live from washington, this is bbc news. israel says its forces have hit more than 2000 targets in lebanon since it began ground operations on tuesday. this is the scene live in beirut after reports of more explosions in the south of the lebanese capital. kamala harris and donald trump step up campaigning in key swing states across the us with a month until election day. the world health organization approves the first diagnostic test for mpox in its effort to ease the crisis in central africa. hello, i'm helena humphrey. glad you could join me. there are reports of more

explosions and strikes in the southern suburbs of lebanon's capital beirut less than an hour after the israeli army issued an evacuation order for the area. meanwhile, the afp news agency cites hezbollah sources saying its forces are fighting israeli troops near the lebanon—israel border. israel earlier said its forces have hit more than 2000 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 — about 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 lebanese refugees who've been fleeing the bombing by israel. 0ur correspondent lucy

williamson reports now 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 wail. spread out, guys. 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 are 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 ofjish 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. it;s — i can'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. lucy williamson, bbc news, the israel—lebanon border. lebanon says a number of hospitals in the south of the country are out of action as israel continues its offensive against hezbollah. the un says all 900 government shelters for the displaced are now full. 0ur senior international correspondent 0rla guerin reports from southern lebanon. an escape route from lebanon today, now passable — just — by foot. israel bombed the road overnight, claiming hezbollah was smuggling weapons beneath it. most of those struggling across this border are syrians,

escaping lebanon's war to go home to their own. who wouldn't want to escape this? beirut last night — another massive israeli strike, one mile from the airport. the target — the likely next leader of hezbollah, his fate unknown. day and night and country—wide, israel is bombing. this is in the south, in tyre. was there a hezbollah target here? we don't know, but locals say israel killed five people from one family, including two women and a baby. everybody here were children. family, children, everybody here. why?

hassan was here outside his coffee shop when the air strike killed his neighbours at the weekend. translation: two missiles came. i saw the first one landing. i was thrown from there to there. and the second missile sent me flying again, me and the guys. now, i'm terrified if i hear this sound. hassan insists there were no weapons stored nearby, and all the dead were civilians. it's not right. it's not right at all. i wish i had died with them. in lebanon now, many are lost and weary, and fear this war may bejust beginning. explosions.

so, we're just hearing explosions now — that's the sound of outgoing fire. that's rockets being fired from quite close by hezbollah, targeting israeli positions, a whole stream of rockets being fired now. israel has released this footage of its troops on lebanese soil, apparently advancing. but the invaders may face a hard fight here, as happened in the past. and how will the middle east look on the day after? few would dare to guess. 0rla guerin, bbc news, southern lebanon. gina abercrombie is a retired senior us diplomat who now serves as senior nonresident fellow at the atlantic council here in washington. welcome to you. i think it is

fair in saying tonight that this feels like a very precarious moment in the middle east. ., ., precarious moment in the middle east. ., ,, east. how do you assess it? well, ithink— east. how do you assess it? well, | think the _ east. how do you assess it? well, i think the word - well, i think the word precarious is exactly right. we have had a year of war with israel and the palestinians and with the us lead efforts to prevent exactly what is happening now from happening. and anytime you this conflict, this war, then we have a failure of diplomacy and i know everyone that has spoken on the bbc, us leaders, leaders from the region, have all spoken about the importance of a day after, a pathway through diplomacy to get there. but we have seen decisions made by both sides, particularly with regard to hamas and, of course,

the israeli prime minister, avoiding that pathway to diplomacy, avoiding that offramp from the conflict and the region is suffering, as was anticipated. d0 the region is suffering, as was anticipated-— the region is suffering, as was anticipated. do you think there is any responsibility _ anticipated. do you think there is any responsibility from - anticipated. do you think there is any responsibility from the l is any responsibility from the united states in that quote unquote failure?— united states in that quote unquote failure? well, i think we will have _ unquote failure? well, i think we will have two _ unquote failure? well, i think we will have two take - unquote failure? well, i think we will have two take some i we will have two take some measure of that but not the united states alone, and i do believe it's important to realise that there are voices and pressures and leverage from ensure that israel has the sarr pressures :ision was not ensure that israel has the sarr pressures and n was not and pressures and leverage from ensure that israel has the sarr pressures and leverage from and pressures and leverage from and pressures and leverage from a range of parties. of course, a range of parties. of course, the united states. and the the united states. and the president has made the decision president has made the decision although giving sound advice to although giving sound advice to prime minister netanyahu about prime minister netanyahu about the importance of a diplomatic the importance of a diplomatic pathway, of giving palestinians pathway, of giving palestinians a way forward for a way forward for self—determination and dignity and safety and security to self—determination and dignity and safety and security to ensure that israel has the ensure that israel has the

