this is bbc news, the headlines: hezbollah has fired more than 100 rockets into northern israel as the group's deputy leader says its military capability remains intact. the prime suspect in the disappearance of madeleine mccann has been acquitteded on unrelated sex offence charges by a court in germany. and us forecasters issue dire warnings about the threat from hurricane milton, as it moves towards florida. let's return now to the middle east where israel claims it has killed the commander of hezbollah's headquarters in an air strike on the lebanese capital, beirut. it comes after benjamin netanyahu described his country's year—long military campaign as a �*sacred mission' which he said will �*continue so long as israel's existence is threatened'.

let's ta ke let's take you back to those live pictures coming into us from the skyline over the lebanese capital, beirut, where smoke continues to rise. it's a very familiar scene now. in the last couple of hours the lebanese militant group hezbollah said it had launched a large rocket salvo at haifa after the israeli military said 85 missiles were identified crossing over into israeli territory. let's speak to our correspondent nick beake in northern israel. tell us more about what's been happening there in the last few hours. it happening there in the last few hours. . , ., , ., happening there in the last few hours. ., , ., ., happening there in the last few hours. ., ., ., hours. it was a year today that hezbollah _

hours. it was a year today that hezbollah started _ hours. it was a year today that hezbollah started to _ hours. it was a year today that hezbollah started to fire - hezbollah started to fire rockets into israel. they said they were doing that in solidarity with hamas. to mark one year on hezbollah have now sent more than a hundred rockets into israel, focusing particularly on the city of haifa. it israel's third city. we've been talking to officials in the municipalities. the significant of haifa is that it was hit yesterday... to have the rockets got through and that was the first time it had happened in 18 years. that was 2006. that was the last time that israel and hezbollah were engaged in warfare. that gives you an indication of history repeating itself and also the level of activity here in northern israel.- level of activity here in northern israel. ., ., northern israel. how does that fit with hayes _

northern israel. how does that fit with hayes but _ northern israel. how does that fit with hayes but -- _ fit with hayes but —— hezbollah's spokesman claiming that hezbollah's ability are intact? , . ., that hezbollah's ability are intact? ., ., ., , intact? israel say that various hezbollah _ intact? israel say that various hezbollah installations - intact? israel say that various hezbollah installations have l hezbollah installations have been taken out... as you look at the operation, a fourth part of the israeli army is making their way to the border. if you look at where we are, so far there have been to entry points into lebanon and now we are told they are expanding operations to the west. right next to the mediterranean sea. the israeli say they are carrying out limited, targeted operations. critics point out

that over the last year limited and targeted have been the words to describe the israeli military operations in gaza and those same critics making the point that over 40,000 people have been reported to be killed in that time. un aid agencies have been giving their assessment of the situation in lebanon, saying the parallels with gaza at the end of last year are stark. the world food programme says 1.2 million people are in need of food and the world health 0rganisation says 65 health workers have been killed in the country. let's speak to dr ramzi moucharafieh an orthopaedic surgeon and former minister of social affairs. thank you forjoining us. those comments from the un aid agency must be very concerning for you, particularly that comparison with gaza at the end of last year. do those descriptions fit with what you

are seeing around you? actually, they do. first, thank you for having me on. the air strikes over lebanon for the past couple of weeks have really resulted in a major catastrophe in the country. we have, as you mentioned, according to the united nations office for coordination of humanitarian affairs, we have more than 1.2 million people displaced and the number of casualties that we have sustained so far are really immense. they medical sector has really suffered... we have 113 people in the medicalfield are dead. we have one 135

injured and we have a number of ambulances that have been bombarded. to talk about the situation, i would say, it's not limited and targeted incursion, because more or less it's carpet bombing and indiscriminate. a lot of people that have been killed or injured are pure civilians. you refute the _ injured are pure civilians. you refute the suggestion from israel that its targets are limited and specific. what does that mean in terms of what you are trying to do as a doctor, as a surgeon? we've heard from the world health organization that people who need treatment for serious conditions and illnesses like cancer treatment, dialysis and so on, are having to be moved from

