this is bbc news, the headlines. backed by strikes from the air, israel defense forces say they've launched a limited ground operation against hezbollah in southern lebanon. hezbollah says it's targeted central israel, firing missiles towards a military base near tel aviv, where air raid sirens have sounded. and in the us the two vice presidential hopefulls,

democratic nominee tim walz and his republican rivaljd vance, prepare to go head to head in a live tv debate. let's return to our continuing coverage of developments in the middle east. israeli ground forces have crossed into southern lebanon, marking an important new escalation of their offensive against hezbollah. the incursion follows weeks of heavy blows by israel against the lebanese armed group, including the killing of its long—time leader, hassan nasrallah. as israeli artillery and war planes hit sites in lebanon overnight, its military says a return barrage of about ten rockets was fired at its towns. chi chi izundu reports. explosion. a dangerous and pivotal moment in the middle east. escalation amid fresh missile strikes overnight. a ground offensive launched by israel into lebanon. in southern beirut, less than 30 minutes after israel told residents to leave three neighbourhoods, a huge blast was heard.

explosion. then the confirmation came. israel began its ground operation in southern lebanon. military chiefs said limited, localised and targeted raids against hezbollah are being carried out — something the idf says is based on precise intelligence. the israeli government has said it wants to enable thousands of displaced israelis in the north of the country to return to their homes. but, iran—backed hezbollah says it's ready and prepared, warning that the battle may be long. explosion. after the intense israeli airstrikes of the past week, it's unclear how much firepower hezbollah still has. but, with the fear of wider retaliation from its other allies, including iran, the calls for de—escalation grow louder. we ultimately want to see a diplomatic resolution to conflict in the middle east that provides long—term security for the people

of israel, the people of lebanon and the palestinian people, as well as the broader region. and we will continue to work to advance efforts along those fronts. in the uk, for the next few days, the focus will be on getting british nationals in lebanon safely out of the country — with the government chartering a flight tomorrow to help them and their families leave. i urge them to leave because the situation on the ground is fast moving. and, of course, whilst we will do everything we can to protect british nationals and those plans are in place to do so, we cannot anticipate the circumstances and the speed with which we could do that if things escalate in a major way over the coming hours and days. in lebanon, people are counting the human cost of this conflict. he says he pulled the bodies of his loved ones from the rubble yesterday during the call to prayer. he says, "may god destroy you,

israel, by god's will." israel has landed a series of heavy blows on hezbollah in recent weeks. what's unclear is how intense this conflict may now become and for how long it may last. chi chi izundu, bbc news. let's speak to hesham shawish from bbc monitoring, which reports and analyses news from media around the world. welcome to bbc news. what are you seeing and reading in the lebanese and israeli media that might give us a better insight into what's going on?- into what's going on? good morning- — into what's going on? good morning. the _ into what's going on? good morning. the lebanese - into what's going on? good i morning. the lebanese media into what's going on? good - morning. the lebanese media are still denying israeli media reports of an advance across and into lebanese territory but they are watching developments very, very closely. instead they have been focusing on the israeli bombardment on southern beirut last night, as well as

the southern city where a palestinian militant was targeted. but the lebanese media are relaying that the country has woken up to a lot of uncertainty this morning. the hezbollah media have been claiming response ability for a series of strikes into northern israel. they have targeted several towns and a barracks, all sites very close to the frontier with lebanon. in the past hour hezbollah says it targeted another area that is further inland, 20—25 kilometres inland, just north of the sea of galilee. hezbollah has indicated that it is monitoring troop gatherings and movements along the border. and the strike on a palestinian refugee camp in the south of lebanon, as we said, targeted the head of the armed wing of a