same, that decision was not same, that decision was not taken but there are others in the region. we know that no arab country that has diplomatic relations with israel, none have broken diplomatic ties. we know that in an effort to give israel a sense of courage and confidence to do the right thing, to make the tough choices with regard to palestinians, but countries in the region came to israel's

relates to proxies in the region, hezbollah, houthis and militias in iraq?— militias in iraq? absolutely. i believe iran _ militias in iraq? absolutely. i believe iran is _ militias in iraq? absolutely. i believe iran is very _ militias in iraq? absolutely. i believe iran is very well - militias in iraq? absolutely. i| believe iran is very well aware of the dangers that it may be bringing on itself from israel. when the prime minister speaks about israel's ability to reach anywhere in the region, clearly, it behoves everyone in the region to take the statement seriously. there are operations against hezbollah but are unprecedented and extraordinary and extraordinarily successful, and let's be clear here — there may be a way forward for this way, by undermining hezbollah to such an extent. i don't believe it, but it may indeed bring them to the table to find a way of a ceasefire, even without the ceasefire that they have demanded in the gaza strip. but when you see that hamas has not been eradicated, even after a

year from the strongest military in the region, it is hard to believe that hezbollah is going to come to heal in the same way in any short period of time. and israel has a lot of experience, having had multiple invasions of lebanon before. it has been incredibly costly to the lebanese but also costly to israel. �* ., ., israel. an important point to make. ambassador - israel. an important point to make. ambassador gina - make. ambassador gina abercrombie—winstanley, always good to get your assessment. thank you for being with us. well, this present war in the middle east can be traced back to nearly a year ago — october 7 last year, when israel's military was overwhelmed as thousands of hamas gunmen breached the security barrier between israel and gaza. just a kilometre from the border, the military base of nahal 0z found itself on the frontline of the attack and in less than five hours, it was overrun. jon donnison has been taking a look at warnings from that base which were ignored, and how it fell to hamas.

dawn on october 7, and hamas gunmen are already swarming nahal 0z... gunfire. one of israel's closest military bases to gaza, right on the front line. attacking on the ground and from the air. with drones, even paragliders. within hours, the base is overrun and over 60 israeli soldiers are dead. among those taken hostage was naama levy, then 19 and only in her second day in thejob, bloodied and pinned against the wall. "i have friends in palestine," she pleaded. she was taken to gaza, where she has been for 12 months. after i could take in the wounds, the blood, the horror of those moments, i knew she was going to say something like that.

you know, "i'm not the enemy. "i have friends in palestine." that is my naama. the young soldier's job was what is called a spotter. unarmed, she was one of dozens of mostly young women who monitored suspicious activity in gaza. they'd warned that hamas was planning something big for years, its fighters training in footage like this. the nahal 0z base is now completely destroyed and some of the women spotters who worked there are asking why it wasn't better protected. shimron is one of the few who didn't die. she didn't want to give her real name, and her words are re—enacted by a bbc producer. they told me, "get up. "the terrorists are here, outside the door." i thought it wasn't real. it didn't make sense that they would be here inside the military base. and she is not the only person saying that if nahal 0z had

been better reinforced, the soldiers there could have helped stop hamas from going on to kill hundreds of israelis. if that post was stronger and pushed back hamas in that area, it could save a lot of lives. but even if nahal oz and other posts were standing, it could not prevent totally the takeover, but it could save a lot of lives. hundreds of lives? most probably hundreds of lives, yes. and for the families of those who were killed or taken hostage, they want answers. there should be, you know protection — tanks, armed combat soldiers, etc. it's painful to understand. one year on, there are still so many questions. why wasn't intelligence acted on? how did one of the world's most powerful militaries suffer its biggest ever defeat to a much inferiorforce?

