killed in israeli air strikes over the past 2a hours. dawn sturgess was poisoned by a nerve agent in wiltshire six years ago. today the public inquiry into her death begins. taiwan has condemned large—scale military exercises by china, taking place on all sides of the island. the uk government says the issue should be settled peacefully through constructive dialogue. and the latest search for life in the solar system — nasa prepares to launch a mission to europa, one ofjupiter�*s moons. hello, i'm ben brown. lebanese officials say at least nine people have been killed in an israeli strike in aitou in northern lebanon — the lebanese red cross says 18 were killed. this would be the first time israel has targeted

the christian—majority northern region in a year of hostilities. israel is yet to comment. hezbollah has said that violent clashes are continuing with israeli troops in the south of lebanon. these are live pictures coming into us of southern lebanon. and officials in israel are investigating how its air defence systems failed to stop a hezbollah drone, which killed four soldiers and injured dozens more at an army base near haifa last night. it came after an israeli attack killed at least 22 people at a school in gaza. the dead included 5 children, according to the hamas—run health authority. joining me now is our correspondents wyre davies injerusalem and jonathan head in beirut. what we make of this attack in this village in the north of

lebanon?— this village in the north of lebanon? ~ . ., ~ ., lebanon? what we make of it, israelwill— lebanon? what we make of it, israel will launch _ lebanon? what we make of it, israel will launch air _ lebanon? what we make of it, israel will launch air strikes - israel will launch air strikes where ever it sees fit, where ever it thinks there is a legitimate target, and we do not know what the target was, this is a very small village, fewer than 800 residents, it has had an influx of some displaced people from the south and that might be the link, the possible target israel was after, there was no warning, local residents said they did not hear anything, there was just a massive explosion. videos posted on social media revealed an appalling scene of destruction, smashed up cars, and bodies lying all over the village, injured people, and dreadful damage. it is left to the lebanese to wonder why this very small notably christian village, a historic village, in

the mountains, but this is a campaign israel is waiting to destroy all of hezbollah�*s capacity to fight back and the attack yesterday killed those israeli conscripts will have it steeled the resolve of israel to keep hitting hezbollah targets and it is a reminder to the lebanese people that they can hit anywhere, and we have had an israeli drone going over us most of this afternoon for the first time in three days making people in beirut wonder if there will be targets in the capital once again. thanks for joining us. capital once again. thanks for joining ve— capital once again. thanks for joining un— capital once again. thanks for joining ne— joining us. and now for the latest from _ joining us. and now for the latest from jerusalem. - joining us. and now for the | latest from jerusalem. what joining us. and now for the - latest from jerusalem. what has latest from jerusalem. what has been the reaction in israel? israelis are used to reading about their military successes against hezbollah but hezbollah fighting back with the drone attack. , , ,

attack. this is the single bi . . est attack. this is the single biggest attack _ attack. this is the single biggest attack against i attack. this is the single| biggest attack against an israeii _ biggest attack against an israeli installation since the 7th of— israeli installation since the 7th of october, and a drone somehow, relatively slow—moving, it was able to breach — slow—moving, it was able to breach israeli air defence systems, and take the military base _ systems, and take the military base in— systems, and take the military base in the north of israel completely by surprise, those people — completely by surprise, those people killed and injured appeared to have been in a dining— appeared to have been in a dining room at the time, we saw ambulances ferrying the wounded to various — ambulances ferrying the wounded to various hospitals around northern _ to various hospitals around northern israel and today there has been — northern israel and today there has been a series of high profile _ has been a series of high profile visit to the site, saying _ profile visit to the site, saying that israel and the israeii _ saying that israel and the israeli military has a lot to learn _ israeli military has a lot to learn from what happened, talking _ learn from what happened, talking about missile defence systems, and the americans have said that — systems, and the americans have said that tomorrow, tuesday, their— said that tomorrow, tuesday, their much vaunted high altitude missile defence system will arrive in israel. it is