palestinian movement in lebanon but it is reported that he survived. it's reported the army has repositioned its troops south of the litani river. that's where israel is seeking to establish a security buffer zone in order to push hezbollah forces far away from the frontier.— the frontier. what about the reaction from _ the frontier. what about the reaction from other- the frontier. what about the reaction from other arab - reaction from other arab countries? in reaction from other arab countries?— reaction from other arab countries? , ., countries? in terms of the pan- arab media. — countries? in terms of the pan- arab media, they _ countries? in terms of the pan- arab media, they have - countries? in terms of the pan- arab media, they have been - arab media, they have been covering the situation extensively. there have been a lot of commentators analysing the situation. one commentator told the qatari aljazeera tv channel said the iranian failure to respond to israel would give it the upper hand in deterrence. similarly, the saudi arabia owned tv channel

was hosting a lot of pundits and it heavily focused on the statements by the us secretary of defence lloyd austin, who expressed the us backing of israel's operation. in terms of official statements from arab states, we have not seen anything so far directly referencing the israeli announcement of a ground incursion. we have seen statements from the uae which has called for de—escalation, and similarly saudi arabia yesterday said they were monitoring events with great concern, but they didn't mention hezbollah or israel once in their statement. in jordan, i have not observed any statements from the jordanian foreign minister yet of reports of an israeli ground incursion. from bbc monitoring, taking a look at what the arab media is saying about the relevance and the middle east, thank you.

moore developments coming in with reports that the turkish media have reported that turkish authorities, the foreign ministry saying that israel must immediately end its offensive in lebanon and withdraw from lebanese territories. matthew savill is the director of military sciences at the royal united services institute, he says much of the scale of this invasion will depend on hezbollah�*s response. no. a lot of this depends on the hezbollah reaction. the fact that thus far we have seen only limited strikes back into israel, it's not clear if they have engaged anybody on the ground yet. it could be as a result of one of two things. first, they are basically still in disarray and they can't organise themselves. and that is part of that temptation for the idf to go further. the other might be

that they are seeking to cut their losses. that in essence, if this is to be limited in the first instance, it's not worth escalating further, even for the opportunity of inflicting casualties on the israeli ground forces, if you think the israelis will only be there for a short while, destroy fixed positions and then withdraw because hezbollah needs time to regroup and rebuild. the downside for them there is that they will have seen, the downside for them there is that they will have been seen as having brought the israelis into lebanon and then failed to defend lebanon. hezbollah already has plenty of enemies inside the country. they are popular in some areas but wildly unpopular in other areas because of their racketeering and grip on the country. so this is an enormous blow either way to their reputation as a competent security force. we can bring you more developments we are getting

into us. we are hearing on the reuters news agency that the israeli military has asked residents of more than a dozen lebanese southern towns to evacuate. we are hearing the israeli military has urged residents of more than 20 towns in the south of lebanon to evacuate immediately. that coming from the israel defense forces spokesperson, posting a statement on x, formerly known as twitter. all of that is relevant because an israeli security official has said that troops so far have only gone walking distance from the border and that there have been no clashes as israeli troops have entered lebanon so far. but breaking news now that the israeli military has now urged residents of more than 20 towns in southern lebanon to evacuate immediately. we will stay across those developments in the middle east throughout the morning on bbc news. we can

take you to the third day of the conservative party conference in birmingham. this afternoon, leadership contenders robertjenrick and james cleverly will be questioned in front of tory members after the other candidates, kemi badenoch and tom tugendhat, did the same on monday. let's speak to our political correspondent damian grammaticas, who is in birmingham. it's getting closer to that vote. we will not find out until november who the next leader is but these next few days are really crucial, aren't they? days are really crucial, aren't the ? , . ., days are really crucial, aren't the? ., i, they? they are important, yes, because we _ they? they are important, yes, because we have _ they? they are important, yes, because we have the _ they? they are important, yes, because we have the four- because we have the four candidates who are all on stage here. we had two yesterday having question and answer sessions, two today and tomorrow all four will get the chance to make an address before the conference wraps up. it is kind of their big moment on the stage in front of their own electorate, their own people, the people they really have to address in this race.