the israeli army says it is still investigating what happened at nahal 0z — a base that should have been the country's first line of defence. jon donnison, bbc news, jerusalem. you can find more on that story on our website. there's also more in—depth coverage of israel—gaza war. 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. 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, including jobs that do not require a college degree... cheering and applause ..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 stops in georgia and north carolina on friday. he appeared with georgia's popular governor brian kemp to survey damage in the state from the deadly hurricane helene earlier in the day. mr trump then travelled to north carolina for a town hall, where he fielded questions from residents on a range of topics including immigration, health care and foreign policy. the republican presidential nominee criticised president joe biden�*s position on conflict in the middle east on wednesday, and suggested israel should target iran's nuclear facilities.

they asked him what do you think about —— what do you think about —— what do you think about —— what do you think about iran? would you hit iran? and he goes as long as they don't hit the nuclear stuff. that's the thing you want to hit, right? i said he has got that one wrong. isn't that what you are supposed to hit? we have to be totally prepared, we have to be absolutely prepared. and they asked him a question, the answer should have been hit the nuclear first and worry about the rest later. on saturday, donald trump will return to butler, pennsylvania for a rally — his first time back at the site sincejuly, when a gunman made an attempt on his life. bullets fired that day toward mr trump killed a rally—goer and injured the former president and two other attendees. mr trump's running matejd vance will appear alongside the former president on saturday, along with several allies, including elon musk. joining me live now is sophia cai, a national politics reporter at axios.

good to see you. just one month to go now and we have both kamala harris and donald trump hitting key battleground states in michigan and georgia so how critical are these stops to securing votes this late in the race? �* , , ., race? it's very. i mean, there's— race? it's very. i mean, there's really _ race? it's very. i mean, there's really six - race? it's very. i mean, there's really six or - race? it's very. i mean, l there's really six or seven states that matter and among voters in those states, there is only 5% that are still undecided. and this is why you see kamala harris and donald trump hitting those same states in the us, georgia, north carolina, the so—called blue wall states of pennsylvania, michigan and wisconsin and a lot of these states, trump or bite and one by less than i% and this is why you see them go there repeatedly, to earn those voters who may still be undecided —— trump or biden. i understand you are at donald trump of la strel in butler pennsylvania where there was

the assassination attempt so what was the atmosphere like then —— donald trump's last rally. it then -- donald trump's last rall . ., then -- donald trump's last rall . . , ., ., , then -- donald trump's last rall. ., rally. it was a really scary day for — rally. it was a really scary day for all _ rally. it was a really scary day for all of _ rally. it was a really scary day for all of us _ rally. it was a really scary day for all of us who - rally. it was a really scaryj day for all of us who were there, whether you were the president, the former president himself or a trump supporter, a rillie gowa or a journalist. —— rally —goer. we are almost three months out from the belly and i think trump has made a conscientious decision to choose 0ctober, four weeks away from election day, as the day that he will return to the same place at the same time. to "finish his speech" and he said that when he returns tomorrow, he will say, "as i was saying." regardless of your political leaning, it is a powerful thing to see a former us president who was shot go back to the place where he was shot to finish his speech. i

place where he was shot to finish his speech.— finish his speech. i want to touch on — finish his speech. i want to touch on something - finish his speech. i want to touch on something else . finish his speech. i want to i touch on something else from this week — jack smith special counsel in his election filing and i wonder what you make of that, whether you said influencing voters one or another. influencing voters one or another-— influencing voters one or another. ., ~ ., , another. you know, it could be. kamala harris _ another. you know, it could be. kamala harris has _ another. you know, it could be. kamala harris has not - another. you know, it could be. kamala harris has not directly l kamala harris has not directly addressed it in part because she is the sitting vice president of the united states and still, you will see her make this sort of democracy argument, calling trump a threat to democracy and voters at the same time are seeing news about the jack smith filing which shows the extent that trump went to try to overturn the election in the greatest detail yet. i think it could make a difference but the thing i am hearing the most on the campaign trail in the swing states where trump and harris have rallied is the concerns about kitchen table issues. how much am i paying for eggs? how much am i paying for eggs? how much am i paying for gas? how am i dealing with the

