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restores his father's historic jazz club with his son. a raymond james financial advisor get to know you, your passions, and the way you bring people together. 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 and this is bbc "world news n america." israel's army says a senior hezbollah commander is among those guilt in its latest attacks. early voting kicks off in the presidential election with voters casting their ballots in three states. and we look at a new vote counting measure in georgia. supporters say it helps tackle fraud.

♪ host: welcome to world news america. we begin in lebanon where the health ministry says 14 people have been killed and more than 60 injured and what the israeli military is describing as a targeted strike. the israel defense force said it killed 10 commanders from has blood in the attack and among them a senior hezbollah commander who has led the group's special forces unit since 2004. the idf says he and the unit were planning to attack and occupied northern area of israel. the strike is considered that he was considered the most high-profile leader to be killed in conflict. widely attributed to israel though israel has not confirmed any role. and a special meeting of the un security council on friday and

several members condemned the explosions on community -- communication devices that killed 37 people. the u.n. human rights chief said he was appalled by the attacks thing they could constitute a war crime. >> international humanitarian law prohibits use of booby-trapped devices in the form of apparently harmless portable objects which are specifically designed and constructed to ask -- contain explosive material. it is a war crime. host: our correspondent has been following the latest rates in beirut. -- strikes in beirut. reporter: an apartment block reduced to this without warning. israel hit hard in the heartland of hezbollah in beirut. here the immediate aftermath,

smoke, chaos and shock. the target was a veteran hezbollah commander, in brbrahim akil. israel says he has been eliminated. he was a top military leader of the iranian backed armed group. the u.s. had put a $7 million bounty on his head accusing him of wings to the killing of hundreds of american marines in lebanon in the 1980's. day after day now hezbollah is being hit. it has been weakened and humiliated by a string of israeli attacks. we were prevented repeatedly from reaching the scene by locals and the lebanese army.

emergency vehicles have been coming and going. we have counted at least 10 ambulances coming up the road picking up casualties. the dead are still being counted. there is a lot of anger and tension here. this was another major strike on hezbollah in its stronghold in south beirut. this footage captures the moment of the attack. the skyline looks like a city at war. many lebanese fear that is where their country is headed. bbc, beirut. host: on the others of lebanon's border, the israeli military said more than 100 rockets have been fired into israel. hezbollah said it hit an israeli

intelligence base that it blamed for assassinations. reporter: the is really military has said that when it carried out this airstrike today senior hezbollah commanders were meeting to plot attacks on israeli citizens particularly in the north of the country. earlier this week, the israeli government set a new war goal. the return home of 60,000 israelis in the north that have been displaced by rocket fire from has followed. the government has not said how it would achieve the goal but degrading hezbollah is clearly part of it. since then we have sensed a change in roderick. of there being a new phase in this conflict. we saw the walkie-talkie and pager explosions in lebanon. it is something that israel has neither confirmed nor denied it was involved in that which it

has been widely blamed for. we saw intensive airstrikes yesterday and assassinations today. hezbollah has said it will not stop fighting israel until there is a cease-fire in gaza. it fired approaching 200 rockets into israel today. as we move into the weekend, there are calls for a de-escalation in the conflict from various powers around the world including the united states. but this week, the trend is not de-escalation. it is one of as galatian. tonight the israeli prime minister took to social media does say that our goals are clear and our actions speak for themselves. reporter: let's talk about all of this with li na, the director of the school of oriental and african studies at the university of london, middle east institution. good to have you with us. i want to start with the latest rates that killed at least 14

people in lebanon including a leading hezbollah commander. how significant is this ? gast: this is extremely significant especially for hezbollah. only yesterday was the hezbollah leader giving a speech in which he claimed that the groups communication and command are in tact despite the attacks that happened on tuesday and wednesday with the communication devices exploding. so this happening today in the southern suburb of beirut where the headquarters of hezbollah's leadership is, attacking and killing top commanders of hezbollah as a major blow. host: what does it tell us about the state of hezbollah right now and how weakened they are ? guest: hezbollah is in disarray. it is clear that a group like this has been prepared for

military action by israel but what it has not anticipated at all is hybrid warfare of this kind, of this scale where in one week hezbollah's communications network has been shown to be infiltrated, it security has been breached, its supply chains intercepted and now on top of everything else, its elite commanders have been targeted and killed in an area it considers a stronghold. it is a series of significant blows. host: the leader that you mention has vowed a response. what could that look like ? guest: the response was vowed yesterday when he gave that speech but then they were met with this massive attack by israel today. so whatever he might have been thinking yesterday is definitely off the table today. all hezbollah could do today was