that's why this matters. of course, one person who has been making waves in all of that is robertjenrick today, comments he has posted about british military. i'm pleased to say thatjoining me is gareth davies, one of robertjenrick�*s supporters. i want to ask about the comments he has put on social media, talking about the british military and saying the european court of human rights rules have meant that in some cases, he says uk special forces are killing rather than capturing terrorists. is that right questionably what robert has done is set out comments made by the former defence secretary made by the former defence secreta j ., ., , made by the former defence secreta j . ., , . secretary and has reflected that comment _ secretary and has reflected that comment previously . secretary and has reflected| that comment previously as secretary and has reflected - that comment previously as an example — that comment previously as an example of why he is wanting to leave _ example of why he is wanting to leave the — example of why he is wanting to leave the european court of human _ leave the european court of human rights. he has met with interior— human rights. he has met with interior ministries around europe _ interior ministries around europe and he knows it will not

be possible to reform the echr, so his_ be possible to reform the echr, so his solution is to leave it. echr — so his solution is to leave it. echr issues generally on one side, his comments are about british forces killing people because of echr rules. can you point to cases where that has happened. figs point to cases where that has happened-— point to cases where that has ha ened, m 4' ., , happened. as you know, these are comments _ happened. as you know, these are comments reflected - happened. as you know, these are comments reflected based | happened. as you know, these i are comments reflected based on previous— are comments reflected based on previous comments by a defence secretary. — previous comments by a defence secretary, as an example of why it's important we leave the echr. _ it's important we leave the echr, because we are precluded from _ echr, because we are precluded from doing so. i echr, because we are precluded from doing se— from doing so. i think robert jenrick himself _ from doing so. i think robert jenrick himself hasn't - from doing so. i think robert jenrick himself hasn't come i from doing so. i think robert i jenrick himself hasn't come up with any examples of this. it is interesting you are not pointing to any either. he has been criticised for that, for comments about the british military, and one of his rival candidates tom tugendhat as said this is simplyjust wrong and is actually unhelpful. on the broader issue of the echr, those initial comments, when they were made, ben wallace made them, he said that didn't mean he thought you should

leave the echr.— leave the echr. first of all these are _ leave the echr. first of all these are sensitive - leave the echr. first of all| these are sensitive matters leave the echr. first of all - these are sensitive matters and you wouldn't expect a minister or former_ you wouldn't expect a minister or former minister to go into details — or former minister to go into details and provide examples. that_ details and provide examples. that is— details and provide examples. that is clearly not the right approach. but based on the comments of the former defence secretary, what rob is doing is applying — secretary, what rob is doing is applying the experience he has as a former national immigration minister, to say this is— immigration minister, to say this is an _ immigration minister, to say this is an example of why we need — this is an example of why we need to— this is an example of why we need to leave the echr, because we cannot— need to leave the echr, because we cannot deport people who pose — we cannot deport people who pose a — we cannot deport people who pose a threat and risk to our country _ pose a threat and risk to our count . �* , ., pose a threat and risk to our count . �* i. pose a threat and risk to our count . �* country. but you can deport them. country. but you can deport them- the _ country. but you can deport them. the echr _ country. but you can deport. them. the echr intervention country. but you can deport - them. the echr intervention is simply the british courts have to hear the cases through to the end. theyjust send them back to the british courts and it's perfectly possible to go through that process. it wasn't the echr decision that ultimately needed to stop that, it would have happened. i ultimately needed to stop that, it would have happened.- it would have happened. i think he would dispute _ it would have happened. i think he would dispute that - it would have happened. i think he would dispute that and - he would dispute that and suggest the decisions were based _ suggest the decisions were based on guidance and implication of the echr. and as i say, _ implication of the echr. and as i say, based on his experience. this— i say, based on his experience. this is— i say, based on his experience. this is not— i say, based on his experience. this is not an ideological position. this is based out of direct—

