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woman: two retiring executives turn their focus to greyhounds, giving these former race dogs a real chance to win. a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your purpose, and the way you give back. life well planned. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news" n washington. n this is bbc world news america. 20 people are reported killed and hundreds more injured in a second wave of explosions across lebanon. the u.s. central bank cuts interest rates more than analysts predicted. the deepest cut in more than four years. ukrainian drone strike in military warehouse deep inside russian territory. ♪

welcome to "world news america." after two waves of explosions across lebanon, the white house has warned of escalating tensions between israel and hezbollah. the lebanese health ministry says 20 people have been killed, and 450 more injured as personal wireless communication devices detonated wednesday. some of the blasts happened at the funera of people killed a day earlier, when pagers exploded across lebanon. those tax killed 12 people and injured hundreds. it is believed the devices that detonated wednesday were walkie-talkies, used by hamas. the armed group blames israel by -- for the attacks. orla guerin is following from beirut. reporter: crowds gathering in

south beirut. a hezbollah stronghold. s tents suspicious, not willing to be filmed. they came to bury four of those killed yesterday, among them, an 11-year-old boy. but even mourners were not safe. suddenly, the sound of another blast. chaos and panic filling the streets. the authority y this time, walkie-talkies exploded, not just in beirut around the country. israel once again being blamed. the tension is being driven up, day after day. one more ambulance their passing by. we have been seeing them in the last half an hour or so.

also, fire brigade trucks. people have been looking at the sky, wary there were drones. they are beginning to leave the area to get off the streets. lebanon has been that way since yesterday afternoon when there was a wave of explosio. pagers used by hezbollah fighters began blowing up. apparently, a message from massad. almost 3000 people wounded in an hour. >> it has been a nightmare. probably this is the worst day of my life as a physician. unfortunately, we are not able to save a lot of lives. i can tell you more than 60% to 70% of the patients ended up with eviscerating or removing at least one of their eyes. we are talking about a young population, about patients in their 20's. reporter: in the rally, a young

victim was buried this morning. fatima was eight. yesterday was her first day back at school. >> i was lucky to have you, my beloved daughter, since her mother. -- says her mother. you are disciplined. you are my whole life. hezbollah has been humiliated but is promising revenge. orla guerin, bbc news, beirut. sumi: israeli and u.s. officials say the detonation of pagers on tuesday came earlier than planned due to israeli fears hezbollah had learned of the plan. a number pagers were recovered intact and are being forensically examined for clues. police visited the offices of a company in taiwan, as the pagers seemed to carry a taiwanese brand. it was thought the devices came from there. the head of the company denied any involvement in the attacks.

he told journalists they were made by a company based in hungary called bac consulting, under a deal signed three years ago. while israel has not commented on the explosions, defense canister -- a defense minister says the country is opening a phase of the war and will be the north. diverting troops to israeli media reports troops have been redeployed. gallant made the announcement while speaking to troops at an israeli air base. >> because of covid -- the center of gravity is moving to the north. this means we are diverting forces, resources, and energy towards the north. we have not forgotten the hostages. we have not forgotten our tasks. this is our duty, and we are performing both at the same time. sumi: let's discuss the latest of elements with ambassador david hale, former u.s. ambassador to lebanon, pakistan and jordan and former u.s. special envoy. great to have you back on the --

back on the program. i want to ask you fst, we saw those images from our correspondent. the country is deeply shaken. what do you think or how do you describe what we are witnessing? >> it is very difficult to see these images of human suffering. i think we have to remember that the targets of the israeli operation were combatants, were affiliated with hezbollah. they would not have distributed these encrypted communication devices to just any tom, dick or harry. these are people involved in supporting a terrorist organization. it goes to one of the hearts of the problem that we face between lebanon and israel, the at things of sovereign control. on the part of lebanon come over its own country. if lebanon and its authorities cannot control hezbollah, which answers really only to iran, then the israelis have to face a choice. are they going to take actions themselves? which is what they just did. sumi: i have not commented. it is widelyelieved that