inflation? i think that is of bigger concern for the voters. i want to touch more on those stops, those key swing states so when it comes to harass's focus on labour rights, for example, donald trump with hurricane helene, how are those approaches playing out on voters? ., approaches playing out on voters? . ,., u, voters? yeah, so hurricane helene hit _ voters? yeah, so hurricane helene hit six _ voters? yeah, so hurricane helene hit six states, - voters? yeah, so hurricane helene hit six states, to i voters? yeah, so hurricane i helene hit six states, to have them happened to be key battleground states, north carolina and georgia, and trump has made multiple stops serving the damage —— surveying. he went before vice president harris or president biden. his campaign is in some ways politicising back to an extent. in terms of the labour rights, that will be a big issue in places like nevada, where there is a lot of tips wages and tips for workers and you see both kamala harris and trump say there will be no tax on tips. it will also be an issue in

states like georgia, where there is a lot of auto workers and earlier this cycle, president biden and trump were both there and you will see now vice president harris and trump go back to places like michigan and nevada to speak to working—class voters. and nevada to speak to working-class voters. sophia cai, always _ working-class voters. sophia cai, always good _ working-class voters. sophia cai, always good to - working-class voters. sophia cai, always good to get - working-class voters. sophia cai, always good to get your| cai, always good to get your take. thank you. the world health organization has approved the first diagnostic test for mpox that will provide 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 under five were worst affected with a 70% mortality rate. jarbas barbosa is director of the pan american health 0rganization, 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 technical guidance about the case management, about how to handle contacts to prevent the spread of mpox, and we are also offering mpox vaccines to our member states using our procurement mechanism that you have in the americas. that is paho's solution for vaccines. let's turn to some other news around the world. ajudge in france has reversed a ruling in the trial of a man who's accused of drugging and raping his wife, together with dozens of other men. the lawyers of the victim, gisele pelicot, appealed an earlier decision to only show videos of the crimes to lawyers and the jury. they argued the crimes should be shown to the public to draw attention to the use of drugs to commit sexual abuse.

authorities in los angeles say they're looking at new evidence in the high—profile convictions of erik and lyle menendez, who were jailed for life after being convicted of murdering their parents in 1989. the brothers claim they were sexually abused by both parents and had acted in self—defence. prosecutors at the time argued they were seeking their multimillion—dollar fortune. the decision by the la district attorney comes after a netflix series released in september brought renewed attention to the case. flash floods forced about 100 elephants to flee their sanctuary in northern thailand. staff at the elephant nature park near chiang mai tried to herd the elephants towards higher ground. all of the elephants there were rescued from various exploitative industries, along with other animals. among some of the elephants were injured or sick members. some were seen guiding a younger blind elephant to safety. thailand is suffering the effects of typhoon yagi, asia's most powerful

storm this year. you are watching bbc news. stay with us if you can. hello. for many of us, friday was a pretty mild day, thanks to the south to southeasterly 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 than there has been, bringing outbreaks of rain over recent houi’s. now, on the satellite picture, you can see the weather front that's bringing in that zone of cloudier weather over the northwest 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 3 or 4 degrees

in the coldest spots. but across the northwest 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 work 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, it 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 southeasterly winds continue to drive up the mild air, so temperatures

above average for most, looking at around 17 in london and cardiff and about ia 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.

voice—over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. i'm alice morrison, an adventurer and writer. i've cycled across africa and run across the sahara. now i'm on the trail of a mysterious and forgotten arabian civilisation, the nabataea ns. are we standing in the birthplace of written arabic? i think i would say that, yes. they were nomads who forged a rich civilisation here in the harsh desert conditions of western arabia from the fourth century bce. they ruled for around

three centuries until they were