be done harms way, it should be done right now immediately. fix, right now immediately. a spectacular moment for spacex as it achieves a successful fifth long shandy return of their starship rocket booster. president biden pledges half $1 billion for hurricane relief in florida. tributes paid to alex salmond, scotland's�*s former first minister who has died at the age of 69. hello, iam lauren hello, i am lauren taylor. the israeli military says one of its tanks encroach several metres into un peacekeeping post in southern lebanon while attempting to evacuate injured soldiers. the peacekeeping body known as unifil called it a shocking violation of their position but the israelis insist their actions pose no danger. it is the latest in a series over the last week where the un has accused israel of

injuring its trips are damaging its bases in the area that separates israel from lebanon. the un said israeli forces entered in four separate incidents, a fifth was injured on friday but it is not known who fired on that occasion. more from jerusalem. the tensions between israel and the united nations seem to intensify by the hour. in the last hour un peacekeepers have demanded an explanation from israel after what it described as shocking violations by us troops operating in southern lebanon. it says israeli tanks forcibly entered a unifil position in southern lebanon after breaking through the main gate. it said the firing was so intense that 15 of its peacekeepers were affected by smoke inhalation. it comes after the un had demanded explanations forfour of

after the un had demanded explanations for four of its peacekeepers being injured. it said by israeli fire. two incidents were reported last week including a third on friday. the un secretary—general antonio guterres has accused israel of violations of international humanitarian law. a0 of the nations making up the unifil peacekeeping mission have called on israel to halt its attacks. today began with a call from the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu for the united nations to pull out its peacekeepers immediately from those areas of southern lebanon where israeli forces were operating against hezbollah positions. let's hear a little bit about what the israeli prime minister had to say. israeli prime minister had to sa . ~ israeli prime minister had to sa _ ~ ,, . ., , israeli prime minister had to say. mr secretary general, get the unifil — say. mr secretary general, get the unifil forces _ say. mr secretary general, get the unifil forces out - say. mr secretary general, get the unifil forces out of - say. mr secretary general, get the unifil forces out of harms j the unifil forces out of harms way. it should be done right now immediately. in the last

hour the israeli prime minister has been speaking to the italian prime minister george maloney and expressed regret if any un peacekeepers had been injured but there has been a strong response in lebanon to his call for the peacekeepers to leave their mission where they have been operating since they have been operating since the late 19705. earlier i spoke to our correspondent in the lebanese capital and she gave us more details about lebanon's reaction. i think a couple of different things are at play, the political and logistical. if we take to the political first of all, the peacekeeping mission unifil was put in place in 1978 by the un security council and they will say that it is for them to decide when and where those troops move, not for the israeli prime minister to make that demand. also interesting to hear what benjamin netanyahu had to say in that statement where he directly addressed antonio gutierrez, the secretary general of united nations, someone with whom he has had a very fractious relationship in the few months, in fact declaring him persona non grata in israel

just a few weeks ago. logistically, these are bases that the un has inhabited for many years, we are talking about its headquarters where two peacekeepers were injured when they watch tower was shot at. we are talking about positions that have been in place for a long time, so if unifil soldiers were to withdraw, where would they withdraw to and would they still be able to carry out their work? a lot of questions are not too many answers and it seems unlikely what benjamin netanyahu was asking for will actually happen. let's speak now to the chief spokesperson for the united nations refugee agency between 2007 and 2019. thanks for being with us and i do want to move on to the humanitarian situation in a minute but i wonder you could to describe to us what the role of unifil is and what its mandate is and if

it is separate from any humanitarian assistance programmes. it humanitarian assistance programmes.— humanitarian assistance programmes. humanitarian assistance rourammes. , programmes. it is a very good idea to separate _ programmes. it is a very good idea to separate out _ programmes. it is a very good idea to separate out in - programmes. it is a very good idea to separate out in the - idea to separate out in the minds of your audience of these typical un acronyms. unifil is a peacekeeping force and has been there for nearly 50 years, it has three main function is mandated by the security council. 0ne mandated by the security council. one is to make sure the area in the southern lebanon, the so—called security zone between the blue line, the border with israel, is clear of lebanese resistance groups and fighters. secondly it is there to confirm the withdrawal of israeli troops and this was a function that has had under security council resolution 1701 since 2006. lastly it is there to assist the lebanese army to keep the area de—militarised and since 2006 it has had one additional function which is a humanitarian function, which is to deal with displaced people. what we have seen since the

israeli incursion into lebanon across the international border in violation of the un charter, and let's be clear hezbollah were also violating, what we have seen is 900,000 people, nearly1 million people, nearly 1 million people, displaced. nearly1 million people, displaced. that is a fifth of the population of lebanon. imagine if this were britain, that would be 12 million people displaced. that is what the unifil for starters, displaced. that is what the unifilfor starters, it displaced. that is what the unifil for starters, it keeps the peace and there should be a piece to keep which is the problem we are seeing. the problem we are seeing. the problem are firing over and in some cases into unifil positions, the headquarters in southern lebanon. five peacekeepers at least have been injured. 0n the other hand you have unwra who do humanitarian and development work. food, health, shelter, assistance of an emergency nature but also longer term development in terms of health and education.

