live from washington, this is bbc news. israeli air strikes destroy a key road near lebanon's border crossing with syria. thousands have been fleeing that way — israel says it was being used to transport weapons. kamala harris and donald trump step up campaigning in key swing states across the us, with a month to go until election day. the world health organization approves the first diagnostic test for mpox — in its effort to ease a disease crisis in central africa. hello, i hello, lam hello, i am caitriona perry. you are very welcome. israel says its forces have hit more than 2,000 sites since it

began its ground operation in southern lebanon on tuesday. this recent map shows weapons strikes across the region. attacks by israel are shown in red and those by hezbollah — rockets fired into northern israel — are in purple. israel has ordered residents in these southern lebanese communities — around 30 villages, here marked in orange — to leave their homes for their own safety. the areas in grey show places which have already received evacuation orders since tuesday. on friday morning, an israeli strike cut a key route with syria. israel says it struck the masnaa crossing because the route was being used by hezbollah to transport weapons. the masnaa crossing has been used by thousands of refugees who've been fleeing the bombing by israel. 0ur correspondent lucy williamson has the latest from the israel—lebanon border. —— in the last few hours more air strikes have been reported in southern lebanon and beirut. these are live pictures.

0ur correspondent lucy williamson has the latest from the israel—lebanon border. hezbollah rockets are no longer a response to israeli troops in gaza, but to israeli troops at home, mapping their path through lebanon's border villages. we're starting to see more signs of resistance to israeli forces on the other side of the border. even a year of air strikes, intelligence operations, raids by special forces have not destroyed hezbollah�*s ability to fight back just a few miles in. sirens we've just heard some bursts of small arms fire and what sounded like some grenades from the israeli army, and now you can hear the sirens going off, telling us to get out of the area. explosions we've just heard a series of very loud

explosions, what seems to be rockets landing nearby, some small arms fire across the border. it seems the israeli army is pushing into a location, and this was the response. go. most of the residents along this border have been evacuated. come on, time to go. but in the arab—israeli town of jish a few miles down the road, many people have stayed. the sound of israeli artillery firing from the hill above. the mayor is one of many here with family ties to lebanon. israel's ground war has sparked mixed emotions, he says. it's more than afraid. afraid is something forjust a few minutes. we have one year of afraid. ican't... i don't know how to say it, but it's fear for a long time. and they don't know when, how, how it will finish. this is israel's third ground war in lebanon.

so far, those wars have been easier to start than to end. this is israel's third ground war in lebanon. so far, those wars have been easier to start than to end. lucy williamson, bbc news, the israel—lebanon border. 0ur correspondentjon donnison has been following developments and sent this update from jerusalem. well, israel is certainly not letting up in its offensive against hezbollah in lebanon. its military says it's now hit some 2,000 targets in southern lebanon, and it's been continuing to hit as far north as beirut. we had those massive strikes near the airport in beirut last night, where it's thought israel was targeting a possible successor to hassan nasrallah, the leader of hezbollah, who was assassinated last week. and the hezbollah fires continued as well. 0ur colleagues up on the northern border this morning in northern israel, they had to run for cover, as hezbollah rockets

came over the border. the big thing, though, that people are waiting for here is, what will israel's response be to that unprecedented iranian ballistic missile attack on tuesday? now, it's been the new year holiday here in israel for the past few days, so things have been a little bit quieter, people thinking israel is going to wait to respond till after the holiday. well, that's over now, and the thing is, you know, it's not a question of if, it's when. israel will hit back. now, it's got a range of options. it could hit economic targets — so, oil refineries, that sort of thing. that would be at the lower end of the spectrum. it could hit iran's nuclear facilities, something that the united states is very much warning against. and i spoke to one very senior former israeli army general this week who didn't rule out israel targeting the supreme leader in iran, which would obviously be hugely escalating.

so, it's a nervous moment, notjust here in israel, notjust in the region, but really for the whole world. in a rare public address, iran's supreme leader has defended attacks on israel, saying muslim nations must unite against what he called a common enemy. ayatollah khamenei made the remarks as he led friday ayatollah khamenei made the remarks as he led friday prayers in tehran for the first time in four years. he is is the ultimate authority in iran, outranking the president. caroline hawley looks at the significance of his speech. this is the man who, as his title suggests, has ultimate power in iran. he very rarely leads friday prayers, so the world was watching what he had to say today. the crowds were huge, their regime trying to project an image of strength after a series of humiliating blows to its allies. supporters gathered first

