the world health organization warns of a "catastrophic" situation at gaza's medical facilities. former first lady michelle obama rallies the crowd for kamala harris in michigan — as trump hits the other battleground state of pennsylvania. voting under way in japan voting under way injapan in a snap election that sees the ruling party under fire and under pressure. will voters keep faith? the rising prices and stagnating wages are on their mind. hello, i'm azadeh moshiri. welcome to the programme. we begin with reaction to israel's air strikes on iran. it's an attack world leaders have been bracing themselves for. while iran is downplaying the scale of the strikes — saying they caused limited damage — its army said the raids killed four of its soldiers.

israel, on the other hand, says three waves of fighter jets targeted 20 military sites — with some reports saying that up to 100 aircraft were involved. israel says the attacks were in response to missiles that were fired by iran earlier this month. according to iranian officials, military sites in the capital tehran were hit, as well as bases in the provinces of ilam and khuzestan. iraq, qatar, and saudi arabia are among countries in the region that have condemned the israeli raids, while hezbollah — which is backed by iran and designated a terrorist organisation by the us and uk — has called this a dangerous escalation. but there's been a different message from here in the us. speaking in the last few hours as he boarded a plane, presidentjoe biden said he hoped this signalled an end to the direct attacks between the two countries. i was on with the intelligence community for the last half—hour. it looks like they didn't hit anything other than military targets. my hope is this is the end.

did you get a heads—up from israel on the iran strike? did you get any heads—up? yes — the office of israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said israel chose its targets: "in accordance with its national interests, and not "according to american dictates". our north america correspondent rowan bridge has more on what us officials are saying on the strikes in iran. i think there will be a sense of relief within the white house as to the nature of the attacks that israel carried out, they were described by a senior official as precise and proportionate. i think there had been concerns, america had been pressuring the israelis publicly and privately not to go after iranian nuclear or oil facilities amid concerns that that could escalate the situation and they are clearly, from the language used, hoping to draw a line under this at this stage. they are warning — a senior american official said there would be consequences for iran, if they do decide to strike back.

echoing president biden, the uk, france and germany have called on all sides to show restraint. russia says it is concerned about the escalation in hostilities. the bbc�*sjeremy bowen has been getting reaction from jerusalem and sent us this report. israeli pilots set out for the long flight to strike iran. israel and the whole middle east has been waiting for this since iran attacked with around 180 ballistic missiles on the 1st of october. this was tehran in the early hours of the morning. israel said it hit military targets in the capital and the provinces. iran's leaders now face a hard choice. do nothing and risk looking weak, hit back and risk a bigger israeli attack. if the regime in iran were to make the mistake of beginning a new round of escalation, we will be obligated to respond.

0ur message is clear. all those who threaten the state of israel and seek to drag the region into wider escalation will pay a heavy price. the israeli military released silent, blurred video from the war room. they agreed to president biden�*s request not to hit iran's nuclear, oil and gas facilities. if iran retaliates, they are likely to be the next targets. tel aviv this morning. most israelis believe war in gaza and lebanon so i think it was a good action. but we need to keep it calm. we don't need to get an escalation going. the message is through and i hope things will be calm right now. we need to respond very hard, very quick and that they will understand that we are into it.

iran has played down the damage done by the raids, releasing very little video. for the citizens of tehran, it is still the first direct attack on their capital since war with iraq in the 1980s. he says, "we heard cannon fire and an explosion, "the sound echoed across the sky, it was terrible "and horrifying. "we are worried the war in the middle east is going "to affect us too. "why should we live without peace? "why can't we just be happy? "it's really worrying me." "war," she says, "is frightening." "everyone is worried about what a war might "do to us. "but i don't believe a terrible war will happen in iran." israel has released video of another huge strike on hezbollah positions in lebanon. the israelis have set the pace of escalation since early summer. it's hard to stop tit—for—tat strikes when both sides fear looking weak and deterred if they don't respond, and that is how wars

spin out of control. jeremy bowen, bbc news, jerusalem. well, meanwhile in gaza, the united nations says it's had reports that nearly all of the male staff at a hospital have been detained by israeli forces. israeli troops have now left the kamal adwan hospital in jabalia after a raid yesterday. hundreds of patients and displaced people were sheltering there at the time. the bbc and otherforeign media organisations are prevented by israel from entering gaza to report independently, but our special correspondent fergal keane sent this report from jerusalem. you may find some scenes in it distressing. this is the story of a doctor... allahu akbar. ..who became a grieving father. hossam abu saifa worked to save the lives of others. allahu akbar. but today, mourned his son.