facility to facility. what is the impact on how you do your job and the people you treat? definitely, we have really a very tight situation at our hands. the number of people that we are receiving our quite fast and so far, despite the fact that we were able to cope with the injured personnel that we are receiving... however in the near future i we are receiving... however in the nearfuture i think we we are receiving... however in the near future i think we will be looking towards shortages in medical supplies. as you mentioned plenty of people who need continuous care have been moved into different facilities, because i don't know whether you mentioned earlier in your interviews, we have incidents where we have to do receive 3000 simultaneous

injuries... and as you might imagine receiving 3000 people simultaneously is quite a big numberfor anyone... any number for anyone... any facility, or any numberfor anyone... any facility, or any number of hospitals, to manage. so... thank you for your time today. the us presidentjoe biden is reported to be planning to meet the leaders of germany, france and britain in berlin on saturday with the middle east top of the agenda. our international editorjeremy bowen injerusalem — with his assessment of whether any de—escalation is likely. i think it's massively long way away. and i think at the moment

there's almost no scope for diplomacy, though i have to say, in previous crises, for example in lebanon 2006 war and also i think i was there, but it's quite a long time ago now, the 1996, there was a big military operation by israel in lebanon. and both times there were, you know, the us secretary of state was taking part in shuttle diplomacy, going between different players, trying to find a way to get to a ceasefire eventually anyway. and there's nothing like that going on at the moment. so, i think it's a really grim picture. and, you know, essentially in the middle east there are some really deep unresolved fissures and conflicts. and one of the most fundamental is the one between israelis and palestinians for control of this land, which both of them call home. and that conflict has been going on in different forms for over a century. and if you're in a region which has those conflicts in it, there's also iran and israel. iran absolutely

against the existence of the state of israel. israelis now thinking they might have a chance to really do that islamic regime in tehran, some damage. so, while these massive fissures are in the region, it's an absolute illusion and a myth to think that the region will be anything other than turbulent. so longer term, those problems have to be addressed short or medium term. at the moment, sadly, it's looking like the logic of war is the thing that is driving it. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

14 water companies in england and wales are being ordered to pay more than £158 million back to customers because of poor performance, following a year which saw a

record number of sewage spills. the regulator 0fwat has just published its annual report. for the second year running, no firm was awarded the highest performance rating, and three were put in the lowest category. let's speak to our reporter esme stallard, who's in cardiff. for viewers outside the uk just remind us of the background. {iii remind us of the background. of what is the industry regulator for england and wales. and they do a review looking at key components. this is the second year running where no one has been awarded that highest category. this also comes off the back of increased public

dissatisfaction with the industry. the same regulator 0fwat also announced record fines. ., x' , fines. how quickly will customers _ fines. how quickly will customers get - fines. how quickly will customers get that . fines. how quickly will. customers get that money returned?— customers get that money returned? 3 , . ., returned? it's expected that will come — returned? it's expected that will come in _ returned? it's expected that will come in 2025. - returned? it's expected that will come in 2025. even - returned? it's expected that. will come in 2025. even though it seems like a significant amount, that only works out as amount, that only works out as a few pounds per customer. and in fact that's expected to be dwarfed quite significantly by price increases over the next five years. 0fwat is estimating it could be hundred pounds. they say that's needed to pay for some infrastructure issues that have been raised in the report.

will have more on that story is the day goes on. a british—canadian computer scientist who has been dubbed the "godfather of artificial intelligence" has won this year's nobel prize for physics. professor geoffrey hinton, shares the honour with professorjohn hopfield of princeton university, for their discoveries and inventions that formed the building blocks of machine learning. speaking shortly after the announcement on the telephone, professor hinton said he was "flabbergasted" and described how their discovery could be used in the future. i think it will have a huge influence. it will be comparable with the industrial revolution, but instead of exceeding people in physical strength, it's going to exceed people in intellectual ability. we have no experience of what it's like to have things smarter than us. and, um, it's going to be wonderful in many respects in areas like healthcare. it's going to give us much better healthcare in almost all industries.

