the deal was brokered by the united states, withjoe biden confirming the terms in a speech at the white house. the fighting across the lebanese—israeli border will end. will end. welcome to newsday, i'm steve lai. it's 5am in israel and lebanon where a ceasefire deal has in the last hour, come into place to end the conflict with hezbollah. this is the scene live in southern beirut where air strikes were reported just a few minutes before the ceasefire started. for months, we have seen explosions across this skyline, with israel missiles flattening dozens of buildings in their bid to dismantle hezbollah. there

will be hope amongst the people living in beirut and also here on both sides of the israel lebanon border — where strikes and fighting have been most intense — that this ceasefire will hold. nearly 4,000 people have been killed in lebanon since october 2023 according to the country's health ministry. and there have been tens of thousands of rockets fired into northern israel, since last october, killing 45 civilians. the new ceasefire will be implemented over a 60—day period, but the desire seems to be from all sides to make it permanent. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu vowed that israel would �*respond severely�* should hezbollah shows signs of re—arming. translation: so, why go into a ceasefire now? there are three main reasons. the first — focusing on the iranian threat, and i don't want to expand on that. the second — to allow our forces to refresh and to also allow our resources to be replenished. it is no secret that there have been some delays in the supply of ammunition

and arms, and this delay is going to be removed. we are going to have advanced weapons and that will save the lives of our soldiers, and it will give us more strike force to complete our missions. the third reason for the ceasefire is to separate the two arenas and isolate hamas. it's hoped the ceasefire deal will mean many tens of thousands of civilians on both sides of the border region between israel and lebanon can return home. lucy williamson has been to northern israel, to speak to some of those who fled. sirens wail. in northern israel, sirens warned of rockets, as residents warned of surrender. israel's pounding of lebanon continued, hours before the ceasefire was announced. these two left their home in kfar giladi on the 8th of october last year. the lebanese villages they lived alongside clearly visible through the border fence. i hope for a day where

we could, you know, be at peace with each other. and i think that trust was broken when our army found the tunnels and the ammunition and all of these preparations to effectively come and, you know, massacre us. their house and community — empty for more than a year. i'm sorry about the mess. it'sjust, we put everything inside. a ceasefire deal is meant to get them permanently back home, but it could mean their lebanese neighbours returning too. apart from completely erasing these villages and having no people here, there is no real physical thing that can make me feel safe. it's just, you know... hope. israel's leader has achieved many of his war goals in lebanon.

these lebanese border villages now empty, controlled by israeli forces. but there are also compelling domestic reasons for ending this war, like getting residents on this side of the border back home. israel's forces are tired and its economy is suffering. but hezbollah, damaged but intact, is still fighting. and some ask why their prime minister, fighting a much weaker enemy in gaza, is signing a ceasefire in the north. lucy williamson, bbc news, northern israel. whilst the ceasefire has only come into effect in the past few minutes, the last 2a hours saw beirut still being bombarded by extensive israeli air strikes. 0ur correspondent in beirut hugo bachega reports. loud boom. as lebanon waited for a ceasefire, the war didn't stop. the most intense israeli bombardment

of beirut in this conflict. the israeli military said these were hezbollah facilities. here, they gave a warning before attacking. here, in central beirut, it didn't. this building collapsed. seven people were killed. in the evening we tried to visit the site, but we were caught up in another wave of israeli air strikes. so there has been an attack now. there has been... loud roar. we're now hearing several explosions after an evacuation warning was issued by the israeli military. we've been trying to get to the site of one of the attacks, but we've been told that the site had been evacuated because of those warnings.

israel is now unleashing a wave of attacks targeting beirutjust hours before this possible ceasefire. people tried to flee. there was chaos. horns beep. this war has been this war has been devastating for lebanon. hezbollah has been devastating for lebanon. hezbollah has been severely damaged, severely damaged, but it hasn't been destroyed. but it hasn't been destroyed. this deal may bring this deal may bring the conflict the conflict with israel to an end, but many with israel to an end, but many here fear a new internal here fear a new internal conflict could follow. conflict could follow. hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut. hugo bachega, bbc news, beirut. these are live images of the these are live images of the beirut skyline, we have seen beirut skyline, we have seen some activity across the some activity across the skyline in the last few moments skyline in the last few moments of watching you may have seen of watching you may have seen that, we are working to verify that, we are working to verify what we have seen and bring you what we have seen and bring you that information as and when it that information as and when it