you mention the 900,000 who have had to move. tell us about the crisis in humanitarian terms, what that is meaning that the moment. i terms, what that is meaning that the moment.— terms, what that is meaning that the moment. i think the fiuures that the moment. i think the figures tell — that the moment. i think the figures tell their _ that the moment. i think the figures tell their own - figures tell their own absolutely appalling story. 0ver absolutely appalling story. over 1500 absolutely appalling story. 0ver1500 people, mainly civilians, women and children have been killed. we have seen the targeting of medical facilities, of heavily built—up areas of beirut and the refugee camps in the south, the refugee camps in the south, the refugee camps where unwra has facilities. i have been to them and they are heavily populated areas. as i say, a huge displacement of people and any country that is so unstable like lebanon that is notjust a humanitarian question, it actually has huge political ramifications because the last thing the world needs or the middle east needs right now is further destabilisation of lebanon. what we need to see is

the area demilitarised according to resolution 1701 in accordance with the security council mandate. let's be clear, at the end of august which was the last time the security council through the weight of the un's highest security organ behind the force in unifil. so we need to see israel with drawing, we need to see these attacks on unifil cease, and as the previous speaker said, cease, and as the previous speakersaid, it cease, and as the previous speaker said, it is mandated by the security council so far mr netanyahu to make a call in the media on the secretary—general to get unifil out, it is not the secretary general that mandates the force. it is the security council and the security council and the security council and the security council is expressing the will of the world, and the world is saying the area has to be demilitarised and the fighting has to stop. find fighting has to stop. and briefly if— fighting has to stop. and briefly if you _ fighting has to stop. and briefly if you can - fighting has to stop. and briefly if you can on - fighting has to stop. and briefly if you can on the l fighting has to stop. and briefly if you can on the issue of gaza because while attention has been more so on lebanon recently the situation in gaza has been getting more difficult. tell us about the

evacuation that has been requested for gaza and where people will go in that situation.— people will go in that situation. , ., ., situation. friends and former colleagues — situation. friends and former colleagues i _ situation. friends and former colleagues i have _ situation. friends and former colleagues i have been - situation. friends and former. colleagues i have been speaking to in gaza especially in the north are absolutely terrified. israeli a few days ago issued orders to the a00,000 people to evacuate. most of the people i know are too frightened. they are too frightened because they know the so—called designated humanitarian zones are anything but safe. in certain circumstances people are being blocked and frankly people in northern gaza have lost the will to live. they would rather die in their homes than go to an uncertain future where they are likely to die anyway. and to be clear the un humanitarian organisations have been saying for months that starvation is taking hold amongst hundreds of thousands of people. so as a matter of direct political choice, we are seeing perhaps half a million people, women and children being starved to

death. before the war over 500 trucks were being allowed into gaza by the israelis. according to the un's own figures 52 trucks per day were allowed in then september. it is a violation of international humanitarian law and it needs to be brought to an urgent end or we will see mass death due to starvation in gaza and that is a very serious prospect. thank you. let's turn now to a big milestone for spacex. elon musk�*s company has succeeded in its ambition to catch the booster system which launches its starship rocket, safely landing the device as it dropped to earth after a test flight in texas. we'll explain why that's such an important moment but first let's go to that spectacular moment. the feat means it will be easier to reuse the launch technology to make space flights more often — and more cheaply. there were cheers in the spacex control room in texas as the machine, known as the super heavy booster, successfully lowered itself into mechanical claws known as chopsticks.

elon musk wants his new rocket to revolutionise spaceflight and is hoping to develop a spaceship that can be used often like a plane, rather than a traditional rocket system which breaks up when it returns to earth. there it is being successfully docked back onto the system. it is the most powerful rocket ever built and it is about to make history. a perfect take—off. followed by a successful separation for the first and second stages. that is what normally happens during rocket launches but now, watch this. instead of crashing into the sea, the lowest stage makes its way back to the launch pad.