it's going to make them more efficient. people are going to be able to do the same amount of work with an ai assistant in much less time. it'll mean huge improvements in productivity, but we also have to worry about a number of possible bad consequences. particularly the threat of these things getting out of control. the us gulf coast is preparing for another intense storm as hurricane milton heads towards florida. hurricane and storm surge warnings have been issued for parts of the florida coast and people have been urged to evacuate. these satellite pictures show just how enormous it's become over the past 24 hours. the national hurricane centre says milton has winds of up to 175mph. the storm is expected to make landfall on wednesday night or early thursday morning. people living in the town of madeira beach

were boarding up homes and businesses to try and protect their properties from the force of hurricane milton. here's florida's governor ron desantis. what you had a lot of people evacuating from those barrier islands. it could hit... wherever it makes landfall there is going to be impact far beyond what the cone actually shows. we have need as i mentioned yesterday... federal government has okayed our previous request for assistance. we anticipate other things being approved. we have 51 counties under a state of

emergency. as of the 5am advisory, hurricane milton is still a major hurricane. it is no longer a character e five, but it could potentially go back to that as it approaches florida. there are forecasts that it will weaken before it gets to landfall and maybe that is true, let's hope that's true, but even if it does week and it is still a major hurricane that will have significant impact. right now it's located south of tampa and a storm surge warning has been issued to the dixie county line... including the stjohn's river. ten to 15 peak storm surge is forecast for... all

the way down into the area where you have manatee and sarasota. storm surges forecast from yankee town southward and to bonito beach, including charlotte harbour. almost at waistcoat —— west coast has the potential for big storm surges. we... this is something really significant. there is hurricane warning in effect for sarasota, desoto charlotte and lee counties... storm warnings for

the fayette, the glades, monro, the fayette, the glades, monro, the florida keys and the dry tortugas. we have a hurricane watch and a tropical storm watch and a tropical storm watch in jefferson, watch and a tropical storm watch injefferson, baker, watch in jefferson, baker, union watch injefferson, baker, union palm beach, so basically the entire peninsular portion of florida is under some type of florida is under some type of storm watch. the florida management is actively fulfilling 1000 missions to support our local communities, that includes everything from tiger dams and generators, to staff support as well as food and water and tops. we've also deployed more than 11,000 feet

of flood protection systems and we are prioritising critical infrastructure like hospitals, waste water... we've also done things like generators to support and special needs. starling internet, all counties have access to these devices and can use them as they see fit. more than 350 ambulances are in operation. we also have another 134 in staging can be usedif another 134 in staging can be used if the need arises. the state of florida is amassing fewer resort —— fuel resource... we currently have 268,000 gallons of diesel... those numbers are less than

what they were 24 hours ago. now there is no fuel shortage. you'll continue to arrive in the state of florida by port and what we're doing to bring it in on the ground, but lines at gas stations have been long. gas stations are running out quicker than they otherwise would end so that is causing the state of florida to help assist with the mission to be able to get fuel to the gas stations, so that floridians have access. last night 27 fuel trucks were escorted by the florida highway patrol to deliver them to stations in the impact anticipated. we are ensuring that fuel trucks are working 24/7 to ensure they are delivered 24/7 as they are

delivered. the gulf coast is not going to be receiving ships at the moment as per the coastguard. the dockside operations will be continuing. we are assuming that there are going to be significant damage to the port of tampa. so we are operating as though there is going to be a significant interruption... going to be a significant interruption. . ._ going to be a significant interruption... that is the florida governor - interruption... that is the florida governor giving i interruption... that is the florida governor giving a l florida governor giving a briefing. let's speak now to cristian benavides, who is in tampa for us. how are people responding to those warnings? find how are people responding to those warnings?— how are people responding to those warnings? and eat good morninu.