manned _ will arrive in israel. it is manned and operated by american soldiers _ manned and operated by american soldiers a — manned and operated by american soldiers. a few months ago the americans— soldiers. a few months ago the americans were keen that no american _ americans were keen that no american military boots would be on — american military boots would be on the _ american military boots would be on the ground in this conflict, _ be on the ground in this conflict, when there was a peer being _ conflict, when there was a peer being built off gaza, no american boots were allowed on the beach, but now they are sending _ the beach, but now they are sending 100 military personnel to help — sending 100 military personnel to help with israel's air defence system, in anticipation of an— defence system, in anticipation of an escalating conflict with iran~ — of an escalating conflict with iran. israel has a lot to learn from — iran. israel has a lot to learn from what _ iran. israel has a lot to learn from what happened, though, militarily, and it continues to strike — militarily, and it continues to strike targets deep inside lebanon. strike targets deep inside lebanon-— strike targets deep inside lebanon. ., ., ., , lebanon. thanks for “oining us to both of t lebanon. thanks for “oining us to both of you. _ lebanon. thanks for “oining us to both of you. we _ lebanon. thanks forjoining us to both of you. we can - lebanon. thanks forjoining us to both of you. we can try - lebanon. thanks forjoining us to both of you. we can try to l to both of you. we can try to analyse where we are in the middle east. let's speak to lord peter ricketts. he is a former uk national security adviser and oversaw the 2006 evacuation of british citizens during the lebanon war as permanent secretary

of the foreign office. thanks forjoining us. thanks for joining us. just over a thanks forjoining us. just over a year since the october seven attacks, so let's step back and see where you think we are with this crisis in the middle east, we have reported on the latest attacks in lebanon and gaza and we have had attacks in the west bank as well. israel fighting on multiple fronts, so what is your view of their strategy? yes, multiple fronts and an escalation on all sides and i think israel have got to the point where they feel there are no constraints on them. they have spent a year and still not done thejob in have spent a year and still not done the job in gaza have spent a year and still not done thejob in gaza and they've had to go back into the north of gaza around the jabalia refugee camp for i think the third time, and there is effectively no american pressure on them, the americans gave up are pushing for a ceasefire in gaza, which is

nowhere near happening, they have accepted the fact that israel is now in south lebanon and trying to destroy hezbollah's capability and the americans are reinforcing israel against the possibility of another iranian strike as and when the israeli retaliation against iran comes, so netanyahu does not think there is any limit as far as what he can do in terms of political constraints. the terrible casualty toll suggests they are really not prioritising protection of civilians either and that while he has got momentum and is doing it in lebanon, he has got to get as far as he can and i suppose he can stay endlessly in lebanon and they remember previous campaigns especially i982, previous campaigns especially 1982, they were bogged down and stuck for years and he does not want to do that but he wants to do maximum damage due hezbollah in a time window which is probably weeks. —— two hezbollah.

probably weeks. -- two hezbollah.— probably weeks. -- two hezbollah. ., ., , hezbollah. you say that he is not subject — hezbollah. you say that he is not subject to _ hezbollah. you say that he is not subject to constraints - hezbollah. you say that he is| not subject to constraints and the us is not trying to constrain netanyahu, but do you thinkjoe biden should be doing more to put pressure on the israeli government? it is quite strikina israeli government? it is quite striking that — israeli government? it is quite striking that if _ israeli government? it is quite striking that if you _ israeli government? it is quite striking that if you weeks - israeli government? it is quite striking that if you weeks ago | striking that if you weeks ago the americans were pressing the israelis hard not to mount a ground invasion of lebanon, and several months ago they were putting intense work into a ceasefire and hostage release deal in gaza, but neither happened, netanyahu ignored american pressure, with no consequences, american arms supplies to israel continue unabated. personally i think the americans should be trying to call a halt to what is happening in lebanon as soon as possible, and this is an independent country, now striking right across lebanon, but of course it is the final weeks of the american election campaign and joe biden is very cautious about putting any overt pressure on israel so thatis overt pressure on israel so that is why i think netanyahu feels they are no constraints

and the only real factor he has to bear in mind is israeli public opinion and the willingness of israel to continue to tolerate this code of military activity and for now the lebanon operation is popular but as casualties mount, i wonder how long that will last. —— the scale of military activity. will last. -- the scale of military activity.- will last. -- the scale of military activity. they have had successes _ military activity. they have j had successes decapitating those groups in terms of their leadership but can that be achieved, can destruction of hamas and hezbollah be achieved? do you think that is the overall israeli aim and when could it be achieved? it is the aim that netanyahu has set on the day after the terrible 7th of october attacks, destroying hamas, and attacks, destroying hamas, and a year later, much of gaza is destroyed but hamas is not yet destroyed but hamas is not yet destroyed and i have a real problem with that phrase, destroying gaza, yes, you can