ibraham was killed in the hospital grounds, shot by the israeli army, his father says. since the renewed offensive onjabalia, the doctor has made repeated appeals for help. translation: we are talking about collective punishment l for the health system in the gaza strip. consequently, we urge the world to intervene and impose their humanity over the israeli army. the army raided yesterday. dr abu safiyyah, with his staff, waiting. then the people forced out. fear holds them. they are made to line up. men separated from the women.

translation: we moved patients to the reception area. _ then they said to dr hussam, the director of the hospital, to evacuate patients who could walk. among those with catheters and those with central lines, some could not walk long distances because of internal injuries. however, they insisted on them exiting on foot. the damaged hospital compound this afternoon. the israelis say they were seeking terrorists and their infrastructure. wrecked ambulances. three soldiers were killed in jabalia yesterday. hamas published these images of a stricken israeli tank. dr abu safiyyah mourned his son. he was comforted by the small group of men still left around the hospital.

let's show you some images of blasts in lebanon's capital beirut. we know that earlier on saturday the israeli military issued fresh evacuation orders. a spokesperson for the israel defense forces said all residents in burj al—barajneh — a southern suburb of beirut — should evacuate immediately for their own safety. the spokesperson said the israeli military would be targeting specific buildings it says are hezbollah facilities. let's take a look at the situation live in beirut. we will continue monitoring the situation. but as all the information we have right now bodices we have updates we will bring them to you on at bbc news. here in the us, it's only ten days to go until the presidential election

and the campaigns are rolling on full force as millions of americans have already cast their ballots in the early voting process. donald trump wrapped up a campaign event in pennsylvania, after campaigning in michigan earlier on saturday. at a rally near detroit, muslim leaders endorsed the former president onstage, saying they believe he can bring peace to the middle east. the conflicts in gaza and lebanon are top issues there in michigan. but in pennsylvania, energy and manufacturing top the list. at his rally, trump promised to reduce energy prices for pennsylvanians. under kamala's high—cost energy policies, pennsylvania electricity prices are already up 50% and are projected to more than double in the years ahead, year and a half, they expect to be double. not only are they not going to be double, your energy prices — that's car, gasoline, because we're going to end the electric mandate immediately, ok?

applause immediately. your energy prices will be cut in half within 12 months, from january the 20th, which is when we would take over. meanwhile, kamala harris has been rallying a crowd of supporters in kalamazoo, michigan. former first lady michelle obama introduced the vice president to the crowd in herfirst campaign appearance since the democratic national convention in august. in a fiery speech, the former first lady criticised donald trump repeatedly, and argued kamala harris is being held to a higher standard than her opponent. this was her message to voters in michigan. right now, as you know, this race is close. it's too close for my liking. and i came out here to michigan because i am someone who takes her own advice to heart. i know that if we want to help this

country finally turn the page on the politics of hatred and division, we can'tjust sit around and complain. no, we've got to do something. if we want to usher in the next generation of american leadership, we have got to do something! our digital reporter bernd debusmananr recaps the day of campaigning from harris�* rally in michigan. we heard both from vice president kamala harris and from first lady michelle obama, who made herfirst appearance on the campaign trail in support of harris. they both took swipes at donald trump during their remarks, but mostly, they focused on abortion access issues. they believe and the democratic party believes that that is one of the issues in which they might be able to woo undecided voters in michigan, where harris and trump are in a very tight race. on the other side of the state, former president trump met with arab—american and muslim leaders including the mayor of dearborn, a town with a significant arab—american population.

