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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" s is bbc news. s more women have contacted the bbc to say they were assaulted by the former boss of harrods, the late mohamed al fayed, while working at the department store. israel launches new strikes in southern lebanon, targeting hezbollah overnight as the group's leader calls this week's device explosions a declaration of war. more than 1000 in northeastern italy have been evacuated as a

storm continues to cause severe flooding across europe. we visit the city of springfield in ohio, where some immigrants from haiti are worried about their safety when donald trump wrongly claimed they are eating pet cats and dogs. ♪ anchor: hello and welcome. more women have contacted the bbc saying they were assaulted by the late mohamed al fayed when he was the boss of the luxury department store harrods. more than 20 women who worked for for him have already come forward, accusing the egyptian billionaire who died last year of multiple accounts of rape and attempted rape during his 25 year reign at harrods. any claim that during that time, the company helped cover up allegations of abuse. our correspondent has this report, and it contains descriptions of sexual violence. correspondent: he owned one of

the most famous stores in the world. he loved being in the limelight. but some of mohamed al fayed's former workers have described him as a monster, a sleaze bag, a predator who would use his power to stop them speaking out. now, more women are having their voices heard. one, who we are calling melanie, has asked to remain anonymous. >> i was sexually assaulted by being groped by al fayed at his apartment. it was late in 2007. correspondent: at the time, she was in her 20's and in her first job. she reported what happened to the met last year. >> the police then told me they had intended to rest him. they had enough evidence, but they could not because he was unwell. correspondent: al fayed died in august 2023, aged 94. melanie contacted the bbc following an investigation. we spoke to more than 20 women who said they were sexually assaulted by the billionaire. five said they were raped. >> he tried to rape me more than

once. and he pushed me and and onto the bed so that i couldn't move. >> he was 79, nearly 80, and i was 15. correspondent: the metropolitan police says it is aware of rious allegations of sexual offenses made over a number of years in relation to mohamed al fayed. they said each allegation was investigated and advice was sought from the crown prosecution services. those investigations did not lead to any charges. al fayed owned harrods between 1985 and 2010. in 2008, he was questioned by police over allegations made by a girl he first met when she was 14. prosecutors decided not to.take action police received advice from the crown prosecution service again in 2018, 20 21, and 2020 it is not clear how many women those cases related to. other women only felt they could

come forward after his death. the current owners of harrods say they are utterly appalled, and today it is a very different organization to the one owned and controlled by him. they say the store has a process available to women who say they were attacked by al fayed, adding, it has been our priority to settle claims in the quickest way possible, avoiding lengthy legal proceedings for the women involved. the legal team representing many of the women the bbc has spoken to will set out its next steps at a news conference later today. simon jones, bbc news. anchor: for more on this, let's speak to our correspondent. we are expecting a statement today. what is it likely to contain? correspondent: we are expecting the lawyers to set out their legal claim against harrods for failing to provide a safe system of work to their employees.

the bbc has also gathered evidence that at the time of the obligations, harrods not only failed to intervene, but covered up the allegations of abuse. i am in front of harrods. that press conference is not do to start for another hour or so. one woman told the bbc tha walking through this building behind me, this iconic building, was a test, a test of whether she was ready to speak to the bbc. now, the bbc has testimony from more than 20 former employees. that reveals a pattern of sexual abuse and predatory behavior by mohamed al fayed. as for harrods, they have said they are utterly appalled by these allegations. they sent their sympathy to the victims. they say they have also set up a process that allows them to settle these claims quickly in order to avoid lengthy legal proceedings for the women involved. but this is also a story of power. many of the women say they are speaking today, now, because mohamed al fayed has died, but

also because of his portrayal in the tv series "the crown," a portrayal they saw as too positive and not how they want him to be remembered, because this man literally held the keys to the castle behind me, and that instilled fear in terms how they felt about speaking to these allegations. they were silenced. not anymore. anchor: this is not jusabout what happened in london. there are international aspects to this. correspondent: there are. mohamed al fayed conducted business around the world. some of the allegations against him are said to have happened in paris, san tropez, abu dhabi. a lot of this has to do with the fact that many of the women involved, who say they were involved, were personal assistants to mohamed al fayed, so they traveled with him around the world and also stayed in some of his homes.

so this is not just confined to london, this is a global story as well. anchor: for the moment, thank you very much. azadeh moshiri. we are expecting a press conference a little later, perhaps within the next hour or so. we will bring it to you live when it happens. in the middle east, israel has launchedresh air strikes across southern lebanon overnight in what security sources there say were some of the most intense bombings since the start of the war in gaza in october. these are the latest pictures of israeli strikes on the southern lebanese border town. they have struck more than 100 hezbollah sites, including a weapons storage facility. it all comes after the leader of hezbollah, described as a terrorist organization by some western governments, made his first public reaction to the wave of attacks across lebanon. at least 37 people have been killed and thousands injured by exploding pagers and

walkie-talkies. hassan nasrallah described the communication device blasts as a massacre, and they could amount to a declaration of war. daniel d simoni reports. correspondent: with this week's deadly explosions in lebanon, the conflict between israel and hezbollah has entered a dangerous new stage. hezbollah's leader gave his first response to the blasts targeting his members. >> crime wars, or declarations of war. you can call it anything and it deserves those words. correspondent: he set hezbollah will not stop fighting until israel stops targeting gaza. as he spoke, israeliighter jets flew low over beirut and carried out airstrikes in southern lebanon. hezbollah fired multiple rockets into israel.