launched rockets on israel. and that is it. although hezbollah's military arsenal remains intact, its ability to actually use it has been significantly curtailed. any complex military action against israel will necessarily mean using communication tools and these have been compromised. even in person meetings between commanders exposes them to extreme risks like what happened today with the attack that killed several commanders at once amongst tomb was a very senior one. so has bala will be at -- so has bala will be at a loss as to what retaliation it can do. if it retaliates at a high level, it exposes them to risk and if it doesn't do anything at all, it loses its credibility. for has bala, the steps will be what we have seen which is

limited missile strikes on host: israel. host:how does this look for israel which until now has been engaged with the war in gaza. what do you anticipate israel will face in battling hezbal lah which is better supplied than hamas ? guest: israel is trying to paralyze haezballah. what israel is trying to do is prevent it from using this military capacity. by infiltrating the communications, infrastructure and causing disarray in the organization. let us not forget that an attack like a pager attack will mean that it will now become suspicious about any equipment that it has imported. and so, this kind of chaos within a militant group like this is, in a way, more

crippling than large-scale military action against it. host: this is a pretty dramatic escalation that we are witnessing. what do you think it means for the region ? guest: what it means is that this will not end until the gaza conflict is settled. ultimately, hezballah, despite its losses, will need to carry on to save face. the only way for northern israel to be secured and southern lebanon to be secured is by going back to diplomacy and getting a settlement for the conflict at large in gaza. host: really interesting analysis, lena. thank you for joining us on bbc news. here in the u.s. millions of voters across three states are heading to the polls on friday to cast their ballots in the u.s. presidential election. early in person voting is underway in virginia, south dakota and minnesota. the first ballots cast, with just over six weeks left before

election day and a dozen more states will start early and person voting by the end of october. 47 states plus the district of columbia are offering early in person voting. we were outside of a polling location in virginia. reporter: election day is still more than six weeks away but there has been a steady line of people all day here in fairfax, virginia lining up to cast their ballot. it is one of the first early in person voting stations to open ahead of the election. it is something that people in virginia will be able to do from now until election day itself. i spoke with a couple of people in the line to ask why they had decided to vote so early. for some that had t-shirts and merchandise, it is because they had already made up their mind and they did not think their vote would change between now and the election day. for others it was a case of practicality. that they would be on holiday during the time and didn't want

to risk not getting back in time. while others are worried about what could happen between now and then. you never know when you might be hit by a bus. it was a pretty good group of people here. on the others of the entrance, there was a trump campaign stand and there was also a kamala harris campaign stand as well with quite a few volunteers out canvassing support from people in the line. there is no political campaigning allowed past a barrier. this is something that residents in virginia will be able to do until november 5. host: in georgia, a significant change in counting ballots may impact -- counties have to hand count all ballads the night of or the day following the presidential election. something county officials say is physically impossible.

advocates of the procedure reported to be supporters of donald trump say it is an effort to prevent fraud and other irregularities taking the process more secure and transparent. many are concerned that hand counting ballots could delay the certification of georgia's electoral vote. remember in 2020 president biden won the 16 electoral votes of georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes out of the 5 million votes cast. we can talk about this with a georgia state representative, sarah draper. ray to have you with us on bbc tonight. tell us what you think about this measure that has been approved. guest: it is an attack on our election systems in georgia. you have to understand the context. the state election board which passed rule today is an administrative body that in the past has been fairly nonpartisan

and noncontroversial. over the last several months, a maga right wing block has taken over the board and is trying to use it as a vehicle to weaponize the process. host: i do have to ask you about what the board says because it says this is about ensuring the accuracy of the boat especially in such a tight election. we remember in 2020, after the vote we saw former trump challenging the results despite no proof of fraud. could the hand counting prevent such confusion ? guest: there has been no proof of any widespread fraud in georgia so it is a solution in search of a problem they are advocating for. beyond that which i think exposes the true intentions is the fact that election official after election official came and testified today saying your rules are going to make the results less accurate. you are going to make the rules less reliable if you implement

these rules so close to election day. it really good trays the intentions when they are saying one thing but the rules do the opposite. host: it is important to note that the republican secretary of state opposed these moves. his counsel said it might be illegal and dangerous so close to the vote. do you see this measure being challenged ? guest: let me back up. this is the boards own attorney, member of their party, who is telling them that the rule is untethered from statute. i absolutely foresee this being challenged in court. i foresee a positive result from the challenge. it does not change the fact that this is going to cause chaos in our elections. when the county election officials do not know what the rule is and when they cannot

rely on what the rule is going to be in the -- and they have to keep changing the training. host: representative draper, looking at the bigger picture, george odum will be a close race in -- in november. are you concerned about the integrity of the election in georgia ? guest: i'm not in 2020, we had a big election. there was audit after audit and it showed over and over again that our elections were free and fair. there are people who have repeated the narrative over and over again and without evidence that there was fraud in that election and those are the same people advocating for this. i have every reason to believe that our elections will remain free and fair. host: what about concerns that you might have county officials that won't certify the results ? is that a possibility ? guest: the state election board is inviting that possibility.

