this is bbc news. after the murder of a rabbi in the united arab emirates, israel's prime minister vows to track down the alleged killers. lebanese officials temporarily shutter schools in the capital, amid ongoing israeli bombardment of beirut. hezbollah fires hundreds of projectiles at israel. and in the uk — storm bert brings heavy snowfall, rain and strong winds — causing widespread disruption.

the united arab emirates says it arrested three suspects on sunday in the killing of an israeli—moldovan rabbi. it comes hours after israel's government reported that the missing rabbi was found dead. the government added that zvi kogan was last seen on thursday and described his death as an act of anti—semitic terrorism. rabbi kogan represented the ultra—orthodoxjewish group, chabad, in the uae. the us condemned the murder calling it a horrific crime and says it is working in close coordination with israeli and uae authorities. mr kogan managed a kosher grocery store in dubai — a popular destination for israelis since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in the 2020 abraham accords. an israeli foreign ministry official says the body could be repatriated to israel on monday. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said he was �*deeply shocked' by rabbi kogan�*s disappearance and death. he also vowed to hunt down the suspected killers.

translation: the state of israel will act by all i means and bring justice to the murderers and their senders. none of them will be clean. abducted or lured away in some way and his car was found about an hour—and—a—half drive's away from where he was. so, this is quite a shocking incident for israelis who are in the gulf — because remember, since 2020, there's been full diplomatic relations established under the abraham accords, between israel and the uae and bahrain, and there's been

a huge tourist industry — somewhat dampened down, in fact, considerably dampened down by the war in gaza, which has put off a lot of israelis from visiting there. but still, there are full relations, and so there is a joint investigation taking place. the unconfirmed reports appearing in israeli media say that the perpetrators of this murder are three uzbek nationals who were possibly being directed by iran and have since fled to turkey. there is a track record here of israel tracking down it considers to have killed israeli citizens abroad, so i think that is probably a threat to be taken. seriously when they say no—one will be spared who has been involved in this. meanwhile, explosions were heard and plumes of smoke were seen above beirut�*s skyline on sunday — as lebanese state media reported several israeli air strikes on the capital's

southern suburbs. they came moments after the israeli military announced new evacuation orders for the area. officials say in—person classes are suspended until the end of december — citing safety concerns amid the bombardment. meanwhile, israel reported more than 300 missiles, rockets and drones were launched from lebanon since sunday morning. some of the rockets reached the tel aviv area. however, no deaths have been reported. earlier, the lebanese army reported that at least one soldier was killed and 18 others were injured after an israeli attack targeted an army centre in southern lebanon. israel has since apologised. the escalation comes after us envoy amos hochstein travelled to the region last week in pursuit of a deal. however, he returned to the us on friday without one. for more analysis, i spoke to david hale, former us ambassador to lebanon, pakistan and jordan. i would like to begin by getting your assessment firstly

on the conflict in lebanon because on one hand we have got diplomatic efforts going on to reach a ceasefire but also these ramped up attacks coming from both sides. so do you expect to see a ceasefire any time soon or any kind of progress because you think it is unknown frankly what is going to happen. i am not surprised by this. we have seen it in the war in gaza and is the war in lebanon has intensified— the war in lebanon has intensified ., , intensified that both parties ma sa intensified that both parties may say they _ intensified that both parties may say they are _ intensified that both parties may say they are agreeable | may say they are agreeable about american initiatives to get a ceasefire but i don't actually agree and on the lebanese side the decisions are not being made by lebanese any more to the extent they were were but by the iranian masters, the state of lebanon is not in control situation, it is not in control situation, it is the irg seat three hezbollah and they may want to short—term stabilisation but the basic problem is and whether there is a ceasefire today or tomorrow or next month, it is what are

the united states and our allies going to do about the core problem, the chaos iran is disseminating throughout the middle east including lebanon? what do you think united states should do cognisant of the factors well that there will soon be a change of administration?- soon be a change of administration? ~ ., ., administration? we have one president _ administration? we have one president of _ administration? we have one president of the _ administration? we have one president of the time - administration? we have one president of the time and - president of the time and obviously this administration wants to leave office with is my solutions as possible but the new administration when it comes injanuary 20 or without a ceasefire in name is going to have to face the core question on day one, that will be do they approach this problem in lebanon with the short—term management tactical mindset or are they prepared to really undertake they need to address the core issue of iran and it is a fundamental question and the temptation may be to go for the temptation may be to go for the short—term management because it is easier but it guarantees there will be resumption of violence quite soon if we don't address the deeper problems. i