position. this is based out of direct experience, and something he believed very strongly is this solution. and in this— strongly is this solution. and in this leadership race, it's vital— in this leadership race, it's vital we _ in this leadership race, it's vital we have a solution to something at arguably is why we lost the — something at arguably is why we lost the general election, and why our— lost the general election, and why our members and supporters across— why our members and supporters across the — why our members and supporters across the country have become so frustrated by this issue. he has a — so frustrated by this issue. he has a very— so frustrated by this issue. he has a very clear position on this — has a very clear position on this. some will disagree with it, this. some will disagree with it. of— this. some will disagree with it, of course. we this. some will disagree with it, of course.— this. some will disagree with it, of course. we have limited time, it, of course. we have limited time. so _ it, of course. we have limited time. so to — it, of course. we have limited time, so to broaden - it, of course. we have limited time, so to broaden it - it, of course. we have limited time, so to broaden it out - it, of course. we have limited time, so to broaden it out a i time, so to broaden it out a bit, he is very clear in his position on the echr and his position on the echr and his position that actually the big threat you guys need to face is losing votes to reform on the right and this is part of that. do you think it's right to focus on reform and not on losing votes to the liberal democrats and things like that? what you have to do is put forward _ what you have to do is put forward a _ what you have to do is put forward a professional opposition to this labour government and offer an alternative government to the british— alternative government to the british people who left us in millions. _ british people who left us in millions, in part, but not the only— millions, in part, but not the only reason was down to immigration and the boat crisis _ immigration and the boat crisis. and some, yes, went to reform — crisis. and some, yes, went to reform as _ crisis. and some, yes, went to

reform as a _ crisis. and some, yes, went to reform as a result of that. if we don't _ reform as a result of that. if we don't tackle that issue with a very— we don't tackle that issue with a very clear policy we will not win those _ a very clear policy we will not win those people back. but it is not — win those people back. but it is not the _ win those people back. but it is not the entire reason why people _ is not the entire reason why people voted reform. they voted reform _ people voted reform. they voted reform for other reasons, disillusionment with the big parties. _ disillusionment with the big parties, feeling left out of economic decisions, and a variety— economic decisions, and a variety of— economic decisions, and a variety of other things which roh— variety of other things which rob has— variety of other things which rob has set out. but clearly we need _ rob has set out. but clearly we need to — rob has set out. but clearly we need to fight the next election on conservative values, principles and policies that will win— principles and policies that will win those people back. gareth— will win those people back. gareth davies, thank you for taking the time to talk to us. and in your own constituency you lost a lot of votes to reform and in that constituency i think reform went from nothing but 20% of the vote in that lincolnshire constituency. you can see where some of the presses and arguments about what sort of direction the party needs to take under a new leader are coming from. we will hearfrom the candidates leader are coming from. we will hear from the candidates today and bring you more later. studio: thank you to damian grammaticas at the conservative party conference. we will have the result of that leadership

election in november. with just over a month until voters head to the polls, the two men hoping to become america's next vice president are preparing to go head to head in a live tv debate. both the democratic nominee tim walz and his republican rivaljd vance have been picked — in part — for their mid—western roots in the battle for rural voters, as our reporterjohn sudworth reports from nebraska. in america's great midwest, votes can be hard to find — quite literally. she'll be your friend forever. in nebraska, there are three times as many cows as people. but this is a deeply conservative state, and though sparsely populated, even here, one of donald trump's key messages is resonating. the border. he's going to shut that down. it's just unbelievable to me just to let people walk in. ok. there's people like me ranching down there. he's going to... he's going to deport all these people that should never have been here in the first place.

our message to kamala harris is, how dare you call the citizens of your own country bad people because they don't want a flood of illegal migration in their country? mr trump's running mate is pushing the same message. jd vance was chosen in part because he has midwestern roots. but so does kamala harris�*s choice, tim walz. now, i grew up in butte, nebraska... cheering. ..a town of 400 people. nebraskan—born, democrats hope he might help them win some rural voters back. it's not going to be easy. the misinformation swirling through america's political machine is reaping its harvest here too. dennis fujan, a republican running for nebraska's state legislature, is also deeply concerned about immigration. threatening social security benefits. they're siphoning medicare medical benefits.

