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creates a trust to keep the craft alive. a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your passions and the way you enrich your community. 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" christian: hello, i'm christian fraser. this is "the context." >> hezbollah have been hit hard this week not just in terms of the dead and wounded by the attack on its communications systems was a major humiliation. >> with this operation, the enemy crossed all of the rules, laws, and redlines, didn't care about anything at all, not humanely, not legally. >> israel is responding with

force to this aggression by hezbollah. we will use all means necessary to restore security to our northern border and to safely return our citizens to their homes. >> the population in both northern israel and southern lebanon has had to flee their homes, and we all want to see them go back to their homes. that requires a secure environment. ♪ christian: the leader of hezbollah, hassan nasrallah, says the rocket attacks will continue until the war ends in za. the israeli say has been feels hunted and there will be no let up in their response. we will get the thoughts a night from their region and we will discuss whether american diplomacy still has any role to play. also tonight, new polling in the battleground states expels good news for kamala harris,

especially so on the economy. we will talk to the democratic congressman and brandon boyle who derives from the crucial state of pennsylvania. and we will bring you an exclusive interview tonight with the team in saudi arabia behind the world's first fully robotic heart transplant. welcome to the program. we started in the middle east where israel has launched fresh air strikes on hezbollah targets in southern lebanon. lebanese security forces have told reuters it is some of the most intense bombings since the start of the war in october, and there have been missiles fired the other way. the leader of hezbollah, hassan nasrallah, gave his response this afternoon to the coordinated explosions of handheld devices along to his fighters. there will be retribution, he said, but he did go into any detail. at least 37 people have been killed, thousands injured by the exploding pagers and walkie-talkies. nasrallah said it could be

considered a declaration of war. as he spoke on israeli fighter jets flew over beirut, causing huge sonic booms. from lebanon, our chief international correspondent has this report. >> israeli fighter planes flying low over beirut this afternoon. dominating the skies. carefully timed as sheikh hassan nasrallah was making a levision address. he admitted hezbollah had suffered a major blow and said thenemy, israel, had crossed all redlines with attacks this week. first, it was pagers exploding. then, yesterday, walkie-talkies blowing up at funerals. a new form of warfare in the

middle east which the eu says has caused heavy collateral damage among civilians. hezbollah's communications systems may have been the target but a lebanese minister told us the attacks widely blamed on israel break international law. >> are you saying these attacks are a war crime? >> i think they are. the whole world could see that these attacks occurred in markets, occurred in hospitals, people driving their cars. these were not people who were at the battleground lighting. -- fighting. >> in its stronghold in south beirut, hezbollah is still mourning its dead, killed on and off the battlefield. they are getting ready here now for the funeral of another fighter. hezbollah has been hit hard this week not just in terms of the

dead and wounded but the aack on its communications systems was a major humiliation. there is anger here and there is uncertainty. many are wondering what might come next. she says we can expect anything from israel but we are prepared, both men and women. as for the wounded, she said, we pray god will heal them. i would donate my own eyes were all of theirs that lost theirs. hezbollah, which is classed as a terrorist organization by the u.k. and the u.s., will regroup. and despite the high tech, high-profile attacks this week, it is still firing across the border into israel. nine times so far today. christian: speaking in paris

today, u.s. secretary of state antony blinken says he believes in god's cease-fire is still possible, but irrespective of the situation in southern lebanon, he says it needs to be resolved. >> we continue to work to get a cease-fire for gauze over the finish line. as we discussed with some of you a day ago in egypt, we believe that remains both possible and necessary. but meanwhile, we don't want to see any escalatory actions by anybody that make that more difficult. there is a real problem that needs to be resolved when it comes to northern israel and southern lebanon. that is the fact that since october 8, hezbollah have been firing rockets into israel, israel is firing back. the population in both northern israel and southern lebanon has had to flee their homes. we all want to see them go back to their homes. that requires a secure environment.

france and the united states believe strongly, are working together toward a diplomatic resolution, an agreement that would create the conditions for security that would allow people to return to their homes. christian: joining me from washington is our state department correspondent tom bateman, and our correspondent in jerusalem. danny, let me start with you. major intensification of bonding in recent hours. what are you hearing about the outgoing fire and what that amounts to? >> there has been intensive bombings today lebanon, as you say, fighter jets flying low over beirut as well. that is a continuation of actions we have seen for quite a long time now. israel has been targeting hezbollah targets effectively daily, daily fire from hezbollah into northern israel. although this was very much timed at the same time hassan nasrallah's speech, a show of

force, i don't know if it is a change in the actual military strategy we see. we there has been a change, this week, the israeli government has made the return of citizens displaced in the north a formal war goal. it has moved a division of the israeli army to the north. there had been open talks by the defense minister of israel about a new phase of the war, about the center of gravity moving north. just this evening, comments by him released by the israeli military, talking about how this new phase contains opportunities but also risks. if you look at what israel is saying and doing, this is sort of escalating, and that is contrary to what the united states is asking. but we don't still know exactly what form it will take. spoke about a new form of warfare in the middle east with the bombings in lebanon this