do you dig huge damage to their military but hamas is an idea as well as a military capability and you cannot destroy the idea and the problem is, israel has now created another generation of traumatised and brutalised young people who will now see their only hope for a better future as to fight israel. in lebanon, rathersimilar, hezbollah is a similar but better armed force than hamas and if they have not destroyed hamas in the year, they will not destroy hezbollah, and they can reduce their capacity to attack israel from the south of lebanon but there will still be a hezbollah and it will still be a political force and a social force and netanyahu social force and neta nyahu calling social force and netanyahu calling on the israeli —— —— lebanese people to reject hezbollah is all very well, but they do not have the ability to do that, and i think we are heading to a long perpetual conflict, certainly in gaza and

quite possibly in lebanon, and i don't think that is in the interests of israel but it is “p interests of israel but it is up to israeli public opinion to make that call.— make that call. iran sponsors both hamas _ make that call. iran sponsors both hamas and _ make that call. iran sponsors both hamas and hezbollah, i make that call. iran sponsors . both hamas and hezbollah, they are there proxy groups, so how does israel respond to iran's last attack on israeli soil? what would you be urging israel to do in terms of constraint on how it responds militarily to iran? ~ . , . how it responds militarily to iran? ~ ., , ., ., iran? what israel has done auainst iran? what israel has done against hamas _ iran? what israel has done against hamas and - iran? what israel has done i against hamas and hezbollah iran? what israel has done - against hamas and hezbollah is already dismantling the iranian structure of putting pressure on israel through proxies because their proxies are now under huge pressure so i would urge that if israel feels it really has to retaliate and it probably does, you should retaliate against military targets in a way that would look for a reasonably proportionate response to those 200 missiles iran fired into

israel but not go after the oil and gas facilities and certainly not the nuclear facilities which would be hugely escalating and israel does not have the capacity to destroy iran's nuclear facilities, only damage part of it, and if they do not want an escalating trend of missile tit—for—tat, then a proportionate escalation against the kind of military targets that launched missiles would be understood in iran as wanting to begin to draw a line under this exchange rather than ramping it up further.— ramping it up further. thanks forjoining — ramping it up further. thanks forjoining us. _ ramping it up further. thanks forjoining us. lord _ ramping it up further. thanks forjoining us. lord peter- forjoining us. lord peter ricketts there. thank you. a public inquiry into the salisbury novichok poisonings has opened this morning. it's heard that dawn sturgess — the 44—year—old mother who died after coming into contact with the nerve agent — appears to have been an innocent victim caught in the crossfire of a quote "illegal and outrageous assasination attempt". the inquiry heard a bottle

she believed was full of perfume contained enough poison to kill thousands. the inquiry is expected to last several weeks. our correspondent duncan kennedy reports. this was dawn sturgess just a week before she died. the tragic conclusion to months of events concerning spies, nerve agents and perfume bottles. dawn was 44 and the mother of three children. the story had begun four months earlier here in a quiet cul de sac in salisbury. it was the home not of dawn sturgess, but of a russian man. he was sergei skripal, who's believed to have worked for british intelligence, and he became the target of an assassination attempt by moscow. he and his daughter yulia, who was visiting him, came to be poisoned with a nerve agent called novichok. the front door of mr

skripal�*s house had been smeared with the agent. what happened here will be just one of the points of investigation for the new public inquiry. sergei skripal never did return to his home here and after months of decontamination work, it was later sold. thejudge in the inquiry says neither mr skripal nor his daughter yulia will give live evidence because, he said, they still face a significant risk to their safety. central to the public inquiry will be the role these three men played. they're all believed to have worked for russian military intelligence. two of them were filmed in and around salisbury at the time sergei and yulia skripal were poisoned. russia has always denied any involvement. it's believed that two men delivered the novichok in this perfume—like bottle that was discovered by the partner of dawn sturgess. charlie rowley took the bottle

home to dawn and three days later she fell ill. their flat in amesbury was sealed off. dawn never recovered and died a few days later. in the years that followed, their home was demolished, leaving just a patch of grass and trees, as well as questions about how it had all happened. at the opening of today's hearings, counsel for the inquiry said there was enough poison in the perfume bottle to kill thousands of people, including dawn sturgess. she died an unnatural and a wholly unexpected death. when dawn sturgess was poisoned by novichok four months later, the real possibility emerged that she had been caught, an innocent victim, in the crossfire of an illegal and outrageous international assassination attempt. the public inquiry is chaired by lord hughes of ombersley. it will hear evidence in salisbury and in london, and is due to report next year, producing the definitive

version of this extraordinary, tragic story. duncan kennedy, bbc news. an hourfrom now, i'll be joined by marina litvinenko, the widow of the former russian spy alexander litvinenko, who died from radiation poisoning in london in 2006 — with russia's intelligence agency suspected of carrying out the attack. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