i think there are members of the far right inviting that possibility. we have 159 county election boards in georgia and each one have the option, whether they stick with their mandatory duty to certify the election or if they go rogue to delay the certification of the election. right now you have officials asking them to do that who are aligned with donald trump. host: if we look at the bigger picture and what this might all mean for the country on november 5, what do you think is the president that is set here if this measure is allowed to go through ? guest: i think there are a lot of guardrails in place to prevent this from going off the rails. i think there is going to be bad actors, people pushing for election -- local election offices not to certify the elections but we also have a lot of folks on both sides of the aisle believe in our democracy and georgia and will be pushing

back and i believe they will find the truth at the end of the day. host: representative draper, thank you for joining us. democratic presidential candidate kamala harris is campaigning in georgia highlighting women's reproductive rights. she billed donald trump as the architect of what she called a health-care crisis. she spoke about t of you georgia women whose deaths the tide to the states six week abortion ban. abortion restrictions in the state went into effect after the supreme court struck down roe v. wade, ruling that protected a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy. mr. trump says he is proud of his role in overturning the ruling. harris said momentum on the issue favors her bid for the white house. >> the people of america have voted for freedom. the people of america have voted

for freedom. [applause] and not just by a little but by over -- overwhelming margins from blue states to read states providing and making clear also that this is not a partisan issue. this is not a partisan issue. it is proving that the voice of the people has been heard and will be heard again. host: another must win of the election is north carolina where it its gubernatorial race was taken up wednesday and then released a report that said mark robinson posted inflammatory statements on a forum of a pornographic website. he denied the allegations and vowed to stay in the race. mark robinson is a known ally of donald trump. donald trump hosted him in mar-a-lago.

robinson has been compared to martin luther king jr.. however, since the report was released donald trump's campaign has yet to publicly comment on the allegations. u.s. secret service has admitted deficiencies in planning prior to an attempt on donald trump's life at a rally in july. the conclusion showed that there were gaps in communication and a lack of diligence. acting secret service director said on friday that a paradigm shift is needed for the agency as it navigates the evolving threat environment. he pointed to the second apparent attempt on mr. trump's life on sunday as an indication for more resources for the secret service. >> what occurred on sunday demonstrates that the threat under which the secret service operates is tremendous and under constant threat. and we have been in this heightened threat environment since july 13. this increased operational tempo

requires additional resources to account for calls today but to ensure we have the tools, the technology and personnel needed to meet these new requirements and execute our mission going forward. host: that comes as the u.s. house of representatives unanimously passed a bill to boost secret service protection for candidates. it requires that agency to provide the same security for candidates as it does for setting presidents and vice presidents. schools in niger will start the academic year month late due to flooding. many classrooms are damaged or occupied with displaced people. torrential rains have caused havoc across the country. the interior minister said almost 300 people had died or drowned when buildings were brought down. rescue operations are underway in northern italy after flooding forced roughly 1000 people to

other arcuate from a region of the country. that follows torrential rains in central europe that claimed the lives of at least 24 people. the eu has pledged billions in aid for poland, the czech republic and slovakia after the area suffered an warmest damage from flooding. nigel faraj said biggest are not -- bigots are not welcome. he opened his party's conference and he said that he is seeking to professionalize reform u.k. after a series of controversies grounding its candidates. the labour party's conference will also kickoff this weekend. popstar kylie minogue has announced her biggest world tour in more than a decade. this ignorance does the new album will be released on -- in october.

she will pass through asia and the u.k. before we go, the search for sentiment, the escaped cup of are a is often we reported this story earlier this week and she had been on the run since escaping from a zoo in england. she was found safe and well in a pond this afternoon and she is back in her enclosure at heard zoo. a spokesperson said they are delighted that cinnamon has been captured and will be checked over by their team before being returned to her parents. we want to remind you now of our top story -- the killing of a senior hezballah commander in lebanon. the strike in lebanon killed 14 people including that senior commander. hezballah has been vowing a response, that was yesterday, when hezballah's leader delivered remarks. today, another blow to the

organization. we have all of the updates from our correspondents on the ground. and you can see what we are working on at any time. check us out on your favorite social media site as well. thank you for watching "world news america." stay with us. 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." that's because the free pbs app

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geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna nawaz is away. on the "news hour" tonight, israel says it killed another top hezbollah leader -- the third major strike on the lebanese militant group in as many days. in-person early voting begins in this year's hotly-contested election. we look at the potential impact split-ticket voters could