to commemorate the hezbollah leader hassan nasrallah, killed in an israeli air strike a week ago today. and then out came the supreme leader, who last friday was reported to have gone into hiding amid fears for his safety. he tried to rally muslims across the middle east against israel. he defended the hamas attack of october 7 and insisted iran's missile attack earlier this week was a completely legitimate response to what israel had done. translation: what our armed forces did was the minimum - punishment for the usurping zionist regime's astonishing crimes. on tuesday night, iran fired close to 200 ballistic missiles at israel, most of them shot down, with one palestinian man killed in the west bank. benjamin netanyahu has said israel will pay a heavy price and warned there was nowhere in the middle east israel could not reach. iran is now central to the conflict spreading across the region.

it backs armed groups that are enemies of israel, and israel is taking them on one by one. take gaza, where hamas has been pounded by israel, with thousands of its fighters killed. now, hezbollah in lebanon, where israeli air strikes are taking out its leaders and infrastructure. and then the houthis in yemen have been attacking shipping in the red sea. israel has struck them too, and all of this is a direct challenge to iran and its regional power. the supreme leader's message today was that despite these setbacks, its so—called axis of resistance won't back down. hey, folks. and tonight, president biden said israel is still considering its response to iran's missile attack. look, the israelis have every right to respond to the vicious attacks on them, notjust from the iranians, but from everyone from hezbollah, the houthis...

anyway. but the fact is that they have to be very much more careful about dealing with civilian casualties. ayatollah ali khamenei also made it clear that iran will hit back if it feels it needs to, as it braces itself for israel's retaliation in whatever form that comes. meanwhile, a "situation report" by the un's agency in gaza has revealed a worsening crisis as israeli forces continue operations there. the un relief and works agency said 1.4 million gazans did not get food rations in september. that number is up from i million in august, a 40% increase. the report says nearly 70% of crops have been destroyed. and when it comes to schools, unrwa says 86% of its schools have been damaged or destroyed since october 7 last year. these are the latest scenes coming to us from deir al—balah in central gaza, where multiple homes

were destroyed. palestinian medics said 29 people were killed across the gaza strip on friday. joining me live is alex vatanka, director of the iran programme at the middle east institute here in washington. alex, thanks for joining alex, thanks forjoining us on bbc news. we saw iran attacked israel in april and israel respond, but what's different about this week's iranian strike? . ., , ., strike? there are a number of wa s we strike? there are a number of ways we can _ strike? there are a number of ways we can describe - strike? there are a number of ways we can describe the - ways we can describe the differences between the april attack and the one that we just had. last time around, the one thing that stands out is there was a clear effort by the iranian side to make it a coordinated but well known in advance retaliation. in other words, let the americans know what they were planning to do, they took about two weeks to carry out the attacks, it was a combination of drones, cruise missiles, ballistic missiles

which were intercepted. this time around, they reacted much faster, it did not take two weeks, they took about three or four days, from friday's assassination of the hezbollah leader hossein nostril until tuesday's attack, and i'm not sure if we can save he seemed kind of coordination happened. there are some convincing reports about that. but they really wanted to hurt. and again, i know there are conflicting reports in terms of success rate, it depends on who you ask. these are lisle tell you ask. these are lisle tell you most of these missiles were intercepted, the iranians will say 90% hit their targets. the truth is somewhere in between the two but we have all seen the two but we have all seen the videos of the images, a number of those ballistic missiles hit their targets. air force bases. 0ne got close to the mossad had quarters in tel aviv. so that's how we describe the differences between the april attack anyone we just had. april attack anyone we 'ust had. , . . , april attack anyone we 'ust had. , . had. israel has said he will re5pond — had. israel has said he will re5pond at _ had. israel has said he will respond at a _ had. israel has said he will respond at a time - had. israel has said he will respond at a time and - had. israel has said he willl respond at a time and place had. israel has said he will. respond at a time and place of its choosing. when do you think that might be? i

its choosing. when do you think that might be?— that might be? i have no way of tellin: that might be? i have no way of telling you _ that might be? i have no way of telling you when _ that might be? i have no way of telling you when that _ that might be? i have no way of telling you when that will - that might be? i have no way of telling you when that will be, i telling you when that will be, but i think it will be forthcoming, animal be as small as the last time they retaliated. thus some around, backin retaliated. thus some around, back in april, they took out an air defence base site in central iran, in an inner—city. it's going to hard to be for israel to come if you will, protect its image and show the world that it is not helpless, it needs to do something, but as you just described in your graphic, the something is still being debated. the white house is making another nuclear sites in iran are targets the 96 as i want to see israel hit, and increasingly as today has gone we have also heard that even iran's energy infrastructure of the white house would rather see not be heard. i suspect that has something to do with the election cycle here in this country and the possibility that iran retaliates and the