week. we don't know what else will happen. the air strikes alone today are not a change in the military strategy. christian: tom, plenty of diplomacy today, but to what end? >> i think theessage you heard from antony blinken, i heard it repeated from officials here in the state department the last few hours, is one of restraint, calling on all parties. in a sense, they know it is a bit too late for that, given the scale of these many thousands of explosions that took place over two days in lebanon. i think the tactic here by the americans is basically to say as little as possible about the pager and walkie-talkies explosions, while at the same time, trying to intensify their diplomacy largely involving their man in the region, who has been shuttling between the israelis and the lebanese,

trying to get a resolution to the crisis on the israel-lebanon border. but the americans had always seen the key to that as getting a cease-fire deal between israel and hamas in gaza. now, that effort is stalled, making no progress at all. so they are back into crisis management mode. watching very closely now to what hezbollah do next. one notable point, we just had a briefing from the pentagon, where they were asked about whether the u.s. is moving any other military assets to the region. they already have one aircraft carrier strike group in the mediterranean. they say, in their words, they are not tracking any request for that. at the moment, no further intensification of forces around that part of the region. so that is notable. one other point. i pressed the spokesperson here at the state department again on the issue of how they assess

what is happening in lebanon against international humanitarian law. there are international treaties that the u.s., israel, lebanon are all signed up to that prohibit the use of booby-traps in everyday devices because of the chance that ordinary civilians get caught up in this. the spokesperson said they take that very seriously and would only be a part of their assessment in incidents like this. christian: we will maybe put that to congressman boyle coming up. thank you. five women say they were raped by the late owner of harrods, muhammad ali fired, when they work for him at the department store in london. the bbc has heard testimony from more than 20 employees who say the billionaire actually assaulted them as well as claims that harrods covered up the allegations of abuse. he owned it until 2010 before he died last year at the age of 94. the company says they are utterly appalled by the accusations.

this report does contain descriptions of sexual violence. >> i joined harrods because i wanted to be a buyer. i ended up working for an absolute monster. >> when mohammed al fayed took over harrods, he qukly embraced his high-profile role in the state's that came with it. to his customers in the celebrity guests, he was all term, but too many of his female employees, he was a different man, a predator. we have heard testimony from more than 20 al fayed's female ex-employees. >> he tried to rape me more than once. he pushed me onto the bed so that i couldn't move. he was 79, nearly 80, i was 15. moham -- >> mohammed al fayed was powerful and that power allowed him to continue his assault for decades. >> he is a serial rapist.

>> gemma worked as his personal assistant for two years. >> didn't know where to turn. i had a small phone in my pocket and these are the transcripts from those recordings. one of them was in paris at his residence. i said i just want to go to sleep on my own. al fayed, i don't want to. he kept on saying, relax, please relax. how can you relax when you're in that situation? he walked out and he was angry. >> not long after the incident, she said al fayed raped her. the bbc heard testimony from other women who said that he raped to them at their properties. in 2009, she contacted a lawyer who told harrods she was leaving her b on the grounds of sexual harassment. she didn't feel able to disclose the more serious allegations at the time. they agreed to pay a settlement

if she signed a nondisclosure agreement that was also one other condition. >> the lawyer is organized for a shredding truck to come to my lawyer's office, shredded in front of us, including tapes i had of him. someone from hr was present for all of the shredding of all the evidence i had. i thought i lost the transcripts. what i did have was the transcriptions sent to my lawyer, in my sent items of my email account. >> the current owners of harrods said they were utterly appalled by the allegations and the employees who were his victims had been failed or which they sincerely apologize to be read they also said that the harrods of today is a very different organization to them one owned and controlled by al fayed between 1985 and 2010. there were several attempts to expose al fayed before his

death, but it is only now that many of the survivors feel able to speak publicly about the abuse. for those who have, the silence and the taboo are finally broken. christian: around the world and across the u.k., you are watching bbc news.

christian: welcome back. new polling in the three battleground states that will likely design the upcoming u.s. election suggest kamala harris is eking out something of a lead. still extremely tight but at least one poll, she is closing the gap in two policy areas where donald trump is thought to be stronger. let's start with the new york times siena poll today. harris leave the key battleground state of pennsylvania. she has a 400 point advantage which is just outside the three-point margin of error. in the quinnipiac poll, similar

numbers. pennsylvania and michigan, the vice president five points ahead in there, just one point in wisconsin. what stands out is some of the analysis. quinnipiac says the gop's go to attack strategies on democrats on the economy and integration may be losing momentum. likely voters see little daylight between trump and harris on who can handle those key issues, which is strange because yesterday, the teamsters union refused to endorse either presidential candidate, ending a 25-year run of backing the democratic hopeful, largely because of the majority of their members are backing trump. >> it's a great honor that they are not backing the democrats, that's a good thing. this is the first time in 50 or 60 years that th happened. democrats automatically have the teamsters. they took a boat, i was at 60% or more. it'a great honor. i've had a lot of teamsters work for me, concrete trucks build all of these buildings that you