comes to us. comes to us. let's take a closer look at the terms of the deal. it has been in placejust over an hour now. hezbollah will withdraw its forces from southern lebanon, moving some 25 kilometres back from the israeli border, north of the litani river. in turn, the israeli troops will gradually withdraw from southern lebanon, with the regular lebanese army deploying in their place, alongside an existing un force that is already there, known as unifil. the deal was brokered by the us and its allies. and in confirming the details in a speech at the white house, presidentjoe biden said it shows peace is possible, in what he called the "deadliest conflict in decades." lasting security for the people of israel and lebanon cannot be achieved only on the battlefield. that's why i directed my team to work with the governments of israel and lebanon to forge a ceasefire, to bring a conflict between israel and hezbollah to a close. under the deal reached today, effective at 4am tomorrow, localtime, the fighting across

the lebanese—israeli border will end. will end. this is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities. what is left of hezbollah and other terrorist organizations will not be allowed, i emphasize, will not be allowed to threaten the security of israel again. over the next 60 days, the lebanese army and state security forces will deployed and take control of their own territory once again, hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in southern lebanon on will not be allowed to be rebuilt. our north america correspondent peter bowes told me about the role the us played in this ceasefire deal. it is an intricate deal as you spelt out, the us central to that, brokering the deal over a period of months, intense discussions have been going on involving the pentagon, the us state department, the white

house and officials from lebanon and israel. i understand it finally was ultimately resolved during meetings last week, in the middle east, involving the us special envoy and local officials as well, leading up to this announcement, a few hours ago. we heard president biden speaking there announcing a 60—day process for this ceasefire to unfold, and it is going to be quite a tense time, observing from afar, to see if all sides abide by this as i say quite complicated agreement to bring about this ceasefire during that two—month period. you mention it is a complicated deal, how does the us expect to keep the deal intact? i understand that one of the difficulties during the final stages of negotiations was getting some agreement on how it would be monitored. the events over the next two months

and the withdrawal of forces from southern lebanon. we know the us defence department will be playing a role, although just a few hours ago officials at the pentagon speaking were quite coy on the precise nature of their role, we know it will not involve us troop on the ground in southern lebanon but the us will be involved along with france. in terms of verifying any reported lapses in the agreement. we understand israel will be using drones in southern lebanon to monitor what is happening on the ground, and the us and france will be closely monitoring the precise nature of what actually happens. i understand president—elect donald trump has been taking credit for this ceasefire. tell us more? we understand from his camp, there is a belief donald trump thinks that his election victory, just a few weeks ago, has played some role in this movement towards peace in the middle

east. that does sound quite vague, but you could call it perhaps in part almost trying to take some sort of credit although donald trump was not involved in these discussions that have been going on the past few weeks but it is a reality that this 60—day period will extend beyond joe biden�*s presidency, comejanuary 20 of next year, donald trump will be in the white house, he will be the president and it will be up to him to take this process forward. amin saikal is an emeritus professor of middle eastern, central asian and islamic studies, at anu and adjunct seniorfellow at rsis. hejoined me here in the studio earlier. both sides have come to a point of exhaustion. i mean this war has been very costly for israel. because hezbollah has been able to target especially in the last week or so some

of the populated areas of tel aviv and they have caused quite a bit of damage. in the meantime, israel has not really succeeded to the extent it wanted, in order to get hezbollah out of southern lebanon altogether beyond the litani river. i think as a result the two sides really in some ways are back to where they were after the 2006 war. because that war lasted 3a days, and then at the end, israel had to accept the united nations security council resolution for ceasefire and this one has been less than two months and they have come ready to the point that probably it's going to be very costly for both sides. the ceasefire cools the fighting, for now at least. but with thousands of civilians killed in lebanon and many more displaced, has israel inadvertently created more support for hezbollah? they have not been defeated.

hezbollah is not fully defeated israel claims they have degraded hezbollah which satisfies benjamin netanyahu and the security council people. at the same time hezbollah has been able to continue to fire rockets and target some of the important bases as well as civilian areas in israel.

place. we know the us has been very keen to pursue a ceasefire or get israel to pull back from the fighting. for the backer of hezbollah, iran what role have they played? iran has also come to the conclusion it is about time this fighting should stop. there may be two thinkings behind the iranians position. one is that iran does not want to be humiliated any further because if hezbollah is wiped out, and i think that would be a major setback for iran because hezbollah forms a very critical element in iran's regional security complex and it wants to maintain hezbollah as a political and military force in lebanon. secondly the iranians have been trying to prepare for a response to previous israeli attacks on iran, and the iranian supreme