sir keir starmer has opened a major investment conference in london — telling business leaders that now is a "a great moment" to back britain. the uk prime minister told delegates that he wanted to give companies the best conditions to succeed, and insisted changes

to workers' rights are "pro growth". with me is our employment correspondent, zoe conway. this is one of the first thing is that the government have been talking about in terms of trying to transform the british economy, getting this investment summit together and people coming from all around the world to attend. the government _ the world to attend. the government has - the world to attend. the government has tried i the world to attend. tue: government has tried to the world to attend. t'te: government has tried to do the world to attend. tt9: government has tried to do a lot of showing of today, trying to show london at its best, and because it has poured with rain for most of the day, very typical, they have been hosted at the historic guildhall, but also later they will meet the king and eltonjohn in st pauls. alongside the charm offensive, the government is being quite mercenary and they have pulled together some of the biggest bankers and biggest banks, insurers, private equity groups, because they want their money. they have a group of

some 200 executives who between them control £40 trillion worth of assets. the reason they want their money is because they are desperate for the economy to grow. in terms of what is the government offering in return, they would say, we have stability, because do not underestimate the political turmoil of the last eight years with four prime ministers, and thatis with four prime ministers, and that is the message they are conveying to investors and that is what the international business community really cares about. has it worked? at the moment the government is talking about having bagged about £60 billion, 20 billion from the australian group mcquarrie on things like electric charging points and solar farms and a new reservoir, £1 billion extension, expansion of stansted airport, more than 6 billion on data centres, and the government has also tried to reassure the people present is that they will try and

tackle what they think has been the regulatory stranglehold in some of these areas, and try to free regulation so this investment will pour in. what have the people _ investment will pour in. what have the people invited - investment will pour in. what have the people invited to - investment will pour in. what| have the people invited to the summit said about it? t have the people invited to the summit said about it?- summit said about it? i was struck by — summit said about it? i was struck by a _ summit said about it? i was struck by a comment - summit said about it? i was struck by a comment of- summit said about it? i was struck by a comment of the | struck by a comment of the former ceo of google, eric schmidt, and he said growth, well, i did not think a labour government would talk about growth, and let's remember, five years ago, would a labour leader say growth, growth, growth, it's the first priority? he also said that the government needs to look at bringing in more high skilled immigration to help grow the economy, so that gives you an insight into this is not going to be straightforward, there will be demands placed on the government which it might politically be difficult to deliver and even on the point of regulation, it is easy for the government to say let's

loosen the regulatory framework on this, but there may be members of the trade union movement who might be concerned about what that means for workers. about what that means for workers— about what that means for workers. :, :, :, , china says it's ended a military exercise in which its armed forces conducted large scale drills surrounding taiwan. this map — from chinese state media — shows the scale of the military exercise, involving the army, navy and air forces. beijing said the drills — thought to be the biggest yet — were a warning to those in taiwan who want independence. it's thought to be a reaction to a strident speech by taiwan's president — lai ching—der — who said his government would not accept chinese control. china sees taiwan as a breakaway province but the island sees itself as distinct and has its own government and military. let's speak to jan camenzind, a freelance

journalist based in taipei. big sky stop —— big scale military exercises. what was the atmosphere like there? the atmosphere _ the atmosphere like there? tt9 atmosphere here, the atmosphere like there? t“t9 atmosphere here, you would not have been able to tell there were large scale military exercises, people went to work and school as normal, and that is because in taiwan a lot of people have grown up with this looming sense of china with the pressure they have been placing on taiwan for most of their lifetimes, and i spoke to one chinese person who said, what can we do? —— one tie winnie's person. so life is going on as normal but the tensions are playing out on the state level and the military level between

china and taiwan.— china and taiwan. people are used to the — china and taiwan. people are used to the threat _ china and taiwan. people are used to the threat and - china and taiwan. people are used to the threat and it - china and taiwan. people are used to the threat and it has | used to the threat and it has become something they have to deal with they have their shelters and their drills, but do you think one day this will actually happen for real and that china will finally at one stage moved in and try to take over taiwan? stage moved in and try to take overtaiwan? —— move. tt stage moved in and try to take over taiwan? -- move.- over taiwan? -- move. if you ask many _ over taiwan? -- move. if you ask many people, _ over taiwan? -- move. if you ask many people, they - over taiwan? -- move. if you ask many people, they might| over taiwan? -- move. if you - ask many people, they might say it is something they try not to think about, and when you live your life in taiwan, when this is all you have known, the thought of that being interned —— entirely upturned by an invading force is not something you want to think about very often, so maybe people think this could be something that happens, and the tie winnie's government has been beginning to take the threat seriously