soon if we don't address the deeper problems.— soon if we don't address the deeper problems. i wonder what ou think deeper problems. i wonder what you think israelis _ deeper problems. i wonder what you think israelis are _ deeper problems. i wonder what you think israelis are feeling - you think israelis are feeling about all of this as well right now because if you look at the situation today in tel aviv you have air raid sirens going off all day and a promise from the government had been this war initially in gaza it would be short and that victory would be decisive, but it is in breach. is not any pressure on netanyahu to reach a ceasefire? i am sure there is enormous pressure on the prime minister but also a recognition i think thatis but also a recognition i think that is quite broad in israel that is quite broad in israel that the person they are absorbing from october seven is never again and they have been burned many times in lebanon probably because the approaches taken were not really a chain to the reality sooner we have new realities. the israelis have created a micro situation and we never expected nasrallah and we never expected nasrallah and the senior leadership decimated in this fashion so i think there is a hunger to try

and complete this and bring a lasting and stable situation in that part of the world and that goes back to and your previous report said iran is playing against israeli and western interests throughout the middle east. lebanon isjust one part of that theatre. we need to see the bigger picture and make sure we are focused on the problem into a run. i sure we are focused on the problem into a run. i wanted to ask more _ problem into a run. i wanted to ask more about _ problem into a run. i wanted to ask more about that, _ problem into a run. i wanted to ask more about that, we - problem into a run. i wanted to ask more about that, we heard | ask more about that, we heard today from the un special on viper syria saying it was extremely critical to end wars in lebanon and gaza, to prevent the country being pulled into an all out regional work. some months ago we have been assessing those risks and i just wondered today what you make of that, the idea of the potential for this work to expand further? it potential for this work to expand further?- potential for this work to exand further? . , u, expand further? it has expanded a treat expand further? it has expanded a great deal _ expand further? it has expanded a great deal and _ expand further? it has expanded a great deal and we _ expand further? it has expanded a great deal and we are - expand further? it has expanded a great deal and we are in - expand further? it has expanded a great deal and we are in a - a great deal and we are in a regional war. 0bviously a great deal and we are in a regional war. obviously it can get worse but it won't get better if we look for short—term fixes in places like lebanon or gaza or yemen. it will only be stabilised if we are going to the heart of the

problem and that of the run. that requires of course a higher level of tolerance that may be many of us have, the consequence of pressure on iran, but until their leaders feel the price themselves. flan feelthe price themselves. can i ask you _ feelthe price themselves. can i ask you what _ feel the price themselves. can i ask you what exactly do you mean by that in terms of the policy towards iran? a, mean by that in terms of the policy towards iran? a return to maximum _ policy towards iran? a return to maximum pressure - policy towards iran? a return to maximum pressure where| to maximum pressure where sanctions are actually enforced, military supplies to our enemies are interdicted and we are prepared to undertake action against iran when it is being aggressive and does the same things. the welsh first minister has described the flooding in the aftermath of storm bert as �*absolutely devastating.�* the storm left one man dead in wales — police say the body was recovered sunday afternoon. two areas in south—east wales are under severe flood warnings, meaning the conditions pose a " significant risk to life�*. 0ur correspondent danjohnson is in southern wales where a river burst its banks — overwhelming homes and businesses. there are about 300 homes that have been flooded

across south wales, in these valleys alongside the rivers that run down off the welsh mountains, and these in the main were people who had already been flooded four years ago during storm dennis. and they were not expecting it to be as bad this time. they say the warnings they received were not as severe as the flooding turned out to be, that it was not forecast and predicted accurately. flood prediction, a very inaccurate science, a difficult thing to get right, but frustration from people who live here now have water in their homes about how the warnings were issued over the last two days and about the level of preparation that was put into place to try to stop their homes flooding. there are flood defences here. it is somewhere that has flooded many times in the past. they were told the flood defences had been upgraded after what happened four years ago, so people living next to the river here woke up this morning to water through their homes, and they are only now really starting to clear up and counting the cost. we�*ve got people turfing out their furniture, people pulling up carpets,

