kris kristofferson, has died aged 88. hello. we start in the middle east, where iran's foreign ministry spokesperson has said iran will not leave any of "the criminal acts" of israel unanswered. speaking during a weekly news conference 7 his first since a senior general in iran's revolutionary guards corps was killed by an israeli strike on friday 7 nasser kanaani says iran does not seek war but is not afraid of it. israel says it has expanded its military operations in lebanon by targeting dozens of hezbollah targets overnight. hamas says its leader in lebabon, fateh sherif abu el—amin was killed along with

some of his family members. and lebanon's health ministry says four people were killed and four injured in an israeli air strike on the kola district in central beirut. a palestinian militant group, the popular front for the liberation of palestine, says three of its leaders were killed in the blast. these are the live pictures from the same area. it's the first such attack outside the lebanese capital's southern suburbs. you can see the view across the skyline and smoke rising on the right—hand side of that shot as the conflict continues. in lebanon, israel says it attacked more than 120 targets on sunday. lebanon says more than 100 people were killed in a series of attacks across the country yesterday. with the latest, here's chi chi izundu. destruction in the centre of beirut. this shows the apparent aftermath of an air strike on a building close to a major transportation hub in the lebanese capital. israel has been targeting

hezbollah sites on the outskirts of beirut, but this is thought to have been the first time an attack has been carried out within the city limits in the past year. the lebanese prime minister says the continuing air strikes may have forced as many asi million people from their homes. this weekend has seen a major escalation, with more than 50 killed in lebanon, hezbollah rockets fired into northern israel, and almost 2000 kilometres away in yemen, one of the country's biggest ports and power stations, controlled by iranian—backed houthis, targeted by israel. the israeli military said the strikes are in response to recent missile attacks from the group. 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 isn't holding back, releasing videos of its air force taking off and showcasing its vast arsenal of missiles. the houthis, backed by iran and fiercely opposed to israel, condemned the strikes as brutal aggression. with israel's strikes continuing in lebanon and military operations in gaza still under way, the calls for de—escalation of the situation from the international community grow louder. can an all—out war in - the middle east be avoided? has to be. we really have to avoid it. we're not there yet but we're working like hell with france and many others. this escalation, and the growing tension in the region, does not appear to be ending any time soon. chi chi izundu, bbc news. in the past hour, iran's foreign ministry spokesman nasser kanaani held a news conference condemning the killing of hezbollah leader hassan nasrallah. mr kanaani stated that hassan nasrallah was martyred, but his cause is still alive.

translation: our foreign minister has had a meetingj and has talked on the phone with his lebanese counterpart. they have been discussing the issues and they have discussed what they should do both by iran and by the lebanese government at the same time so we can follow up on our political and legal demands. naturally the iranian side would not leave any of the actions by the zionist regime unanswered. we will definitely respond to that, and the zionist regime would have to pay for what they have done to the iranian citizens,

to the palestinian people, swiftly. this will not go unpunished, and the islamic republic will do what it takes on its own side. 0ur middle east correspondent, hugo bachega, is in beirut. it is important to hear what iran has to say because iran supports these groups in this alliance and what it calls the axis of resistance. hezbollah is the most powerful member of this alliance that also includes hamas in gaza, the houthis in yemen, militias in iraq and syria, and all these players have obviously been carrying out attacks on israel for almost a year following the hamas attacks in october. 0bviously hamas attacks in october. obviously this is a very significant moment in the middle east with the killing by

israel of hassan nasrallah, the man who for 30 years led hezbollah, a group that here in lebanon is described as a state within a state. hezbollah is part of iran's deterrence against israel. it is very important for iran to have a strong hezbollah here in lebanon right next to israel, so it is obviously a very significant moment because hezbollah has been weakened, its leadership has been decimated. so the question here is over what hezbollah is going to do, but also what iran is going to do. we heard some familiar words, familiar statements from the spokesman for the israeli... the iranian foreign ministry, accusing the americans, europeans, of not acting to stop israel in these attacks. he described those assassinations as stupid actions by israel. he said this is not going to bring stability to the middle east. and i think

he also said that the killing of hassan nasrallah is not going to go unanswered. i think he had a message here, our hands are not tied and will never be tied. he said that iran is going to react to violations of its sovereignty and also to attacks against its national interest. so reflecting perhaps these attacks and this campaign against iranian backed groups across the region. so again, we still don't know how iran is going to react, there has been a fear here that this wide campaign by israel targeting hezbollah can lead to a wider regional conflict. we have seen indications that all these groups supported by iran are planning a more coordinated response to what is happening here in lebanon and across the region and obviously huge questions remain about how