israel is behind this. if you look at the israeli-lebanese border, it is volatile. we have seen these cross-border attacks and now these waves of attacks. we have talked about the possibility of an escalation of this conflict. is this that escalation that you have -- we have talked about in the past? mr. hale: the quote you just broadcasted, the defense ministers adjusted that. i have long believed only when the gaza phase of the war is under control from the point of view if the israelis will they then turned to the north in a serious way and look at what the moment of truth tells them to do. we know from october 7 that the mine site israel is never again. which means they do't want to return to pre-october 7 when hezbollah and da's -- and the iranians have their hand on the spigot of violence across the border. what are the? israelis going to do about that? the kinds of operations we saw

yesterday, the right course for them? or will there be a diplomatic avenue? the united states is offering that as an alternative. sumi: what does this mean for the war in gaza? mr. hale: it suggests to me that the israelis believe that they are entering the final phase of the war, and that they are freer and have more personnel and equipment and bandwidth to focus on the north. they have 60,000 plus israeli civilians who have been dislocated, a major political problem and humanitarian problem. they feel they have the time and ability to focus on that problem. sumi: we saw secretary of state antony blinken in egypt discussing the cease-fire negotiations and expressing frustration at these attacks. the pager and walkie-talkie attacks. speaking about warning against escalation. do you think these attacks have further derailed a possibility of cease-fire talks moving forward? mr. hale: i don't see a connection directly between this

and the gaza cease-fire talks. i think those talks have not been particularly -- they are on life support, at best. there is not any breakthrough we can see on the horizon. i think that israelis probably feel that their military action has taken them about as far as they will go in gaza. now it is the north that needs to be dealt with. sumi: one question about the international front. the u.n. general assembly adopted a draft resolution demanding israel end its illegal occupation of palestinian territories within one year. we saw the saudi crown prince say the kingdom will not recognize israel until there is an independent palestinian state. what do you think that has? mr. hale: that is not a new position by the saudi's. we have heard that before. i think the saudi's are positioning to make clear they are not going to get ahead of the situation on the ground. and it may be a message in our own election campaign as well to both sides. don't count on the saudi's.

what i would say is in terms of the general assembly, that reflects the sentiment of the members of the general assembly. it doesn't -- a piece of paper in new york does not change the equation on the ground. if we want to find a way forward, there has to be a restoration of deterrence. which is what yesterday's operation in lebanon was about. in about messaging the iranians who, behind the scenes, have a prominent role to play in what we are seeing. sumi: ambassador, we will leave it there. thank you for joining us on bbc news. mr. hale: pleasure. thank you. sumi: u.s. central bank on wednesday cut interest rates for the first time in four years as inflation continues to cool. the federal reserve lowered its key lending rate, when it charges banks to borrow, by .5%. down to between 4.75% and 5%. the cut is bigger than many analysts protected -- predicted, and comes amid concerns about rising unemployment rates.

it will bring relief to u.s. borrowers who have faced interest rates at a two decade high. joining a from new york is our correspondent. tell us more about this announcement? >> we got a supersized cut day with the fed delivering a 50 basis point cut to interest rates. that brings the target down to 4.75%. and a promise of another 50 basis point worth of caps. this was a historical decision because there was so much divisiveness going into it. would we get a 25 or 50 basis point cut? again, there was usuallyo much more consensus around this. it is also the first rate cut in more than four years, since the pandemic, bringing rates down from what has been a 20 year high. that in an election year. what this jumbo rate cut suggests is that the fed is confident that inflation is returning to its target, which

it expects to do so next year. it is focusing on the labor market, the other side of its dual mandate. while have fed chair jerome powell was upbeat about the economy in his presser, he did more not to expect a 50 basis point cut would be the new normal, the new fed pace. and in terms of the stock market reaction, you saw we got this knee-jerk reaction higher from stocks. the s&p 500 did end the session lower. perhaps this was already priced in, were perhaps the market is nervous about the fed trying to get ahead of potential weakness in the economy. sumi: thank you so much for that update. we can get some analysis now with wendy adelbert, former chief economist at the congressional budget office. have you back with us on bbc news. tell us, what does this rate cut mean for people, what impact does it have? wendy: we have already seen some of what it will mean for people,