energy crisis and prices internationally will go through the roof. politics and us is also now playing a factor in all this. ., , ., all this. notwithstanding those mornin . s all this. notwithstanding those mornings that _ all this. notwithstanding those mornings that have _ all this. notwithstanding those mornings that have come - all this. notwithstanding those mornings that have come from president biden at the white house, as you mentioned there, we have seen relations between israel and the us deteriorate. do you think israel would strike at an iranian target without an agreement from the us? �* ., , ., , without an agreement from the us? ., , ., us? again, the israelis would tell ou us? again, the israelis would tell you they _ us? again, the israelis would tell you they don't _ us? again, the israelis would tell you they don't need - tell you they don't need anybody�*s green light. that is what you hear repeatedly from folks like prime minister benjamin netanyahu, but the reality is, israel is much stronger going hand in hand with the united states and doing it alone, and that has been true in the case of the iranian nuclear programme, going back to when this programme came to our attention back around 20 years ago now. the israelis have waited, have been together with the united states all these years, and i think the same thing will continue, and i know there are

a lot of people out there who are saying, this is the perfect time to hit iran's nuclear facilities, but the fact is, it was a quick military solution to iran's nuclear programme, it would have been done along time ago. that quick solution does not exist regardless of what pundits out there are writing, with the problem right now we have is, a greek quick de—escalation which means suspension of hostilities and enforcing the rain regime to support a political solution and it comes to a two state solution, which means iran has to accept the basic reality of israel's right to exist, something the iranian supreme leader ali khamenei today refused to acknowledge. —— iranian regime. that is his ultimate decision, but i do not think iran will be a normal country as long as the regime maintains this ideological enmity towards the state of israel. , , , , enmity towards the state of israel. , , , ., ., enmity towards the state of israel. , , , ., israel. just briefly how do you think iran _ israel. just briefly how do you think iran will _ israel. just briefly how do you think iran will be _ israel. just briefly how do you think iran will be preparing i think iran will be preparing for whatever comes next from israel? �* . �* ,

israel? again, i'm 'ust telling ou what israel? again, i'm 'ust telling you what the _ israel? again, i'mjust telling you what the officials - israel? again, i'mjust telling you what the officials are - you what the officials are saying. the iranians, the last i picked up from the iranian regime media, is not that they are going to hit targets in the region, if their oilfacilities are hit, they are saying they are hit, they are saying they are going to go after is really energy facilities, gas plants and so forth, they are saying they had the capacity to have pinpoint stress against the sites in israel. they don't need to hit sites in the gulf region or elsewhere. i think the iranians really interested in making sure... that was one of the things that came out in the speech of ali khamenei today, this muslim solidarity. you cannot have muslim solidarity if you're hitting oil facilities solidarity if you're hitting oilfacilities in solidarity if you're hitting oil facilities in gulf states, for example, so the iranians need to make sure they don't bring too many actors into this fight. it is their fight with israel, if they can prevent it becoming a regional issue. mex. becoming a regional issue. alex vatanka, thank _ becoming a regional issue. alex vatanka, thank you _ becoming a regional issue. alex vatanka, thank you for - becoming a regional issue. alex vatanka, thank you forjoining us. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

let's look at some other stories making news. a metropolitan police officer has been charged over the death of 81—year—old helen holland, who was killed in a crash with a motorcycle that was part of an escort for the duchess of edinburgh. christopher harrison, who's 67, is accused of causing death by careless driving after the incident in west london last may. he's due to appear before magistrates next month. women in the submarine service have suffered misogyny, bullying and other unacceptable behaviours, according to the findings of a two—year—long royal navy investigation. it says the behaviour was seen "amongst all ranks" but was "not pervasive" across the service. the probe was launched after allegations were made by a former navy officer. the head of the royal navy has apologised. two metropolitan police officers who were sacked for gross misconduct, after stopping british sprinter bianca williams and partner ricardo dos santos, have won an appeal to get theirjobs back. the athletes were searched for drugs while their three—month—old baby was in the car. nothing was found.