it is falling at supersonic speed but its engines fire to slow it down. then, most of them are turned off so that it gently makes its way to the launch tower. then it's actually caught by two robotic arm5. the process is called the chopsticks manoeuvre. there were so many things that could have gone wrong but they succeeded first time of asking. we watched it come down right behind us, watched it get caught. that broke my brain for a while. let's have a closer look at starship. it is 120 metres

tall, a00 feet. as we saw, it has two main parts. the bottom is a superheavy booster which has 33 engines. on top as the spacecraft which can carry cargo and eventually have room for up to 100 astronauts. the aim of the system is to be reusable and so bring down the costs of space travel. and really that is the big game changer in terms of making spacecraft more reusable and having a faster turnaround to land them back on the earth almost ready to go again. an hour after liftoff, the rocket�*s top section splashes down. but there are concerns about the environmental impact of these tests. things such as satellites and rocket bodies that go up in space, the more the material comes back into the atmosphere and leaves lots of heavy elements in the atmosphere.

long—term environmental effects we don't yet know. the mid air catch was an incredible achievement, paving the way for cheaper space travel, which may bring with it its own problems. president biden is visiting florida to see the devastation wrought by hurricanes milton and helene. he said more than half a billion dollars would be made available for restoring power grids damaged by the storms. more than three million homes and businesses are without power in the wake of the hurricanes, which together killed more than 250 people across the southeastern united states. mr biden praised the resilience of floridians, and the way they had come together, not as democrats or republicans, but as americans. i am proud to announce $612 million for six new cutting edge projects to support communities impacted by hurricane helene and milton.

it includes $a7 million for gainesville utilities and another a7 million for florida power and light. this funding will not only restore power but make the power system stronger and more capable and reduce the frequency and duration of power outages as extreme weather events become more frequent. we can speak to the writer and author of category five super storms. he explained to us the science behind why these storms seem to be more frequent and more devastating. it is actually more powerful, the frequency is sort of similar to decades past, but as we introduce heat into this closed weather system on earth the result is heat amplifying all extreme weather but it especially these hurricanes that have been hitting the united states with record force recently.

is it the case that the hurricanes now seem to travel further inland. we saw that some areas were less well—prepared, does the planning need to change? while researching this book i found some facts that totally blew my mind. the storms could get further inland over coming decades, there are growing larger and faster than we have ever seen and carry vastly more precipitation and more wind and to speak to your original question, the infrastructure in the united states was not built for it. it was built for 19605, 19805 and 905 storms and we just don't have those storms any more. more major hurricanes in the last six years than the 50 years prior to that. you said before they can go thousands of miles inland, that is quite a swathes. about 1000 is probably as deep as it could go. they are estimating new mexico, wisconsin, illinois

being susceptible to hurricanes from the coast. they are obviously completely unprepared, as north carolina was. they haven't experienced that and that is where you see realfatalities coming in and serious damage. there is no experience, florida has seen 100 hurricanes since 1850 and they have got it down relatively well. the evacuation routes and infrastructure but the rest of the country doesn't have that and you will also see hurricanes moving north in the future as northern waters warm and you will also see hurricanes coming towards europe, as hurricane carrick dead. warmer water infuses the storms with more energy in the last longer. and the flooding as well seems to have been one of the big issues this time. for every degree that the temperature rises in

fahrenheit you're getting about 8% more water in the atmosphere. warm air holds more water up in the atmosphere and you have seen that with regular normal weather coming across your back yard, more downpour and rain and run—off and with hurricane set isjust1000% worse. they are dumping a0 inches of rain in two days, hurricane harvey in houston. we saw a similar amount in north carolina that again they were not only not prepared for it but very few people in the whole country have flood insurance. it wasn't really necessary before but all of a sudden the storm just piles in the 500 miles from the coast and reeks more damage than it did at the landfill site in florida. more tributes have been paid to scotland's former first minister alex salmond, who died suddenly yesterday at the age of 69. he was a formidable campaigner

for independence and has been widely praised for his dedication to the country and its people. 0ur scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports from glasgow. alex salmond believed in scottish independence. it was the dream that drove his decades in politics. today remembered at the parliament where he was once the dominant force and in the area he used to represent. i always thought he was really interested in the local community. it was sad to hear that he passed away. really sorry for his family and friends. didn't agree with a lot of the things he did for scotland but it is sad he has passed too soon. it is a sad day for scottish politics. he done well for scotland. as first minister alex salmond led the snp into government at holyrood and pave the way for a historic referendum. his opponents saw a formidable politician, his supporters a leader that made a nation believe in itself. as well as being a strong leader he had an

ability to reach out to people who disagreed with him. that is why he had so many cross—party friendships. and when he was first minister he didn'tjust surround himself with those who agreed with him on everything. he had people in his cabinet who had perhaps been political adversaries in the past. scotland's first minister emotional as he recalled the snp's first win back in 2007 when alex salmond said the party's trying had to change scotland forever. i rememberfeeling at that moment 1532 0