hezbollah is going to respond after the killing of its leader. after the killing of its leader-— after the killing of its leader. ., �* ., leader. hugo broos schrager there. the united nations says 100,000 people have fled lebanon for syria since israeli strikes began. anna foster has been to martyrs�* square in beirut to speak to some of the displaced. even days after people started fleeing the southern suburbs of beirut after that attack that killed hassan nasrallah, the leader of hezbollah, many of them are still on the streets because they don't feel safe going back there. and because those attacks, those air strikes, are still continuing. but you can see, this is not an ideal place for people and families to be. a lot of them fled very quickly, they grabbed what they could. so a lot of people don't have any fresh clothes with them. we are meeting people who haven't brought any toys for their children. it is very hot here during the day as well, so they are sort of struggling to find a bit of shade and a bit of shelter. every now and then people will arrive and hand out food, but as you can see, it's an enormously difficult situation for lots of people, and theyjust don't feel yet safe enough to go back to their homes. this man and his wife fled here with their two

children on friday night, just after the huge explosion that killed hassan nasrallah. translation: my children - haven't smiled since that time. they are in shock. we feel fear and terror, and we have no idea where to go or what to do. my children don't have any milk, and we don't have any money. people are giving us food to eat. i don't know what to do. my house is only ten metres away from where the missile fell. we have no idea how we managed to escape. we were afraid something would happen to us. we were fearful for the country. and i don't want anything bad to happen to this country. i want it to be better. it has been 20 years since i left saida with my family. we live in constant anxiety and fear. we don't feel safe. i have no idea what

to do or where to go. 0ur official papers and passports are all left at home. we were unable to get them because we were so terrified. 0ur middle east correspondent yolande knell is injerusalem with the latest on israel's military expansion. despite all of these international calls for restraint we heard comments from president biden overnight where he was saying action must be taken to avert an all—out war, that he was planning to speak to the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. the americans were pushing last week for a three—week ceasefire with hezbollah to try to come up with a political solution. 0n the ground here you hear from israeli military leaders that they believe more military effort is required at this point. the chief of staff for the israel defense forces,

herzi halevi, said he believes they must keep hitting hard. israeli media quoting different defence officials assessing that the hezbollah fire power has now been severely diminished by the air strikes that have gone on in recent days and that seems to be why we have not seen large barrages of rockets being fired at israel even since hassan nasrallah, the chief of hezbollah, was confirmed to have been killed in the air strike at the end of last week. the warnings are coming from all around this region, saudi arabia saying it has grave concerns about what is going on in lebanon. all eyes on the iranians too and what they might do in response to their axis of resistance, as they call it, being attacked on so many different fronts, because it's notjust hezbollah in lebanon, we also had israel carry out attacks on the houthis in response to missile strikes from yemen.

and other activity, indications of possible strikes in syria that israel has not commented on. at the same time the war goes on in the gaza strip and it remains extremely tense in the occupied west bank as well. important to mention that with what israel sees as big military successes in the past week or so, that has given a boost to the prime minister when it comes to opinion polls. one last night was suggesting that he would get the biggest number of seats for his party if there were to be a general election called right now. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

in a few hours' time, the uk will pass a historic landmark with the county's last coalfired power station — ratcliffe in nottinghamshire — closing at midnight. it means britain will become the first major economy to produce electricity without using coal. also on monday, the tata steelworks in port talbot in wales closes. britian�*s biggest steel works will be replaced by an electric furnace with two and half thousand jobs lost. 0ur wales correspondent tomos morgan — who is at the steel works in port talbot — has more. what you will be seeing here today, behind me there are two large turrets, one behind me to my left and the other slightly to my right. that one had finished operations back in july and this one will finish operations today. what they were doing really was creating steel from scratch, from the virgin steele, it's called primary steel, and it can be used for everything we use steel four. in the future what'll happen here is they will now cease operations. as you mentioned, as part of the

restructuring, over 2500 people will be made redundant. in the future, within five or six years, an electric arc furnace will be built on this site. that's a recycling furnace, so any type of old steel that can be recycled, and to be able to use in most of the versions we use in most of the versions we use steel now, but there is around 10% of things that recycled steel can't be used for,, so say the unions will stop however, tata say they don't supply that 10% that it can't be used for to anyone so they don't say that it matters. this is being done for two reasons. tata have consistently said for a number of years that the plant here and there work operations across the uk lose around £1 million a day so financially it wasn't really viable for them to continue. but secondly, there is this huge drive really for an environmental, green steel—making process in the uk. now, this behind me, it's the single biggest emitter of carbon in the whole of the uk,