leader, has said we are going to give israel a teeth breaking response and hence he has ordered the islamic revolutionary guard to make preparations for that. i am wondering at this point of iran will execute that response or perhaps would be really satisfied with a ceasefire which may come or has come into effect between israel and hezbollah. it does give them an opportunity to de—escalate the situation if they want to go in that direction? that's true, i don't think either side iranians and israelis can afford a war because israel is also suffering in terms of its economy, industry, public services and so on, there is been a lot of destruction, and iran also faces similar domestic challenges and foreign—policy complications. what does this mean for gaza and hamas? this frees up israeli forces to perhaps focus

more on gaza, but they have been fighting hamas for the last 13 months and not been very successful in that respect because hamas has proved to be quite resilient, at the same time where are the hostages why israel has not been able locate those hostages and comed throughout gaza get they have not found more than 100 hostages that are supposed to be there. do you focus will turn the international eye, us concerns of hamas on gaza will be more the focus point as well? gaza will be more the focus point and the biden administration will work very hard to see if they can secure a ceasefire, that would be good a gift for the outgoing president, and donald trump has said he would like to really see peace prevailing on all sides before he comes or takes office. but, the israelis are very much

determined to do whatever they can in order to wipe out hamas in gaza, and also really clear the strip for the rebuilding of israeli settlements because that is what is netanyahu's response to some of the very hardliners in his cabinet. some live images out of beirut to get you up to speed with some developments we have seen in the last few moments. you may have noticed some objects flying through the night sky above beirut, malta report saying those objects were celebratory gunfire as a result of the ceasefire that has been taking place, other reports coming from reuters saying streams of cars have begun it to self live and on after the ceasefire came into force.

there is a warning from the israeli military on our website at the bbc live page, reporting they have warned residents in south lebanon on not to approach idea positions they made that statement moments after the ceasefire between hezbollah and israel began. residents are prohibited of heading towards the villagers they have ordered to be evacuated or idea forces in the area. the idf remains deployed in its positions inside southern lebanon. we will keep you up to speed with developments on the story as they develop. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the government has published its get britain working white paper outlining measures aimed at getting more people work and reducing the benefits bill. the overhaul includes guaranteed access to work or training for every 18 to 21—year—old. critics say the announcement lacks details. a woman who kept her baby daughter hidden in a drawer

for the first three years of her life, has beenjailed for "extreme neglect". the girl, who prosecutors said had "never known daylight or fresh air", was only discovered when a visitor to their house in cheshire heard her crying. the girl's mother had previously admitted to four charges of child cruelty. mps are preparing to vote friday on the assisted dying bill which would allow some terminally ill people in england and wales the right to die at a time of their choosing. they must have the mental capacity to make the choice and would only be able to seek help to die if two doctors agree and — ifa high courtjudge approves. you're live with bbc news. let's get more now on our top story — the ceasefire between israel and hezbollah.

police in laos detained eight people suspected of facilitating a mass poisoning there after six tourists were killed, and eight others hospitalized. among those detained are employees and management staff from a backpacker hostel in the town of vang vieng, who allegedly offered free shots to guests containing methanol. the financial times is reporting that china has put its defence minister under investigation. citing current and former us officials familiar with the situation, the paper reports that admiral dong jun is being investigated as part of a larger probe into graft in the chinese army. it would make him the third serving or former defence minister to be investigated for alleged corruption. let's get more now on our top story — the ceasefire between israel and hezbollah. that came into place just over an hour ago. i spoke to hussein ibish — senior resident scholar at the arab gulf states institute in washington, and asked if he thinks as ceasefire will hold. i think so, both parties here are exhausted, i think they are overstretched, they have accomplished whatever

it is they hope to accomplish. i think hezbollah did not want this larger war with israel but, they were not able to stop the daily rocket attacks, to show solidarity with hamas and gaza. that gave israel the opportunity to really take the war to them. i thank the israelis have accomplished everything they are going to be able to accomplish in lebanon and it's time for all of them to pull back. also they are under a lot of pressure from the us to do this. and in addition, iran is very keen for hezbollah to stop, rebuild, regroup and they would like hezbollah, they did not want a broader war with israel either. there is a role here for the lebanese military on the israel—lebanon border, how capable is it of doing that? keeping the peace between hezbollah and israel? they are not really capable of restraining hezbollah if hezbollah wants to come back

in force but that is not what they are being tasked to do. the idea is hezbollah will retreat behind the lakhani river 25 kilometres into the country, and not bring large numbers of men or any heavy equipment back south of the river, and in their place will come the lebanese armed forces and un observers who will secure the area, provide law and order and make sure everything is all right. they will provide governance and effect and they are capable of doing that, they are perfectly ok at maintaining order in a given area, and so they can do that. the idea here is that it is a voluntary withdrawal by hezbollah, if they decide to go roaring back at any time the laf really isn't going to be able to stop them and similarly if

