi said. what i have said when it comes to working mothers is that the cost of childcare is too expensive. it was government meddling that made it expensive, and rather than tax and subsidise, let's make childcare cheaper. i think maternity and paternity care are very important. it's one of the things that i missed out on years ago as we didn't have the same rights on paternity care, and i think many of us fathers would have loved to spend more time with our kids. kemi badenoch has since clarified that of course she believes in maternity pay. it'll soon be up to mps and party members to decide who's the best leader to take the fight to labour.

a huge rescue effort is under way in nepal after floods and landslides killed nearly 150 people. at least 50 others are missing. the government has faced criticism over the speed of the emergency response. its stephen murphy has more. in the past few days, some parts of nepal have seen the highest rainfall in more than 50 years. thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes, and some major roads have been cut off because of the intense rainfall and landslides. especially in the area around the capital kathmandu, which has been hit hardest by the intense rainfall. police have been using zip lines to rescue people and some residents have described the lengths they went to, to escape the rising waters. translation: ~ , ., translation: as the water levels rose. _ translation: as the water levels rose, we _ translation: as the water levels rose, we had - translation: as the water levels rose, we had to - translation: as the water levels rose, we had to cut . translation: as the water | levels rose, we had to cut the roof and get out. we jumped levels rose, we had to cut the roof and get out. wejumped on one routes to another and finally reached a concrete house. at finally reached a concrete house. �* ,.

finally reached a concrete house. ,. ., ., house. a huge rescue operation continues. _ house. a huge rescue operation continues, and _ house. a huge rescue operation continues, and these _ house. a huge rescue operation continues, and these pictures i continues, and these pictures show the extraordinary moment a young boy was pulled from the rubble of a building which had collapsed following a landslide. 0fficials collapsed following a landslide. officials in nepal have ordered schools to close for three days because there has been so much damage to buildings, and while the government has faced criticism for its search and rescue operation being too slow, it looks like there is some respite on the way. 0fficials respite on the way. officials believe the worst of the weather has now passed and the main airport in kathmandu has now reopened. it's now the tail end of the monsoon season in nepal, and while deadly floods and landslides have happened before, experts say intense rainfall events like this are happening more frequently and they are more intense because of climate change. let's look at some of the stories in the headlines. the number of people confirmed

dead following hurricane helene has jumped to 91, as rescuers battle to reach people across the south—eastern us. the storm hit states from florida to ohio, hitting the us as a category four hurricane. these images from horsehoe beach in florida show the scale of devastation. more than two and a half million people were left without power, and many are still cut off. the white house says president biden is to visit hurricane—hit areas later this week. sudan's rapid support forces say the paramilitary group will no longer negotiate with the army to end the country's near two—year civil war. an rsf spokesman says it'll seek what it calls a military solution to end the conflict. the announcement comes amid a fresh offensive launched during the week by the army to drive the group out of the capital khartoum. the un says almost 19,000 people have been killed since the conflict started. there have been emotional scenes at a zoo in tokyo, where thousands of visitors have been bidding farewell to two giant pandas, who are returning to china. male ri ri and female shin shin have been a star attraction at ueno zoo for more than 13 years. but now, aged 19, they're heading back to china where they'll be treated

for high blood pressure. austria's far—right freedom party looks set for an unprecedented victory in the country's general election. but projected results suggest it won't secure an outright majority. and the second—placed conservative people's party has ruled outjoining a government headed by the freedom party's polarising leader, herbert kickl. other parties have also rejected the idea. austria's president has urged the parties to hold talks to find a compromise. here's our correspondent bethany bell in vienna with the latest. the freedom party and its supporters are celebrating. the freedom party leader herbert kickl has tapped into voter concerns about the economy, about rising prices and crucially about migration. he says he wants to build fortress austria to keep the migrants out. he also said he wants to be what he calls a people's

chancellor, a volkskanzler — a term that worries some austrians because it was used to describe adolf hitler. whatever happens, forming a coalition government is likely to be very complicated, because the other parties have all said they don't want to form an alliance led by kickl. it's likely that all talks to form a government will take weeks if not months. new zealand has regained the world record for the largest number of people taking part in a haka. quite a sight. more than 6,000 people came together for the performance at a stadium in auckland. the haka is a traditional dance associated with new zealand's indigenous maori people. it's been made famous by the all blacks rugby

team, who perform it before their matches. the previous record of 4,000 people was held by france. the organiser of the new zealand attempt said it was like a national treasure that had been taken from them. you certainly wouldn't want to fight them over that one. thanks forjoining me, back shortly with business today. hello there. well, it's now the end of the month, and it's been a very wet one across the southern half of the uk. some spots here have seen more than three or four times their average september rainfall. and there's more wet weather to come too, notably for the start of the week and then through the middle of the week, things will settle down, it will turn drier, there will be some sunshine, so things looking up and temperatures will return to the seasonal average too. but in the meantime, this is the rainfall accumulation chart for the next couple of days. so more wet weather, especially in the south. and there could be some more flooding over the midlands

with more heavy downpours here on the ground already saturated. and it's all because this deep area of low pressure is rolling in from the southwest through the rest of the night, bringing heavy, persistent outbreaks of rain, especially over the higher ground. strong, gusty winds, especially on the southern flank there. a few showers further north, but generally here it is drier, and it's a milder start across the board than we saw over the weekend. and that low continues to push further northwards and eastwards as we head through monday. bumps into the area of high pressure out towards the east. so it is going to stall, and that is not good news where we've seen the recent flooding, because there'll be more heavy rain falling on the saturated ground. some of the heaviest of the downpours of rain on monday could be across the liverpool bay area stretching across the midlands. north midlands in particular down from southeast yorkshire through into northern areas of east anglia. towards the south, it will dry out and the winds will gradually ease down. and towards the north, we'll see a few showers scattered across parts of scotland, northern ireland,

but generally a lot drier here. but it will turn drier, particularly out towards the west, as we head through monday night into tuesday as that low rolls off into the north sea. so some clear spells starting to appear and a slightly chillier start for western areas we'll be seeing on monday morning. but underneath the cloud and the rain of course still very mild. and then on tuesday, well, our low pushes into the north sea. high pressure starts to build into the north and the west. we'll be seeing that a bit later on through the week. but we're starting off tuesday with still outbreaks of rain across parts of east anglia, southeast england, a brisk north—easterly wind blowing for the north sea—facing coasts, but towards the north and the west, there'll be some brightness and spells of sunshine, perhaps a few showers but generally dry and temperatures will start to pick up. it's looking largely dry on wednesday, thursday and friday. bye— bye.

china tries to reboot its ailing property sector with more stimulus — but will it be enough? and we look at how a new online university launched by sir richard branson could help people with dyslexia. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. with the beginning of the new week, china has announced new measures to try and boost sluggish growth.

the ailing property sector is the target this time — with the central bank telling banks to lower mortgage rates for existing home loans. we're expecting commercial banks to cut rates by about 0.5%. the move is the latest in a string of measures introduced by beijing. tianchen xu, senior economist for china at the eiu. the three arrows of policy support is the monetary reducing through last tuesday the cost to the policy interest rise, and so on. a lot of monetary conversion efforts. the efforts to rescue the struggling housing market, the rate cuts on existing mortgages, subsidies on mortgages, subsidies on mortgage takers and there is

also