mr dos santos plans to challenge the decision in civil court. you're live with bbc news. here in the us, kamala harris and donald trump are in the home stretch of the race for the white house, with november's presidential election just 32 days away. they're ramping up campaigning in the handful of key states where both ms harris and mr trump stand a chance of winning. battleground states that sometimes swing democrat, sometimes swing democrat, sometimes swing democrat, sometimes swing republican. the democratic nominee is in the hotly contested state of michigan on friday, trying to appeal to working—class voters. she made stops in the union stronghold cities of detroit and flint, touting her record on labour rights. during her rally in flint just a short while ago, ms harris made appeals to workers without college degrees. we will retool existing factories, hire locally and work with unions to create good

paying jobs, work with unions to create good payingjobs, includingjobs that do not require a college degree... that do not require a college degree- - -— degree... cheering because _ degree... cheering because we - degree... cheering i because we understand degree... cheering - because we understand a degree... cheering _ because we understand a college degree is not the only measure of whether a worker has skills and experience to get the job done. meanwhile, donald trump made his second stop this week in the state of georgia, surveying damage from the deadly hurricane helene with the state's popular governor, brian kemp. the joint appearance comes days after the governor disputed mr trump's false claims that president biden was not offering assistance to georgia. the death toll from helene has supassed 200 across multiple southeastern states, becoming the deadliest storm to hit the us mainland since hurricane katrina in 2005. the republican nominee called the suffering from the storm "unbelievable" and commended georgia's response to the hurricane.

we have a big election coming up, and if i'm involved... i told the governor, if i'm involved, they're going to get the best treatment, they're going to get treatment like we did in the past. we worked two or three times together on big storms, i don't think we've seen anything like this, but we got it taken care of in record time and we will be open and very committed to taking care of this state, because it's a great state and you have great leadership and the governor, again, is doing a fantasticjob. donald trump has moved on from there to fayetteville, where he is holding a town hall in north carolina with voters, hearing their concerns and, as you can see there, responding to their questions. on saturday, donald trump returns to butler, pennsylvania, where a gunman made an attempt on his life injuly. 0ur north america correspondent gary 0'donoghue was in butler at the time of that attack. he's been back there to speak

to residents reeling from the aftermath — including the widow of corey comperatore, a former volunteer fire—fighter who was killed by a bullet aimed for the former president. if you want to really see something... it's a moment that will go down in history... ..take a look at what happened... gunshots ..a former president coming within inches of losing his life. there's frantic activity among the police... a book bag next to him. give me a bleep hard line! ..as they look for other possible gunmen. this building, he was on top of this building! meanwhile, those closest to the stage are watching donald trump on the floor. this video, taken just moments later. while donald trump survived, corey comperatore did not. the former volunteer fire chief losing his life as he protected his wife and daughters. his widow, helen, told me how they'd been childhood sweethearts. the day before he was killed,

my youngest daughter pulled out his senior photo that he had given to me. and on the back he had written that i was his best... ..thanked me for being his best friend. and he actually teared up and looked at me and said, "thank you for being my best friend." so it was just kind of weird that we had that moment, you know, the day before. throughout the rally, corey had joked how he believed the former president would get him up on stage. less than a week later, corey's jacket was displayed on stage as donald trump accepted the republican nomination. when trump told me he was going to do that, we were all sitting

here and watching it and... ..i just cried because, you know, isaid, "he got his moment on stage with trump." so, you know, it was kind of like a nice moment, but it was a sad moment at the same time. two people with an exceptional view that day were a mother and son, ii—year—old gino, dressed as the former president, just feet from the stage. i felt everything. i felt sad, scared, mad that someone would do this. angry that there's political violence. _ angry that there's political violence, violence - angry that there's political violence, violence at - angry that there's political violence, violence at all. l angry that there's political i violence, violence at all. we have — violence, violence at all. we have to _ violence, violence at all. we have to respect _ violence, violence at all. we have to respect our - violence, violence at all. we have to respect our political| have to respect our political leaders _ have to respect our political leaders we _ have to respect our political leaders. we might - have to respect our political leaders. we might not - have to respect our political i leaders. we might not always agree — leaders. we might not always agree with _ leaders. we might not always agree with everyone - leaders. we might not always agree with everyone on - leaders. we might not always agree with everyone on the l agree with everyone on the other— agree with everyone on the other side, _ agree with everyone on the other side, but— agree with everyone on the other side, but there's - agree with everyone on the other side, but there's no i agree with everyone on the - other side, but there's no need for violence _ other side, but there's no need for violence. he _ other side, but there's no need for violence.— for violence. he had a rifle? he had a — for violence. he had a rifle? he had a rifle. _ just outside the rally, me and my team were talking to trump supporters about what they'd seen