the mayor formally endorsed him saying that he believes he would bring peace to the middle east. with ten days left in this campaign, both parties will hope to mobilise as many voters as possible and hopefully, for them to reach any undecided voters given how tight the margins are, in battleground states such as michigan, arizona, nevada. both parties clearly see mobilising voters as the key to victory here. it's election day in japan — the culmination of a remarkable series of events that could see the ruling liberal democratic party voted out of office for only the third time in 70 years. our own steve lai is in tokyo. steve ? the ldp are very much at risk. it isjust12 noon here, i'm really busy shopping district in the heart tokyo, cole's

opening earlier this morning at 7am and it has come about through a snap election. prime minister shigeru ishiba called itjust days after he took the helm of the governing liberal democratic party. that means that the campaigning has been very short. he held his final rally on saturday night, pleding to "build a newjapan" — but he's facing strong headwinds, with the ldp rocked by a series of corruption scandals — the latest of which saw mr ishiba's predecessor booted from office. his main rival, yoshihiko noda, leader of the opposition constitutional democratic party, told supporters that the ldp only worked for those who offered the party cash, ignoring the needs of japan's poorest. going into the eleciton, the ldp and its coalition partner komeito had a healthy majority, with 279 of the a65 seats in the house of representatives. the constitutional democratic party, its closest rival, stood at 98 seats, with the remainder scattered between a range of minor parties from across the political spectrum. many analysts are predicting

large losses for the ldp, the question remains who will form a government if they lose the majority? we will discuss this further with our tokyo correspondent. viewers of the circumstances that to this election day here in japan? that to this election day here in ja an? .,, that to this election day here injaan? , in japan? the most significant thin is in japan? the most significant thing is how — in japan? the most significant thing is how unusual - in japan? the most significant thing is how unusual this - in japan? the most significant thing is how unusual this is. i thing is how unusual this is. the fact that japanese politics and elections are specifically are not exciting matters, they are not exciting matters, they are quite boring and steady. this election however has been neither, the ldp, the little burra creek party which is will japan for most of his post—war era has enjoyed a steady place in a stable place in a japanese politics. we know in advance and other elections who will win and how big they will win.

this election is different. the ldp find themselves in a precarious situation and they have put themselves in this situation because of the fallout of the fundraising corruption scandal, revealed late last year, and throughout the year for months and months we have just been seeing the scale and scope of that election that embroiled dozens of ldp senior members who are delegated to have pocketed millions of dollars in fundraising money over the period of five years. the devastating domino effect meant that any cabinet ministers had to leave the party, had to stand down, many mps kicked out of the party and the downfall of the party and the downfall of the party and the downfall of the now former prime minister himself, now we have a new prime minister shigeru ishiba who found himself in the situation where he needed a mandate desperate to reinvent the party image so he could feel the election. we had 12 days of campaigning to try to

convince voters to put them backin convince voters to put them back in power. the magic number they need is 233 sees with a coalition partner, they do not have that yet, simply because the electorate are rather apathetic, not sure or angry at them. �*iz apathetic, not sure or angry at them. ' , , apathetic, not sure or angry at them.’ , , ., ., ., them. 12 days is not a long time for — them. 12 days is not a long time for complaining. - them. 12 days is not a long time for complaining. you | time for complaining. you mention the ldp and the troubles they have faced. the opposition parties given its limited time been able to capitalise?— limited time been able to caitalise? . , ., capitalise? that is the other bi sto capitalise? that is the other big story from _ capitalise? that is the other big story from the _ capitalise? that is the other big story from the selection | big story from the selection and also from the fallout of the scandal, the failure of the opposition to properly capitalise on the situation all the difficulty the ldp find themselves in. they are projected to gain more seats because the ldp are projected to suffer losses. will it be enough for them to get a majority? the mouth does not