because markets anticipated this largely. banks anticipated this. we have already seen a reduction in mortgage rates from their peak levels in 2023 by more than 1.5 percentage points. that is partly because lenders are anticipating that the fed was going to cut today and it will continue to cut going forward. roughly speaking, what this will mean is peop will face lower interest rates on their borrowing, but they will also face lower interest rates on their savings. both effects will encourage people to spend more. sumi: that is an important point. inflation and prices at the stores have been a big topic of conversation in an election year. it was looking also at this federa decision, in the context of joblessness numbers. there were concerns about those rising. was this decision too late from the federal reserve? wendy: if i had my way, i think they would have cut in july. but they are a little bit late. but i have all the faith in the

world that they will catch up. waiv market has been a little slower than i think it could be. for the past three months, the monthly employment gains averaged 114,000. i think we could have withstood 180,000. given what is happening with immigration. the labor market has slowed. need these rate cuts to lock in the great place of the u.s. economy, and keep it going rather than seeing further slowing. sumi: can you explain that point about immigration in the u.s., what impact that has had? >> they had surgery -- and so far, i think it continues. at least in terms of its effects on the labor market through the first half of 2024. that has meant we have much more labor supply then we would have had otherwise. for all of the observers like

me, who thought that a monthly payroll employment number of 100,000 was great news, given our demographics, now, our economy can actually increase employment at more like 180,000. almost double what i thought before. that is not going to be permanent. immigration has already slowed. changes in policies will obviously have enormous effects on immigration potentially. right now, we have really robust increases in labor supply. and that was -- that has meant our labor market can grow a lot faster. sumi: one more question on inflion itse. where does this leave inflation? we notified sees it cooling. is it under control? wendy: inflation is actually quite close to the fed's target right now. i appreciate people are still frustrated that the level of prices is higher than they would have expected it to be. we are talking about chang in prices, and the change in price

has basically come down to a nice modest pace. there are a lot of factors that might mean is not going to stay there unless the fed remains vigilant. i don't mean to say we are out of the woods. but basically, the fed is looking at inflation now that is quite close to where they want it to be. sumi: really interesting analysis as always. thank you for joining us. wendy: thank you. sumi: america's largest labor union is not endorsing a candidate for u.s. president. it is to first time the teamsters which represents 1.3 million members declined to endorse a democratic ticket in 30 years. the teamsters said in a statement that "the union's extensive member polling showed no majority support for vice president harris, and no universal support among the membership for president trump." responding to the teamsters decision, kamala harris' campaign highlighted her support for union workers saying "while donald trump says striking workers should be fired, vice

president harris has walked the picket line and stood strong with organized labor for her entire career." the trump campaign responded to the decision saying "while the teamster's executive board is making no formal endorsement, the hard-working member of the teamsters have been loud and clear. they want president trump back in the white house." the latest polling shows ms. harris gaining an edge on mr. trump in critical swing states. the new poll likely voters shows harris leading trump in pennsylvania while holding a slightly in michigan. the two candidates are essentially tied in wisconsin. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is hailing what he calls a very important result on russian territory. his comment came hours after ukrainian drone attack on russian ammunition depot. at least 13 people were injured. the attack happened in the town of russia's eastern region. it is nearly 300 miles, more

than 450 kilometers, from ukraine's northern border. the site contained fuel tanks as well as artillery shells, ballistic missiles and explosives. our ukraine correspondent james waterhouse has more from kyiv. >> we are talking about a military site which russia had been putting together for the best part of 10 years, spending tens of millions of pounds on a military arsenal. a series of warehouses where it reportedly stored ballistic missiles, explosives,. the reason ukraine would want to target such an area are obvious. we have acknowledgment from sources in the country's security service, you have building evidence that significant damage has been done. you have got this visage appearing online showing incredibly powerful explosions are there is satellite imagery showing the extent of the damage. you have officials in the area, and the russian region, which