contributing about 1.5% of the uk plasma carbon emissions. so changing this from a high—intensity coal burning plant to an electric plant in the future will reduce emissions by about 85%, tata say. not only that, it also means, you can see the steam coming up behind me. most of thatis coming up behind me. most of that is water but there is a very small fraction of dust in that and that often settles on a number of the homes and windows around this area. so tata do say that actually when this finishes later today there will be a reduction of dust particles for the future. but a big thing here isjobs, the supply chain here, and there is a lot of worry as well in the community. to austria now, where for the first time since the second world war a far—right party has come top in the country's general election. projected results give the freedom partyjust over 29% of the vote — more than two points ahead of the ruling austrian people's party on 26.5%, with the social democrats in third.

but this isn't enough for the freedom party to secure an outright majority — with all the main parties ruling out any coalition which includes the fpo leader, herbert kickl. austria's president has called for negotiations in order to find a compromise. fears of the conservatives fears of the conservatives forming a coalition forming a coalition with the freedom party led with the freedom party led to a small group of protesters to a small group of protesters demonstrating outside the parliament building demonstrating outside the parliament building in vienna, carrying in vienna, carrying anti—nazi banners. anti—nazi banners. we have been hearing the deputy we have been hearing the deputy chief of hezbollah has been chief of hezbollah has been making some remarks. we will making some remarks. we will play some of those to you. to play some of those to you. to remind you that hezbollah is a remind you that hezbollah is a proscribed terrorist proscribed terrorist organisation in many countries, organisation in many countries, including here in the uk. we including here in the uk. we wouldn't typically bring you wouldn't typically bring you those comments as we are about those comments as we are about

to now, but it is important to now, but it is important to

those comments as we are about to now, but it is imj qassem, who remarks from naim qassem, who is the deputy chief of hezbollah. hezbollah, a proscribed terror organisation in many countries. we will leave that for the moment and try to get some translations will stop we can take you to the united states now where at least 91 people are dead and 2.5 million are without power after hurricane helene swept through the south—east of the country. us presidentjoe biden plans to visit communities affected by the catergory 4 hurricane once he is sure it will not disrupt the emergency response. the storm brought torrential rain and flooding in florida, georgia, virginia, south carolina and north carolina, where the city of asheville was particularly badly hit. more than 300,000 people across north carolina were left without power. many residents faced difficulties reaching emergency services as cellphone services failed. more than 400 roads across the state are closed due to damage from the storm. the american red cross has opened about 140 shelters across the five states

affected. a bbc investigation has tracked down a british man who brazilian police accuse of trying to traffic cocaine with a street value of more than 100 and 30 million dollars from south america to europe. the authorities in brazil believe he hired an innocent crew to sail his yacht across the atlantic, but when they had to make an emergency stop off the coast of west africa, police there found more than a tonne of the drug hidden in secret compartments below deck. yemisi adegoke has more.

this sunken yacht, the rich harvest, made headlines in 2017 when it was seized in cape verde. the boat's owner, george saul, who went by the name fox, had already left the boat before departure from brazil and has never been questioned by authorities, so the bbc has been searching for him to find out if he's prepared to talk. positioned between south america and europe, cape verde's location makes it a hub for traffickers. nearly a third of the 50 tonnes of cocaine that crosses west africa each year ends up being sold en route, to places like cape verde. preacher antonio runs a bible—focused drug rehab centre where recovering addicts sleep in tents. stopping drugs coming into cape verde is tough, with limited resources and territorial waters larger than mainland france. when the rich harvest stopped for repairs in cape verde, police discovered a tonne of cocaine hidden underneath the crew's beds. just south of here in salvador is where the rich harvest started itsjourney towards europe after spending just over a year in the country.

police now say it's likely the drugs, just over a tonne of cocaine, were already on the boat, with an unsuspecting crew on board. members of the crew who sailed on the rich harvest were sentenced to ten years in this cape verde prison. their convictions were later overturned and the case dismissed. the sailors claimed that a british man, fox, was responsible. one member of the crew was devastated when he received his prison sentence. looking at fox's instagram account, despite having obviously travelled a lot, most of his posts are from the uk. fox was known to be a uk citizen, so with the help of a british journalist, colin freeman, who has been following the case for years, and bbc braziljournalist cristine kist, we continue the search for fox in the uk.