see in new york city. christian: let speak to a man who sits in a key state, democratic congressman from philadelphia brendan boyle. he also sits on the budget committee. great as ever to have you on. thank you for coming on. when you look at the polling, the more the people here from kamala harris on the economy, the more they like it. why has she done only three tv and print interviews, when he has done about 14 nations she became the nominee? >> first, great to be back with you, christian. i can confidently say so goes pennsylvania, so goes the election. it was the case in 2016, 2020, will be the case again in 2024. when you have seen ever since that sunday afternoon when she became the de facto nominee a couple months ago, increasingly since then, the american people have got to know her better. the more they get to know about kamala harris, the more they like about her. in terms of what interviews she sits down for them by media or national media, though sort of

tactical questions i'm less interested in. i just know whatever they been doin it's been working. christian: it does fascinate the media, though, because she is not doing many interviews. it is sort of like the ming vase strategy that labor on the side employed. stay out of the limelight but don't go into any territory that is dangerous. >> i can proudly say as a pennsylvania democrat, i would be more than proud to take keir starmer's majority from the last election. i would be happy with a 100 point win in pennsylvania. interviews, as important as they are, are not the only way to reach voters, especially those who tend not to pay attention to cable tv news or to the traditional sources. i think the campaign has been taking a very balanced approach. i would also point out, the one way you can ensure media coverage is doing live events.

donald trump, by some measures, has actually run one of the least active campaigns in modern history. only done four events in the last couple weeks. this time eight years ago, he had done four mes that number. i would also take a broader look in terms of the activity of both campaigns. christian: to talk about one of the other key battleground states, michigan. the uncommitted vote said this afternoon they cannot back kamala harris because of her policy on the middle east. they don't see enough differentiation between joe biden's policy and hers. that is a big setback in a state that he only won by 120,000 votes in 2020. >> i believe the uncommitted movement also said they were urging their members and supporters to vote against donald trump and to avoid voting third party. if you take a natural extension of those two things, the only place to go would be kamala harris. there is no question that ever since israel-hamas moore began

some 11 months ago, it has been a divisive issue here in the united states, and indeed in many countries in the west. i think that kamala harris is in a good place politically on that issue. the reality is most voters see this president, this white house has worked night and day to attempt to achieve a cease-fire, release of the hostages, building toward a more permanent solution there. donald trump would absolutely ruin that and take us in the wrong direction. christian: just on the spending, because you sit on the budget committee, our correspdent was saying there are international treaties which the united states is signed up to putting booby-traps in devices like phones, handheld devices. shouldn't these spend their commitment to israel be open-ended? are you at all worried right now that the united states has a

loss of leverage over the decision that israel is taking? >> first, i have to say, commenting more fully, because i have not yet received a classified briefing. no member of congress has, in terms of what exactly is happening in lebanon, how many rockets we are seeing from hezbollah, what is the full extent othe response from israel. so i think it is responsible to defer judgment until i get that briefing. however, i will say, the sooner we can have leadership both within hamas, a brutal terrorist organization, and the israeli government, by its own admission has the most right-wing government in the nation's 80-year history, the sooner that we can get parties willi to accept a cease-fire and the release of all the hostages, the better off we all will be. christian: congressman boyle, i hope we can speak before the election. thank you for coming on the program tonight.

now to something pretty astonishing. a surgical team in saudi arabia have carried out the first fully robotic heart transplant. the operation lasted around two and a half hours, performed on a 16-year-old patient with end-stage heart failure. the patient requested that the team not open up his chest. the surgeons at the specialist riyad times to get it right. what does it mean for the patient? reduced pain, shorten recovery time, and a much lower risk of complications. let's talk to the man who led the team, had a cardiac surgery at the king faisal hospital. lovely to see you, many congratulations on an extraordinary achievement. i have to ask the obvious lehman question, how does a robot handle an organ as sensitive as the heart and get it into the cavity with such speed? >> good afternoon and good

evenin ladies and gentlemen. thank you for hosting me on your show. rather delicate.uestion, it is after having above 400 cardiac trick procedures, we developed the know how to handle delicately these organs, especially when we conduct robotic coronary artery bypass, where you are dealing with less than one millimeter of diameter, the vessel. the rents are not seen by the bare eye. honestly, with a robotic heart transplant, performing it has to be practiced prior to conducting. christian: you are doing all of this by video, remotely looking at the video? >> correct. the robot has a consultant, the controller of the main robot. the main robot gets docked next

to the patient. each arm has eight millimeters diameter width. the length goes up to 47 centimeters. christian: extraordinary. what dyou plan to do with it now that you have perfected it? >> first of all, we have to keep doing it, develop knowledge transfer. we need to invite all robotic cardiac surgeons who are experts in the field from around the world, bring them over to our research center to conduct experiments. then we give them case observation. christian: your patient is already back on his feet? >> yes. the patient from day one, he was extirpated, started to eat, drink, talk to his family on day

two. christian: after day four? >> correct. usually a heart transplant patient stays three to four weeks within the icu. christian: extraordinary achievement. we are right up against the break. i wish we could talk more about it. thank you for coming on. 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. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: "usa today" calls it, "arguably the best bargain in streaming."

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