just to stop you there. i'm not... i'm not sure that undocumented migrants are able to claim social security. what i do see is that they definitely are getting health care that they aren't paying for. although many pay taxes. huh? many of them do pay taxes. and they do. yeah. if you're not a citizen, you shouldn't be... you shouldn't be voting. and i don't know if they are, but i hear they are. sorry, dennis, to keep interrupting, but very little evidence that they are, in fact, no evidence. ok, ok. but there's plenty of word that they are. sometimes it's hard to figure out where the addresses are. but so much of politics is about perception. so i'm just walking your neighbourhood, chatting with voters today. i'm a supporter. on the economy in particular, even nebraska's democrats admit perceptions are hard to argue against. my own father is one of those people who was going to vote for donald trump, and i understand it. you know, people talk about how gas prices were lower when donald trump was president. i'm a business owner. i paid less taxes.

i wonder what you think about the selection of tim walz, a democrat with nebraskan roots. might it make a difference for some voters, do you think? yes, it does. people do know he's from nebraskans — or from nebraska. nebraskans support nebraskans. in a tight national race, every spare vote is worth rounding up, but the vice presidential picks are unlikely to change the big picture. in rural america, trump has the clear advantage. john sudworth, bbc news, nebraska. and we will have full coverage of the debate here on bbc news and the bbc news website. a? round—the world ? cruise? liner? has finally left belfast harbour —?four?months?after?it?was due to depart. passengers were stranded in northern ireland while repairs were carried out on the villa vie odyssey.

our?ireland?correspondent chris page?saw the ship set off.

horn blasts. this round—the—world cruise has had only one stop in four months — belfast. following 122 days of delay, the ship was still in a repair yard, long after the scheduled boarding time yesterday. the chief executive of the company admitted to feeling a bit stressed and didn't sound hopeful. ship's coming — today, tomorrow, some time soon, hopefully. hopefully. hopefully, yes. hopefully. but a little later, the ocean beckoned. it's on her way, guys. cheering. finally, passengers could begin their global adventure. we're ecstatic. absolutely amazing. so. . .i can breathe. not all the seafarers are human. holly and her cat, captain, have taken on something of a celebrity status during their unexpected stay here. belfast has been very good to me, and we will probably be back on our next circumnavigation. so, ready to sail into perpetual summers, we're told the ship is now going. that's right. it's going to be a couple of weeks till we get to summer. but, yeah, i definitely want to sail into warm weather. and, you know, iwant to live on that ship. personally, i don't care if we don't go anywhere for a while if we have to, so long as we can be on the ship. well, many passengers have said

they've come to love this place and its people. but there are some aspects of life here that perhaps they won't miss as much. if the ship had stuck to its original itinerary, well, apparently it would be in the bahamas now, rather than belfast. you can imagine that plenty of the people here now safely on board will be glad to be heading for the high seas. cheering. the travellers have shown a lot of humour amidst the hassle. 17 weeks on, northern ireland has said bon voyage. chris page, bbc news, belfast. gas and electricity prices in england, scotland and wales are rising by 10% from tuesday as the debate continues over the withdrawal of financial support such as the winter fuel payment. it means the average household bill will increase by £119. people are being encouraged to submit a meter reading as soon as they can to ensure their bill is as accurate as possible. now the weather's turning, the focus for many is finding ways to keep warm and dry. an energy price hike is the last thing anyone needs. i thought they were bringing it down, so it is — it's a big disappointment, you feel it inside. you'd be bigger and you'd be prouder and you'd say, "oh, i can manage, i can make that little bit of extra money," but all added to everything else that we're getting put through, it'sjust

that bit too much. the bills that's causing is astronomical at the moment — 126 quid deficit and my, uh, gas, which i'm...not proud about. but what can we do? nice to see you again. peter and pat are losing their £300 pensioners�* winter fuel payment, too. both in their 80s, managing the money will be tougher this year. it meant that i could sort of think about the christmas period for the grandchildren a little bit easier. i'm not complaining of our status, but there are people that are on the borderline. they're going to struggle, definitely. while the changes for pensioners have grabbed the headlines this summer, many others are already in the eye of the storm. the latest statistics show the total energy debt has hit a new record high. so that means, as these new price rises kick in, we're in a position where more households are struggling to keep up with their payments, and others are falling into even deeper debt. it is still a stigma for people to ask for help. they're embarrassed. dilwara and her team help people get on top of their energy payments.