israel's defense minister reiterated the goal of returning 60,000 israelis displaced by the rocket fire to their homes. but how it can be achieved is unclear. >> in the new face of the war, there are significant opportunities, but also significant risks. hezbollah feels persecuted. the sequence of our military actions will continue. correspondent: despite calls around the world for a de-escalation in this conflict, the opposite appears to be happening. anchor: let's speak to our middle east correspondent in beirut, hugo bachega. what is the situation after all these airstrikes overnight? correspondent: it is a very tense situation here because a lot of people are concerned we could be seeing the beginning of a much wider israeli offensive against hezbollah.

obviously, earlier this week we saw those two days of attacks targeting pagers, then walkie-talkies used by hezbollah . there was panic and confusion, chaos all across the country. and now, yesterday late at night, dozens of hezbollah targets being hit by this wave of israeli airstrikes, one of the most intense airstrikes by the israeli military in this conflict. obviously this happened just hours after that speech by hassan nasrallah, in which he reacted for the first time in parliament to those attacks that happened here in lebanon. as expected, there were some strong words against israel. he promised to react to those attacks. but i think it was very interesting that still the indications were that hezbollah is not interested in an escalation in this conflict. it is a very difficult situation for hezbollah because what

happened. here was humiliating it was a major security breach. the group seems to need a response, but they know any major reaction is likely to spark a major war with israel. and we know that israel authorities are saying if they fail to de-escalate the situation here, they are going to use military force to push hezbollah away from the border. anchor: a lot of work going on to try to understand how these walkie-talkies and pagers we set to go off in the way that they did. what is being done to protect people from potential further attacks of that type? correspondent: i think this is one of the key concerns here because everybody is really scared these attacks may continue, that more electronic devices may explode. one of our producers received a text message from a friend saying she was changing her

lebanese sim card to an international one because she was concerned her phone might explode. i think this gives you the sense of the feeling here. a lot of people are concerned. yesterday, we went t dahir, which is a suburb here in beirut, which is a hezbollah stronghold. people were checking our kit, our camera, our phones. this shows you the level of anxiety and concern following those attacks that caught everybody by surprise. anchor: for the moment, thank you very much. let's speak to our middle east correspondent in jerusalem yolande knl. what are the israeli military saying about what they struck overnight? correspondent: they are saying they hit about 100 launch sites, put them out of action, and in the process they hit about 1000 of these barrel launchers they have said were ready to be fired

at northern israel. they say they hit other hezbollah infrastructures. all the indications have been these were some of the most intense periods of bombardments since the start of the war in gaza. we have had the cross-border exchanges. anchor: stay with us for a moment's because footage has emerged from the occupied west bank town, showing israeli soldiers pushing dead bodies off of a roof following a raid on thursday in which at least five palestinians were killed. i have to warn you that the footage we are about to show you contains distressing images. you might find it upsetting. in this footage that at the moment we have not managed to independently verify, so it does carry that warning, israeli soldiers are seen dragging several dead bodies and throwing

them from the roof of this building. in the same incident, soldiers were also seen using their feet to push the remaining bodies off the roof. and in a statement, the idf called it a serious incident that does not coincide with idf values and expectatis. the idf says it is now reviewing that incident. it is another example, yolande knell, of the tensions and the many fronts on which we see israel fighting at the moment. correspondent: tensions are running extremely high in the west bank. this was a raid that lasted many hours. it is a town which is close to jenin in the north of the west bank. what we heard from journalists who were there is that there was a drone strike in which one person was killed in a car, and there were several people who were killed as part of what

israel's military said was a counterterrorism rate on rooftops -- raid on rooftops. this footage is shot from several different angles. it is not just one video that came out. there are these soldiers that pushed the bodies off the rooftop, and reports that military boat -- bulldozers were used to scoop up the bodies and take them away after they had been dropped from thateight. what we have heard from local palestinian officials is in total there were seven palestinians who were killed and a number who were injured as well. there were gun battles and other confrontations with israeli special forces, they say, that took place during this raid. anchor: thank you very much. around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news.

anchor: the european union says

it will provide $11 billion to help countries hit by severe flooding. storm boris destroyed buildings, bridges, and roads across parts of central and eastern europe. the latest country to be affected is italy, where more than 1000 people in the northeastern region have been evacuated, while towns in the central region reported serious flooding and disruption. two people have been reported missing. let's show you some of the live pictures we have got from these particular parts that have been affected. we mentioned the region in northeastern italy of emilia romagna. of the cleanup they are trying to mount in the face of so much devastation after storm boris swept through. let's take you now to budapest as well, where we have seen

extremely high water levels that are still subsiding to reveal the true extent of the destruction that has been brought by the storm. let's speak to our correspondent who is in rome. the news must be immensely welcome that the european union is going to make this money available. correspondent: yes. in fact, that is what people are wondering now because obviously the weather is better today. it stopped raining this morning. rescue operations are still underway, because as you said two people are still missing. but now i think people are starting to worry about what comes next, what happens next, because we saw a very rapid increase in the last few years of extreme events like floods, but also heat waves and storms.