those warnings? and eat good morning- we _ those warnings? and eat good morning. we know _ those warnings? and eat good morning. we know that - those warnings? and eat good morning. we know that folks l those warnings? and eat good i morning. we know that folks are listening to those warnings. there are lines and lines of vehicles leaving areas similar to where we are located here. it took about an hour and a half and what would normally take 20 or 30 minutes. we are in saint pete beach it is a barrier island community. so much of it was devastated by her the previous hurricane. it's notjust this, take a look behind me. all this debris out here. the concern is that it could get picked up by the wind and become a dangerous projectile. that's what officials are so concerned about. they are rushing to get

all this debris into a location where it's not going to do something like that. but at this point it's a race against the clock. you have to remember there is just so the clock. you have to remember there isjust so much... across so many communities and there is so little time. we really gotjust is so little time. we really got just about 24 hours before you really should be hunkering down in this area. because even though landfall may not happen for 36 hours all 48 hours, you're already feeling the impact way before that. so, this is what barrier island community is currently look like. certainly a difficult position to be in. another major concern is that so many folks here are already being displaced by the previous salary hurricane so you've got a lot of hotels in florida... ad along to that you got a lot

more evacuations. late people are looking for places to go to and they can't find because the hotels are full. it is a difficult position to being this point and again it is a race against the clock. 0fficials race against the clock. officials are trying to get all this debris to different locations and they're running out of time.— out of time. christian thank out of time. christian thank you very — out of time. christian thank you very much. _ out of time. christian thank you very much. kristian - out of time. christian thank| you very much. kristian was mentioning there that people only have a narrow window to try and evacuate. because the national hurricane center says milton is the third fastest intensifying storm on record, that gives you some sense of the impending danger. more on that throughout the programme. stay with us here on bbc news.

hello there we haven't seen a lot of cloud. at least for the moment it's mild. the highest temperatures for england and wales. could make 18 or 19 degrees in anglia and the south—east. be sundry downpours for england and wales there is more cloud and patchy rain affecting scotland and northern ireland it's going to be difficult to see the meteor shower overnight heading into tomorrow some showers will develop stronger when developing in the north. it's going to feel colder in northern areas and across the board temperatures are going to

be a bit lower. 16 where the winds are light in the south but heading to scotland and northern ireland were getting a northerly wind developing here. we got some stronger when developing here along biscay... remnants of the x hurricane will be sliding up to scandinavia and that will allow the northerly wind to push cold air right way across the country for thursday. it certainly going to be a chilly start. many places could be dry on thursday. some showers around exposed coast. the strongest winds will be around the north sea coat as well. a tickly cold wind there. temperatures will be lower everywhere. 10 degrees in the central belt of scotland. 12 in the south. heading into friday and that northerly wind will have changed. we'll have lighter winds for the rest of the country. westerly breeze in scotland bringing its cloud and rain. elsewhere it's going to be dry. chilly start again may

be dry. chilly start again may be some mist and fog. temperatures 11 or 12. over the weekend temperatures may rise just a little bit but not very much. scotland or northern ireland more likely to see some rain. much of england will be dry with some sunshine.

today at one — water companies in england and wales ordered to repay nearly £158 million

to their customers. the regulator is punishing 13 firms for failing to meet targets such as cutting pollution and leaks. it says they need a change of culture and leadership. also on the programme this lunchtime. israel says its troops are expanding their ground offensive in lebanon and it claims to have killed another hezbollah leader in a beirut air strike. the main suspect in the disappearance of madeleine mccann is acquitted by a german court of separate charges of rape and sexual abuse. and who is next to be kicked out of the tory party leadership race? conservative mps vote this afternoon to eliminate one of the final four contenders. and coming up on bbc news: england's bowlers struggle again as pakistan rack up more than 500 runs in the opening test in multan.