when one man told us an extraordinary story. his words would reverberate around the world. three months later, he has no regrets. i feel proud of it. i everything that i told you that| night has proven out to be true from everything that's come out since then. i there's still no clear answer to the question why thomas crooks attempted to assassinate donald trump. but we do now have a much clearer idea about the series of security blunders that allowed him to do so. he was able to fly a drone over the site undetected. police saw him using a rangefinder tojudge the distance to the stage, yet still he was able to climb onto a roof and fire eight shots. moments after that, crooks was dead, a single shot to the head from a secret service sniper. multiple inquiries are trying to establish who was to blame, with much of the focus now on the actions of the secret service. if you're the secret service, if you're homeland security, if you're the most elite

of the elite, how could you have not been professional that day? — how could you have failed in almost every single thing that needed to be covered? do you feel angry about losing him? yeah. very. i'm angry because...there were a lot of mistakes made that day. and it didn't have to happen. it didn't have to happen. there are mixed feelings about donald trump's return to butler. some parents deciding to keep their children away. but in this staunchly pro—trump county, many believe they owe it to the former president to welcome him back. gary 0'donoghue, bbc news, butler, pennsylvania. the world health organization has approved the first diagnostic test for mpox that will provide test results immediately. it comes as authorities in the democratic republic of congo say nearly 31,000 people have been

infected with mpox. the health minister there said children underfive were worst affected — with a 70% mortality rate. jarbas barbosa is director of the pan american health 0rganisation — which serves the americas for the world health organization. we need to work together and to support the countries in africa, mainly the drc, to deal with the mpox outbreak. i think that the best protection for the other regions is not to think that they are far from the problem. we need to support the countries in africa. this is the best option. in countries in the americas, we have provided guidance about the case management, about how to handle it, prevent the spread of mpox, and we are also offering mpox vaccines to our member states using our mechanism that

you have in the americas. that is paho's solution for vaccines. i'm caitriona perry. thanks for watching. stay here on bbc news. hello. for many of us, friday was a pretty mild day thanks to the south to south—easterly winds. the best of the sunshine was across england and wales. we had a top temperature of 18 degrees around the london area, but for scotland and northern ireland, there was a lot more cloud and that has been bringing outbreaks of rain over recent hours. now on the satellite picture, you can see the weather front that's bringing that zone of cloudier weather to the north—west of the uk. a strong jet stream continues to develop this weather system, and it's going to be bringing some very heavy rain into the republic of ireland, where there's probably going to be some flooding across southern areas. the front itself is very slow—moving, so over the next few hours we're going to keep the largely clear skies across england and wales. one or two fog patches possible in the east, where temperatures could dip

as low as about three or four degrees in the coldest spots. but across the north—west of the uk, temperatures staying up into double figures. because we've got that cloud, there's a fair breeze around here, but we also have a bit of rain to come as well. now heading into the first part of saturday, there will be some pulses of heavy rain that works into northern ireland. the rain tending to come and go, so there might be some brighter spells for the afternoon here. rain at times, too, for western and northern areas of scotland, but away from that for eastern and southern scotland, for the bulk of eastern wales and all of england, really, should be a fine and a dry day with plenty of sunshine. it's going to be another mild one. top temperatures could hit 18 degrees once again. now these weather fronts will then push eastwards through saturday night, weakening as they run into our area of high pressure to the east, so just a few patches of light rain. there will be some damp weather, then, for some as we start off sunday morning, but we've got a more pronounced band of heavier rain that

through the afternoon will spread into northern ireland. this time, wales and south—west england getting a bit of a soaking, too. the south to south—easterly winds continue to drag up the milder air, so temperatures above average for most. looking at around 17 in london and cardiff and about 1k for edinburgh. then into next week, this area of low pressure is going to continue to fire showers or some longer spells of rain across the uk. meanwhile, a low pressure perhaps to our south contains the remnants of hurricane kirk. well, that could bring some very strong winds to parts of western europe. western france looking vulnerable at the moment. but here in the uk, it's an unsettled—looking week, quite windy at times, with showers or longer spells of rain next week. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. all of our lives are defined by the places we're connected to... ..and the people we hold close. they speak vietnamese. my name is william lee adams, and i'm a vietnamese—american journalist and an author. i was born six years after the vietnam war ended. i'm here to explore a country that's helped shape me. for me, it all flows from the war that brought my parents together — two people, born 12 time zones apart, thrust together to build a life. my family lived in america, and my big brother, john, was my best friend.

he speaks vietnamese.