ripping out all that sort of stuff, that miserable experience that anybody who has seen or been through flooding will recognise how devastating that is to see your home wiped out in that way. the river level here is now beginning to subside and it has finally stopped raining after more than two days of solid rain. just to paint a bit of a picture of the geography, we are in a narrow valley here that comes down off the welsh hills, where there was always lot of rain, and there is still an enormous amount of rainfall to come down these rivers, so although the worst of it does seem to be over, the authorities are saying they cannot breathe a complete sigh of relief yet. there is concern about coal tips potentially being unstable because of the amount of water that has gone through them, and we have seen landslides in different parts of wales that have affected roads and some properties too, so all sorts of difficult conditions for people to manage. they are gutted by what they have witnessed and they are disappointed with the lack of forecasting, warnings and preparation action from the authorities

who they rely on, who told them this flood would not be as bad as what happened four years ago. perhaps not as many homes have been devastated this time around, but for those who have been flooded, it is just as devastating — in fact, even more so — to experience it once again. the worst of the rain is now moving toward england. there are over 100 flood warnings across the uk, winds have reached 75 miles per hour in coastal regions — and 65 miles per hour inland. extreme flooding has already caused road closures, disrupted transport and even collapsed a wall in tenbury wells just south of birmingham. a man was also rescued from his car in the west midlands — even as officials warned people not to drive through flood water. 0ur correspondent phil mackie is england, following the path of the storm. everyone, get back! get back! it was like a muddy—brown tsunami. a torrent of water pouring into the centre of tenbury wells.

move back, move back! everybody, move back! move, move, move! the town sits on the river teme, but this didn�*t come from the river. instead, it poured in from the brook which runs alongside the main shopping streets. this timelapse shows how the wall holding it back couldn�*t cope, after 2a hours of nearly relentless rain. this is where the wall was, where the water came through. it was so forceful, it literally shattered it. there are bricks strewn everywhere, and it sent a wave along this street and down into the centre of tenbury wells, and inside many of these businesses, there are people now trying to clean up. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let�*s look at some other stories making news. senior faith leaders representing christians, muslims, jews, hindus and sikhs have warned vulnerable people could be left feeling they have a �*duty to die�* — if this week�*s vote on allowing assisted dying in england

and wales is passed. 29 religious leaders signed the letter published in a sunday newspaper. parliament will debate on friday, with mps given a free vote. the work and pensions secretary says young people who refuse to work will face having their benefits cut. liz kendall says the government will offer the opportunity to earn or learn, under new proposals to be unveiled on tuesday. official figures published earlier this week show nearly a million young people were out of education, employment or training between july and september. presenter and broadcaster lauren laverne says she has been given the "all clear" after treatment for cancer. she�*ll be back to work on the one show on tuesday. the presenter, who also hosts radio 4�*s desert island discs and bbc radio 6 music�*s breakfast show revealed her diagnosis in august, saying at the time that her cancer had been caught early. you�*re live with bbc news. the british foreign office is investigating reports that

a former british soldier fighting for ukraine has been captured by russian forces in the kursk region. this is a still from a video circulating online, where the man claims he served four years in the british army, but was fired and joined the international legion — a military unit of the ukrainian army made up of foreign volunteers. the russian news agency tass is reporting that what it calls a mercenary from britain has been taken prisoner in southern russia. separately, the kremlin is blaming western countries for what it called an "unprecedented escalation" in the ukraine war. calling the green light for us and uk missiles to strike inside russia a "reckless confrontation", kremlin spokesman dmitry peskov said — russia updated its nuclear posture as a direct response. a senior uk minister is set to warn that russia is prepared to carry out cyber attacks on the uk and other allies, in hopes of weakening support for ukraine. chancellor of the duchy of lancaster pat mcfadden — whose role includes

responsibility for national security — is due to tell members at a nato meeting on monday the kremlin could be targeting british businesses and leave millions without power. mr mcfadden will focus on the threat of russia�*s capacity to shut down entire power grids and warn that russia�*s cyber threats should not be underestimated. i spoke about this with suzanne spaulding, a former top cybersecurity official in the us government. she�*s been talking about what these attacks might look like. the objective that putin hopes to achieve is to sap both political and societal will to continue support for ukraine. this is a crucial time he believes to gain maximum advantage and we can as much as possible ukraine�*s efforts. that means weakening support for ukraine from the allies. so that his was simply the reason they are concerned about the

tax on critical infrastructure that civilians depend upon and cited specifically as a tax on the electric grid. it is a reminder of how important it is to make sure that our critical infrastructure is resilient, that our plans in place to be able to operate even if a cyber attack is successful, to respond effectively to recover effectively. the national grid has a reputation for having a relatively high level of resilience. that doesn�*t mean power won�*t go out but what we have seen, even in ukraine, russia has a hard time causing a sustained power outage through cyber means only. that is a result of resilience within ukraine, resilience is really the important emphasis here for all critical infrastructure, owners and operators and individuals to be