help them because the opposition is not united enough stop one other thing voters told us is when they look at the opposition they are not clear about what they stand for. one owner told me they short to complain a lot about how bad the ldp is what they do not have a clear plan on how they will do things differently. one other thing to look at for the rest of the day is how badly the ldp will be hit with the is projected they will lose a seat and it may lose its majority even with mso and will have to make concessions to get a coalition with other parties. one thing to keep in mind is how conservative the japanese voter is in the fact that they may be angry at the ldp but some voters told us they did what they did, these are the guys we know, we will go back to them and vote for them. ilil" know, we will go back to them and vote for them.— and vote for them. our tokyo correspondent, _ and vote for them. our tokyo correspondent, thank- and vote for them. our tokyo correspondent, thank you - and vote for them. our tokyo correspondent, thank you so | correspondent, thank you so much for as they context as we look ahead through the day as it unfolds injapan. the

election kicked off at 7am and we expect foals to close at 8pm this evening, it has just gone midday here in tokyo and we should have early indications are soon after that. the results we will look out for. in the meantime, a busy day of the year back there. let's turn to another election now — partial results from parliamentary contests in georgia suggest the ruling party is set to beat its pro—western opposition. the elections are seen as the most important since georgia won independence from the soviet union in1991. the ruling party has been accused of moving the country away from the west and back into russia's orbit. after voting ended, georgia's pro—european president, warned of attempts to rig the elections and some georgia opposition parties reject "falsified" election results. from the capital tbilisi, steve rosenberg reports. after this election,

where will georgia move now? closer to the west? or will it look to moscow? when the polls closed, both sides claimed victory — the pro—western opposition, and the increasingly authoritarian ruling party, georgian dream. the power behind georgian dream is reclusive billionaire bidzina ivanishvili. his critics say that long before this vote, he was backsliding on democracy, and realigning georgia with russia. outside the polling station, he announced he would not take any questions. and he meant it. in this election, there was evidence of ballot box stuffing. and there was violence. at polling station 7a, this is what happened

to an opposition official investigating reports of vote rigging. later, we visited him in hospital, and he agreed to tell us what happened. he says that after he had called the police to report election fraud, a local town councillor had stormed up to him. translation: | told him l i was waiting for the police. he started hitting me. then another ten men joined him. i heard him saying that my party is a terrorist group of europe and america. tonight, the pro—eu opposition is trailing in the count. it is claiming the election was stolen. celebrations for the ruling party. it may treat this as a mandate to distance the country further from the west. steve rosenberg,

bbc news, tbilisi. live now to lincoln mitchell, who teaches in the school of international politics and the department of political science at columbia university. thank you for your time. we said earlier these elections are seen as the most important since georgia won independence from the soviet union in 1991. can you tell us more about what is at stake here?— is at stake here? these are not really the _ is at stake here? these are not really the most _ is at stake here? these are not really the most important - is at stake here? these are notj really the most important since 91, the 2003 and 2012 elections were equally if not more important. nonetheless there is a lot of stay, basically what your report said, the georgina dream which came to power in 2012 when the election against an increasingly authoritarian normally pro— west party came with a promise that they would bring democracy and move the country westward. as leaders 2017, usa that was actually happening but in the last few years particularly the last

year's beginning when russia invaded ukraine in 2022, the georgian dream government moved itself closer to russia and because georgia has a pro— west majority, therefore had to restrict the democratic space and that accelerated in the last couple of years heading into the election.— last couple of years heading into the election. what do you make of these _ into the election. what do you make of these accusations - into the election. what do you | make of these accusations that there has been some vote rigging here? i there has been some vote rigging here?— rigging here? i have been readin: rigging here? i have been reading a _ rigging here? i have been reading a lot _ rigging here? i have been reading a lot of _ rigging here? i have been reading a lot of election l reading a lot of election reports and communicating with election observers and others on the ground in a georgia so i have a good sense, and there was widespread rigging is my sense, the electoral commission reported out about a 53% vote going for the georgina dream. the independent exit polls ported at 40a1% and i suspect thatis ported at 40a1% and i suspect that is closer to the truth so that is closer to the truth so thatis that is closer to the truth so that is a substantial amount of voter fraud which took all