the israelis decide to come roaring back and deliver no the lebanese army will not be able to stop them either. you mention the us role in this ceasefire deal how is that the us can have influence over israel in this regard but not when it comes to gaza? because i think the israelis were willing to listen to the americans on lebanon, the israelis had taken it as far as they could, they are ready exhausted the military has been pressing for an end to this campaign for a while. i think much of the israeli public is done with this. there is no need for an elaborate sort of extended campaign of vengeance the way there is in gaza, apparently the israeli mood for vengeance is not yet satiated. the war in lebanon on wasn't a

war of vengeance or to restore glory in an occupied area. it was an effort by israel to degrade hezbollah and damage it, weaken its capabilities and drive it back, thereby inflicting a strategic blow against iran and its regional sort of network of arab militia gangs, and that whole faction, in the middle east needed from the israeli point of view, to suffer a blow because from their perspective, after october seven, israel had suffered a lot of blows and was in a situation, the palestinians and hamas obviously took a lot of blows but iran and its direct network, which hamas is not really an integral part, they are in the marriage of convenience, they don't fit very well into the core iranian alliance, the way hezbollah or the iraqi militias or houthis in yemen do. so i think there

was a sense that they needed to damage iran and make iran and its network pay a price, for kind of sitting there and gloating and taking advantage of the situation. that has been done. really, the strategic advantage now is with the israelis, they have secured that and i think they have to be satisfied with what they have done. we will end this in —— addition of newsday where we began. we are showing you live images over beirut, the skyline, just approaching 530 in the morning, we have seen activity in the night sky reported to be celebrated we gunfire. hello, there. storm conall was named by the dutch weather service. we won't get the really strong winds from that, but we're already seeing some rain coming into england and wales. that rain has followed what was a generally dry and sunny picture for many places on tuesday.

but this is the developing storm moving up from the south west, bringing cloud and outbreaks of rain. the heaviest of the rain, overnight and into wednesday morning, will be in the far southeast of england. further north, there will be some rain, but no great amounts, but any more rain, given all the flooding, will not be particularly good news, and further north still, into the far north of england — scotland in particular, and northern ireland — some frost around here early on wednesday, some mist and fog patches, too. but further south, it looks pretty cloudy. the rain should've cleared wales and the south west by the morning, and that heavy rain clearing the south—east of england by late morning. eventually, this rain does move away from lincolnshire and east anglia, where it will turn quite windy as the rain clears, and the winds will bring in a few showers along the east coast of scotland and the northeast of england. otherwise, many northern areas seeing some sunshine. a chillier day, though, than it was on tuesday, particularly if any of that fog lingers in northern ireland. this is storm conall — it's really developing as it leaves our shores, hence the strongest of the winds are likely to be in the netherlands, and following on from that, a ridge of high pressure will build

across the uk — that's bringing light winds, clear skies — and that's pointing to a widespread frost by thursday morning. there may be some mist and fog patches around, as well, which will slowly lift. could be a little grey for a while in the south—east of england. many places, though, will be dry with some sunshine, but towards the far south—west of england and wales, a little rain coming in here and pushing into northern ireland later on in the day. here, the winds are strengthening, lifting the temperatures somewhat, but elsewhere, where it's dry with some sunshine, it'll be another chilly day on thursday. things will change, though, towards the end of the week — that high pressure gets pushed away. a weather front may well bring some rain into the far north and west, but we'll find, with low pressure to the west of the uk, high pressure to the east, we see a southerly wind picking up, and that will lift the temperatures, as well. so, stronger winds by the end of the week and into the start of the weekend. a lot of cloud around, mind you. it won't be as cold at night, we're losing the frosty conditions, and it should be turning mild by day, as well. bye for now.

caution over president—elect donald trump's latest tariff plan — including from within the united states. we'll have all the details. plus... how the thick smog in

india's capital city is affecting businesses. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. let's begin in the united states, where president—elect donald trump's latest proposal on tariffs is drawing concern. mr trump has said he will put levies of 25% on mexico and canada, and an additional 10% on china, once he takes office in january. officials and industry groups have warned that the move would be harmful to the global economy. investment bank, goldman sachs, says the tariffs will also raise inflation in the us by nearly i%. the bbc�*s michelle fleury has all the details from new york. the wall street investment bank goldman sachs is one that the wall street investment bank goldman sachs has warned that president—elect donald trump's proposed tariffs could put an upward pressure on prices. on monday, donald trump said on the social media platform, truth social, that he would impose an addition 10% tariff on goods from china and a 25% levy for canada and mexico.

goldman's chief economist explained in a note to clients