it is becoming the new normal, unfortunately for several villages and towns in italy. this region specifically, emilia romagna in northern italy, was hit by heavy floods only 16 months ago, floods which claimed 16 lives and caused back then billions worth of damage. but this time again, the local population was here recovering from last year. so i am sure they will be relieved to receive the funds from the european union because let's remind our audience that it is a very important agricultural hub in italy as well. anchor: how much cooperation is there between neighboring cotries? because the weather systems like this don't respect those national boundaries. correspondent: indeed.

we have actually seen storms moving across europe, even across continents over the last few years. we were just in greece about a year ago when storm daniel, which is the same that hit greece and europe last year, moved down to libya. i think it is important for authorities to talk to each other, to work together, especially because what we see here on the ground is that people, especially local groups, are really struggling if they have to deal with such big weather events on their own. anchor: davide, thank you very much. davide ghiglione from rome. let's take you back to budapest, where we have seen around the river danube sandbags stacks by that building and the entrance

to the metro stations with the buildings submerged because of those extraordinarily high levels of water that we have seen as those floodwaters poured through the capital. the city of springfield in ohio hit the headlines last week when donald trump wrongly claimed that immigrants from haiti were eating pet cats and dogs. now, the republican candidate says he is planning to visit springfield on the campaign trail. city leaders say they prefer him to stay away, and some residents are worried about far-right activists gathering there as they try to cope with the impact of mr. trump's remarks on their city. our north america correspondent is in springfield. correspondent: on the menu today, it is beef stew as some of the haitian population lined up for a free meal along with other hungry residents. it is the haitians who have been the target of completely false

stories about eating pets, as donald trump is relocating his anti-immigration campaign from the southern border right into the heart of american cities with large immigrant populations like springfield. over 60 million viewers heard donald trump repeat a baseless rumor about animals being stolen. >> in springfield, they are eating the dogs, the people that came in. they are eating the cats, they are eating -- they are eating the pets of the people that live there. correspondent: the consequence in springfield has been far-right white supremacist, the proud boys, marching through streets, and hospitals and schools targeted with bomb threats spreading fear through the city. >> everything he says, it is just a new firestorm. correspondent: this haitian man feel so intimidated he does not want his face to be shown as he describes his life in springfield now. >> i am scared to go out with my kids because i don't want them to be victims if someone decides to attack me suddenly.

i feel unsafe literally everywhere. at home, on the street, and especially when i am out with my kids. correspondent: many of the haitian arrivals need help with translation, and the huge influx of up to 20,000 migrants in one small city has caused tensions and strained resources. many residents are not hostile but they think the city needs help to integrate so many new arrivals. >> we have been overwhelmed with the haitian population that has come in and we do ne help. for the next administration, they need to find something out. >> the kingdom of heaven is for people who welcome immigrants. correspondent: he is preaching love and understanding through facebook posts. >> i cannot imagine being forced to leave my country by the type of violence happening in haiti, then come to a place like ohio and experience the kind of things they are experiencing. it breaks my heart. correspondent: most of

springfield's haitian residents are here legally, but donald trump is still threatening mass deportations. donald trump is being mocked by his opponents for spreading untrue stories about the fate of pets in springfield. but at the same time, he has also focused attention on immigration, his signature issue, and while he may be spreading fake news, at the same time, he is convincing some voters they are in danger from the migrants living in thousands of cities across america. >> i am going to spring forward and i am going to aurora. you may never see me again but that is ok. i got to do what i got to do. correspondent: fear travels fast, and americans are already worried about immigrati. most trump voters don't really believe the tales of pets being eaten and they will overlook his gross exaggerations if they feel someone is listening to their concerns. sarah smith, bbc news springfield, ohio. anchor: japan's shohei ohtani has made mlb history. he has become the first player

to hit 50 home runs and steal more than 50 bases. that is president zelenskyy. should we start again, jade, who is directing? should we do some sport, some baseball news? go on then. here rico. -- here we go. japan's shohei ohtani has made mlb history. he has become the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal more than 50 bases in a single season. i say this like i know what i'm talking about. the l.a. dodgers slugger completed the feet against the miami marlins. otani is the world's highest paid athlete of any sport. ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy has confirmed he will meet president joe biden, as well as both presidential candidates, kamala harris and donald trump, next week in the u.s. mr. zelenskyy will also address the u.n. assembly, meet members of defense and energy companies,

and the ukrainian community. let's take you back to those extraordinary pictures of budapest in hungary, where people were racing yesterday to build defenses as the flooding was reaching its peak as the river danube rose. we are expecting it to be about 8.5 meters above its normal peak on friday or saturday. announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial serves 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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