different forms including intimidation before the election, ballot stuffing and shenanigans with the vote counting itself. ithink shenanigans with the vote counting itself. i think we need to take those allegations extremely seriously.— extremely seriously. what do ou extremely seriously. what do you make _ extremely seriously. what do you make of _ extremely seriously. what do you make of the _ extremely seriously. what do you make of the state - extremely seriously. what do you make of the state of - you make of the state of democracy in georgia right now as we speak? i democracy in georgia right now as we speak?— democracy in georgia right now as we speak?— as we speak? i am concerned because this _ as we speak? i am concerned because this election - as we speak? i am concerned because this election is - as we speak? i am concerned because this election is part i because this election is part of a trend over the last two years of the government rolling back democracy and they have done that at this election in that context. i have a germ of optimism which is the georgian people — they have been much than other post—soviet for a long time so there a long tradition of active civil society, a relatively free media, and these are people and organisations that are not allowed to allow the government to consolidate into some kind of belarus on the black sea. therefore i hope is that the georgian government has

overreached and there will be pushed back. my fear is up and lead to violence potentially instability, george of course has russia right there and instability in georgia is an invitation for russia and the russian regime understands that. we are really tense place right now. that. we are really tense place right nova— right now. lincoln mitchell, thank you _ right now. lincoln mitchell, thank you for _ right now. lincoln mitchell, thank you for your - right now. lincoln mitchell, j thank you for your analysis. more from our correspondence see rosa brook on our website if you would like to learn more. stay with us here on bbc news. plenty more to come on our top story, the israel saigon iran and the aftermath.

alexei navalny was a charismatic and popular russian opposition leader, an anti—corruption activist, a passionate believer in a free russia, a thorn in president putin's side whose videos reached millions, including his claims about putin's $1 billion palace on the black sea. poisoned by a deadly nerve agent, novichok, in 2020, navalny was flown to germany for treatment. are you nervous? no, not at all. after he returned to russia, navalny was arrested, tried and imprisoned. he died in one of the country's harshest penal colonies. putin is responsible. his wife, yulia navalnaya, believes he was murdered. now navalny�*s memoir, patriot, is being published. it includes never before seen prison diaries about his brutal treatment.

everybody can see what a high price he was ready to pay. i meet yulia navalnaya to hear their story — a story about politics, freedom and love, her hopes and fears for her country and whether she would stand as president of russia. well, yulia, thank you very much for doing this interview. it is eight months since your husband alexei navalny died in a russian prison. it's been, i imagine, the most horrendous year, a horrendous few years. and i want to ask firstjust how you are, how the children are, how you are coping with what's happened? thank you for having me, first of all. er... as you understand, i am asked this question very often, but i never know how to answer still.

i don't have the right answer. everything has changed in my life. everything has changed in our family life. everything has changed in our children life. i feel myself, very busy. a lot of meetings, a lot of things about publishing the book. a lot of everything new in my life. er... probably, it helps me to be ok. i would call it ok. of course, nothing will be the same like it was even last year. er... even while alexei was in prison, ifelt, you know, all this connection all the time and all these letters, very supporting letters. er... he was really not

just a husband. he was the best friend. he was... ..the best man i have ever met. and, of course, it's very difficult without him. and the, i think the... the biggest thing which i miss is that... ..i want to share with him a lot of the things which are going on, and i know that there is no possibility to write him these letters. and alexei died on february the 16th, 2024, in one of russia's most brutal prisons in the arctic circle. and the russian authorities, after your husband's death, said it did not have a criminal nature, as they put it. what do you believe happened to your husband? i believe that vladimir putin is answering for the death and for the murder of my husband. we do have some evidence.

what evidence do you have? because i know there was a report in the insider and leaked documents. as you know, anti—corruption foundation, very famous, our anti—corruption and other investigations, so it's very important for me. you know, i would like to come with the whole picture of what happened, notjust with the random documents. because there were documents, leaked documents, to the insider that appeared to show that he had sharp pains... there were some, but as i told, i would love to show how we can do the whole picture of what happened. and it's very important for me to come with this investigation. probably it will take a lot of time because, as you said, everything happened very far from everything. he was in prison. he was in this cell alone. so, of course, it's

very difficult to investigate all this.