when we enter his name, george saul, into this business database, seven different uk addresses come up. all of these addresses are in a city called norwich, to the east of england, and these posts are from norwich city centre. a new search, combining his name with his business addresses, leads us to a profile page for fox on the website of a professional networking group. scrolling through the group's web page, we find that members meet every thursday morning at 7am at a hotel on the outskirts of the city. we head to the hotel car park to wait for george saul to arrive. excuse me, we're from the bbc. brazilian police say that you are an international drug trafficker. well, i'm not, so... and that you masterminded this operation to put a tonne of cocaine on the rich harvest boat. listen, i'm not doing this. would you consider going back to brazil? i'm not here to talk, i'm afraid. 0k. we wrote to george saul to ask if he had anything else to say

about the allegations contained in this film. however, we received no reply. the national crime agency has said there is no current uk arrest warrant for fox. yemisi adegoke, bbc news. if you want more on this investigation, you can watch finding mr fox on bbc africa's youtube channel. if you're in the uk, you can also watch finding mr fox on bbc iplayer. and finally — a spacex rocket with two crew aboard has successfully docked with the international space station. there are two spare seats on the dragon vessel, which will be needed to bring back two astronauts who've been stranded on the station sincejune. butch wilmore and suni williams were supposed to spend eight days on the station but will now spend eight months on board after their new boeing starliner spacecraft developed a fault. the plan is to bring the pair home in february.

that's it for this half an hour. plenty more on the developments in the middle east on the bbc news website. we continue to run a live page which you can find the latest developments and analysis from correspondents and editors in the region for us. i will be back after a short break, so stay with us. hello again. we've had some torrential rain already this morning and that rain is still falling. through the rest of the day and into tonight and tomorrow, if we look at the rainfall accumulation chart, you can see the dark blues. that's indicating another a0 millimetres of rainfall is quite possible and that will be falling on ground that is already saturated, exacerbating the flooding risk. this is the area of low pressure that's driving our weather currently. it's bringing all the cloud, the wet and the windy conditions. windy through the english

channel and the north sea. the rain continuing to push northwards. where you see the greens and yellows in the chart, that's indicating the heaviest bursts. behind it, a lot of cloud and some showers. the driest conditions across the far north of scotland. even here, not immune to a shower or two with top temperatures getting up to about 17 degrees. through this evening and overnight, the rain starts to push back southwards. now, it will turn a little bit lighter in doing so. 0ut towards the west we see a return to some clearer skies. still windy along the north sea coastline with temperatures 6 to about 13 degrees north to south. that takes us into tomorrow. 0ur area of low pressure trying to pull away but lingering across the far south—east. that means here we are looking at a bit more cloud around and also the remnants of the rain across east anglia, parts of east england, into the south—east. 0ut towards the west, we've got brighter skies, same for the north too, a bit more sunshine

coming through. and because the rain won't be so widespread and won't be as heavy, it won't feel as cool as it's going to do today. temperatures 13 to about 17 or 18. then as we move into the middle part of the week, the dregs of that rain moving away but the weather front close enough to still be producing a bit of cloud and also the odd shower in the south—eastern corner. but a ridge of high pressure is building across us so that means we are looking at a fair amount of dry weather and also some sunny skies. temperatures, 13—16 degrees. as we head on through the week, then, moving into thursday, thursday is likely to start off with some mist and fog, but it will be generally fine. friday, brighter in the east but we will have a bit more cloud coming in from the west with some rain.

this is bbc news, the headlines... israel expands its military operation in lebanon, striking dozens of hezbollah sites and targeting another militant group. the conservative party's annual conference continues in birmingham. rishi sunak urges party members to not let keir starmer re—write history on the state

of the economy. and the american singer, songwriter and actor kris kristofferson has died aged 88. let's return to developments in the middle east and the deputy chief of hezbollah has been speaking in the last hour about the leader's killing by israeli forces. he says the group will select a new chief at the earliest opportunity. a reminder that hezbollah is considered a terrorist organisation by a number of western governments. let's go straight to beirut and my colleague who has been watching what he has been saying, so what he has been saying, so what have we been hearing from him? . , ., , him? the main message of his

seech him? the main message of his speech is _ him? the main message of his speech is that _ him? the main message of his speech is that hezbollah - him? the main message of his speech is that hezbollah is - speech is that hezbollah is continuing and hezbollah