because the threat has increased and we have seen pressure from china increasing in recent years and the military exercises getting more frequent and aircraft flying around taiwan and also an increase in tactics which have some kind of plausible deniability which ageing good deny but still ramp up the pressure, such as increasing coastguard incursions into taiwan's waters —— which beijing could deny. taiwan's waters -- which beijing could deny.- taiwan's waters -- which beijing could deny. china is a formidable _ beijing could deny. china is a formidable military _ beijing could deny. china is a formidable military power- beijing could deny. china is a | formidable military power but so is taiwan and do you think they could protect themselves? that is right. the taiwanese politicians have taken this seriously and they know that in some sense they face an existential threat and so the previous president oversaw the increasing of military conscription and its mandatory conscription and its mandatory conscription here for in taiwan, increasing the duration

from four months to a year and increasing the level at which taiwan is going to be able to defend itself and trying to increase the awareness on the political stage of the situation they find themselves in and although they do not have many official allies around the world, improving relationships with one of their strongest which is the us, and joe biden signing off on a 567 billion us dollar security package for taiwan recently. —— 567 million. package for taiwan recently. -- 567 million.— 567 million. thanks for “oining us. hello. we've got some very big contrasts with our weather to take you through this afternoon. for scotland, northern ireland and northern england barely a cloud in the sky after a locally cold and frosty start. we'll see those temperatures push up to around 12 or 13 degrees. further south, though, for wales, midlands, east anglia, southern england, we have seen some heavy outbreaks of rain today. that heavy rain is all cleared out of the way. however, it is likely

to stay quite cloudy. it's still with the potential for a few patches of drizzle across the south midlands and southeast england, so for some it will stay quite dull and damp. and overnight tonight, this zone of low cloud spreads its way northwards. there'll be some hill fog patches and a bit of drizzle falling from that cloud at times as well. it is turning milder, though, for much of the uk. temperatures by the end of the night quite widely 10 or 11 degrees, but still colder into parts of scotland where there could be a nip of frost into the countryside. tomorrow, well, overall it's a very cloudy—looking weather picture, and the cloud could break and thin at times to give some hazy spells of sunshine. probably the best of that across the far north of scotland. otherwise, it stays mostly cloudy, but it is turning milder. temperatures — 15 degrees in belfast and 14 for glasgow. we're up to 17 in cardiff. then for the middle part of the week, well, the uk finds itself sandwiched between low pressure in the atlantic and high pressure around the baltic. a mild flow of south easterly winds covers the uk. it may well be mild, but it's also going to be pretty wet.

we have outbreaks of rain moving across the uk thanks to these weather fronts. so if you like your autumn weather very mild and very wet, wednesday could be the perfect day for you. the rain quite heavy at times, quite breezy weather conditions. perhaps parts of east anglia avoiding the rain. staying dry with some warm spells of sunshine. the warmest weather — we could see temperatures up to 22 degrees, but otherwise generally we're looking at temperatures into the upper teens with that rain coming down quite heavily. most of the rain will clear through by thursday, and it looks like it should be a much brighter kind of day. there'll be a few mist and fog patches to start off with, plenty of sunny spells around with just a few isolated showers coming and going, and it continues to be pretty mild. temperatures around 16—18c. then we've got some strong winds to finish the week up with, with further heavy outbreaks of rain. and the outlook through the weekend and into the first part of next week is it stays unsettled with more fairly wet and windy weather.

you're watching bbc news with me, ben brown. the lebanese red cross says 18 people have been killed in a rare israeli attack on the north of the country in a christian—majority region. israel's army chief describes as a painful blow, sunday's drone strike by hezbollah on a military training base in which at least four soldiers were killed.

in gaza more than 60 people are said to have been killed in israeli air strikes over the past 24 hours. nasa prepares to launch a mission to europa, one of jupiter's moons. wynjones is heartbroken some viewers thought he was making his dance partner feel uncomfortable during the show. more on all those stories coming up but with the latest sports news. hello from the bbc sport centre. football's nations league continues today with some potentially mouthwatering matches. germany host long—time international rivals the netherlands in munich after an entertaining 2—2 draw in amsterdam last month. both sides are unbeaten in group 3 at the halfway stage and look set to progress

to the quarter finals. translation: it was| already a very intense