surrounds the site, announcing partial evacuaons. and i spoke to one former member of the security service here. he said the goal of this drone attack is to frustrate russia in the medium-term. it's missile stockpiles have taken a hit. and it will have to spend money to replace that. it will have to look toward allies like iran and north korea. i don't think we will suddenly see relief on the ukrainian frontlines. but it has given the military here a much needed morale boost. president zelenskyy has called it inspiring accuracy, and a very important result because there is a political drop -- political backdrop. ukraine is waiting for the green light, for permission, to use western missiles on targets inside russia. this attack signifies ukraine doing it on its own. but can't do these kind of attacks all the time with drones it makes domestically. as for russia, we have heard

very little from the kremlin officially. responses don't typically come in statements. we could well see yet more targeted missile attacks on cities like kyiv, for renewed offensives on the front line. sumi: that was james waterhouse reporting from kyiv. climate change brings with it heat waves, droughts and floods. but in fragile nations, it can do more damage than not. some analysts describe climate change as a cha multiplier. it can exacerbate existing nflicts by intensifying the competition for scarce resources. our climate editor traveled to somalia for this special report on how climate change can fuel existing conflicts. >> i am in somalia, one of the most dangerous countries in the world, to report on how climate change is making conflict in places like this even worse. we have to stay safe. that means bringing some serious

security. out in the dry scrub that covers much of the country, the climate challenge is clear. climate change is disrupting the passage of rain that has kept waterholes like this for. somalia recently experienced its worst drought for 40 years, an event scientists estimate was made 100 times more likely by human caused climate change. the year after the drought, somalia was hit with terrible twice as intense by human caused global warming. the floods killed hundreds, and displaced one million people. the impacts of climate change and conflict have driven around 4 million somalis into vast makeshift refugee camps. there is little international

help. residents here pay rent and for their food and water. it is why her husband and four of her five sons have taken up the only opportunities open to them as fighters in a local militia. >> they are rural people with no skills. the only work they could get was in the army. they were desperate. when you are without food long enough, and your children are looking at you, you will do anything. reporter: the people of somalia cannot be held responsible for climate change. i have been doing the numbers on my phone. the entire country has admitted as much carbon dioxide since the 1950's as americans have in, wait for it, the last three days. but somalia is taking action. this powerstation is moving over to wind and solar power.

and training up a new generation of renewable energy engineers. i found entrepreneurs setting up new businesses, including this makeshift cafe in the refugee camp. >> i don't subscribe to the notion that somalia is unfixable. i think it is fixable. it is showing a significant progress on pretty much every front that it can look into. reporter: so there is hope. but with climate change turbocharging the conflictn somalia, the country will need continued international help in the effort to find peace and to build resilience against our changing climate. sumi: let's take a quick look at other headlines. disgraced and jailed movie mogul rvey weinstein pleaded not guilty to a new charge at a new york court hearing wednesday, months after a previous conviction was thrown out. the hollywood producer is

accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a manhattan hotel in 2006. he has long denied the allegation, saying the sexual encounters worse -- were consensual. another person has died from flooding that has devastated central europe, bringing the death toll to 23. while floodwaters are receding in the czech republic, emergency personnel in poland and hungary are rushing to secure riverbanks and buildings as floodwaters rise in new areas. the were sporting to reach the decade has left a path of discussion -- of destruction. thousands of demonstrators in bolivia on wednesday joined ex-president in a march against the current president and his one-time ally. the current and ex presidents are competing for control of the governing socialist party. the candidate in a forthcoming presidential election, that he has been blocked by the courts. before we go, stargazers across

the northern hemisphere were treated to a show that was out of this world. take a look at the harvest supermoon coincided with a partial lunar eclipse tuesday evening. the notable feature is its orange hue which radiates due to its proximity to the horizon. the moon they appear brighter and larger due to its closer than usual proximity to earth. quite an image there. thank you for watching "world news america." do stay with bbc news. ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it'so die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. xfinity internet. made for streaming. ♪ >> good evening. i am amna nawaz. geoff bennett is away. the federal reserve cuts interest rates for the first time in four years. a major shift in the fight against inflation. lebanon is rocked by more exploding devices