how many referrals have we had this morning? 0h, we've had loads. their bill—busters scheme has never been more in demand. it is paramount at the moment. it is one of the key elements of the work that we're doing as a charity. there is always a way out, you know — it's being able to reassure residents that there is help out there, you can't suffer on your own. with a 10% hike in gas and electricity from today, everyone is facing bigger bills as the temperatures drop. colletta smith, bbc news, in blackburn. we can take you to the scene live in beirut, the capital of lebanon. we have heard that israel has told people in parts of southern lebanon to evacuate their homes. the israel defense forces on social media have said any home used by hezbollah

for its military needs is expected to be targeted. for your safety, you must evacuate your safety, you must evacuate your home immediately. it goes on to tell people to immediately head to the north of a river that meets the coast just over halfway towards beirut towards the border. they have said people should not head south. that's the latest and we will be staying across the developments in the middle east. i will be back after the weather with carol kirkwood. hello again. we've had some heavy rain moving across parts of england and also wales this morning, and the whole lot is slowly pushing towards the south—east. it's being dragged along by this area of low pressure which will still be with us even through tonight and tomorrow in the far south—east, but it's going to weaken as we go through the next couple of days, the rain turning more showery. but you can see here, where we've got the greens in the chart, that is indicating some heavy bursts. this rain already falling on some saturated ground which could lead to further issues. a keen wind coming in from the north sea

will accentuate the cool feel. but for scotland, northern ireland, parts of wales and the south—west, we will see some drier conditions. and in the north—west, certainly some sunshine. as we head through the evening and overnight, still a lot of cloud across much of england and wales. our weather front wrapped around an area of low pressure still producing some showers and still breezy. but we've got clearer skies as we push further north, for northern england, northern ireland and scotland, and in some sheltered glens temperatures could fall away to freezing, so locally we could wake up to a touch of frost tomorrow. high pressure is starting to really exert its influence across us during wednesday, but you can just make out the dregs of today's weather front, still producing some showers, but the spacing in the isobars tells you it's not going to be as windy. it will be breezy, though. so, we start off with a lot of cloud for england and for wales. that will break up, sunshine developing. showers continuing on and off in the south—east, and when we lose the mist and fog further north, there will be a fair bit of sunshine around with temperatures 13—17 degrees.

then as we head on from wednesday into thursday, well, high pressure really does assert itself across the whole of the uk, so we are looking at a drier day, there will be more sunshine around, it's going to be less breezy. there will be some fairweather cloud bubbling up as we go through the course of the day, but not really spoiling it. and temperatures, 12 to about 17 degrees north to south. then beyond that, for friday and into the weekend, well, friday itself, there will be mist and fog to start the day. scotland and northern ireland, a weather front will come in bringing you cloud and some patchy rain. there will be a lot of dry weather this weekend, but equally expect some rain at times.

live from london, this is bbc news. the major developing story from the middle east is that israel's military says its troops have crossed the border into southern lebanon. a senior israeli security official described the operation as "limited local raids", targeting hezbollah strongholds that threaten israeli border areas. the israel defense forces released this video, which it said showed its troops preparing to enter into lebanon. it has urged residents of more than 20 towns in southern lebanon to evacuate immediately. in response, hezbollah has

fired missiles into central israel — a highway has been hit and air raid sirens have sounded across tel aviv. this map shows the border with southern lebanon marked in red. lebanon's prime minister said his country was facing "one of the most dangerous phases in its history". this is the scene live now in beirut. there've also been reports of an air strike hitting a crowded palestinian refugee camp near the southern lebanese city of sidon. syrian state media says that three people have been killed by israeli strikes on the capital damascus. israel is yet to comment on those reports. meanwhile, the uk government has chartered a flight to take british nationals out of lebanon. it's scheduled to leave beirut on wednesday. our middle east correspondent, hugo bachega is in beirut and shared me the latest. we still don't have a clear picture of the extent of this israeli incursion.

the israeli military has been describing it