prepared for example for electrical outage for some period of time. polls are closed in the romanian presidential election with exit polls suggesting a run—off will be needed. in the hotly—contested race, far—right nationalist calin georgescu currently holds a narrow lead over the country�*s current prime minister — marcel ciolacu. mr georgescu — who campaigned heavily on tiktok — ran on reducing romania�*s reliance on imports, supporting farmers, and increasing domestic production of food and energy. meanwhile, mr ciolacu — the leader of the centre—left social democratic party — campaigned on promising economic stability and a decent standard of living. as neither candidate appears to have secured 50% of the vote, a second run—off is expected to take place on december 8th. it comes during a tumultuous time amid rising inflation and the ongoing war in neighbouring ukraine. with calin georgescu holding a slight lead — i spoke to nick thorpe, our east and central europe correspondent, about whats made him a successful candidate.

mr georgescu, he is 62 years old. he does have a certain amount of experience in the united nations, for example, he is an expert on sustainable development. his radicalism has come from, and his standing up for romanian patriotism, this has come in a series of interviews in the past weeks and months, but really the key to his success has been his very adept, aggressive, some people would say, use of tiktok. this was basically flooded with his name, even the campaign rallies, the campaign messages of all his rivals were flooded on tiktok by his own messages. he�*s called the tiktok champion, really, in romania, because he has managed to crack the algorithm in a way to make himself very popular, not only in romania but also within the diaspora. so, a very modern figure, albeit with some messages from the far right.

perhaps his most controversial statements have been to call heroes of the romanian iron guard — this was the neo—nazi party which ran romania during the second world war, for most of the second world war, to call them heroes. he is under criminal prosecution for those remarks. i should add, though, i think another factor in his success, doing so well in this election has been, i suppose, the effect of donald trump�*s victory, another antiestablishment figure, ithink, giving strength to a figure in this case, mr georgescu, really making him more electable than he would have been had donald trump not won in the united states. uruguay�*s current president luis lacalle pou says he congratulated leftist candidate yamandu 0rsi as president—elect — following sunday�*s second

round of voting in the country�*s presidential elections. this is a look at the country�*s capital montevideo moments ago — where you can see 0rsi�*s supporters celebrating. uruguay state media projected mr 0rsi�*s win after a tight race against alvaro delgado, the incumbent party�*s candidate — who has admitted defeat. mr 0rsi�*s coalition — the broad front — governed for 15 years until the victory of the country�*s current president luis lacalle pou in 2019. mr 0rsi is a former history teacher and two—time mayor of montevideo. he campaigned on increasing tax incentives to lure investment and on social security reforms that would lower the country�*s retirement age. joining me live to discuss is guillermo draper, the managing editor of the uruguayan weekly newspaper bus—queda. great happy with us. this appears to have been a pretty club selection. wipers that do you think? it club selection. wipers that do you think?—

you think? it was close, we thou . ht you think? it was close, we thought we _ you think? it was close, we thought we were _ you think? it was close, we thought we were going - you think? it was close, we thought we were going to l you think? it was close, we . thought we were going to have you think? it was close, we - thought we were going to have a long night at it wasn�*t. yamandu 0rsi won with an advantage of three points more or less. like in the us with donald trump, the expected a long night on tweaks and we had a clear result almost immediately after the votes were beginning to be counted. so it was in that sense close and not too close. but it was surprising but it happened and many other countries this year, the ruling party loses the election. even though the president had 50% poll rating. it seems like luis lacalle pou could not transfer his support to the running candidate delgado. i to the running candidate delgado-_ to the running candidate deluado. ., ., ., delgado. i wonder how engaged ou think

delgado. i wonder how engaged you think people _ delgado. i wonder how engaged you think people are _ delgado. i wonder how engaged you think people are or- delgado. i wonder how engaged you think people are or have - you think people are or have beenin you think people are or have been in this election when you speak to them because one statistic stuck out to me when i was reading about this, a pull from 2023 finding 30% of young people surveyed said they would be fine giving up democracy for a government that could solve their problems. what do you make of that? here we have a _ what do you make of that? here we have a strong _ what do you make of that? here we have a strong parties. - what do you make of that? haze: we have a strong parties. 0ur democracy is strong parties and institutions still. and we are compelled to vote, obliged to pick the next president. so we have 90% turnout this election. so even though