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woman: a successful business owner sells his company and 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" quite amazing this kind of at the united nations in new york. a region on the brink. israel's top general warns of possible incursion into lebanon. the ukrainian president appeals to world leaders for support ending aggression in ukraine and kamala harris offers tax credits to american companies one day

after donald trump said he would lower taxes for manufacturers and cut regulations. >> a warm welcome to world news america. thank you for joining us in new york for the united nations general assembly were world leaders urged de-escalation in the middle east as israel warns of a possible invasion in lebanon, attacks continuing on both sides of the border. israel carried out extensive strikes against the militant group hezbollah after earlier in the day it intercepted a hezbollah missile targeted towards tel aviv. in the south of lebanon thousands of people are on the move to escape israeli strikes. more than 90,000 people have been displaced in lebanon since monday. wednesday lebanon's health ministry said 51 people were

killed in israeli airstrikes. the israeli military says it is entering a new phase of the campaign. the israel defense forces in chief of staff herzi halevi says they are preparing for a ground offensive of lebanon. >> we will continue striking hezbollah. today, has put up expanded its range of fire. later today they will receive a very strong response. prepare yourself. >> following those words from the idf a spokesperson from the pentagon said the u.s. does not believe israeli incursion into lebanon is eminent. our senior international correspondent that this report. >> hezbollah targeting the city for the first time. a clear message to israel. we can escalate too. some has been a through today.

-- some hezbollah rockets got through today and drivers had a narrow escape on this highway in israel. the major destruction and loss of life is across the border. this was a lebanon. israel hitting 60 sites it says were linked to hezbollah intelligence, some of them in front of us in the city of tyre. >> there has been more incoming israeli fire. smoke is rising now. we can't tell exactly what has been hit. but it is a residential area with residential blocks. there was some outgoing fire from hezbollah a few hours ago. now this is a familiar routine in southern lebanon. the gathering storm here this week means british nationals

have been told to leave lebanon immediately. isabella baker, a human rights student, will be on a boat tonight because she doesn't want her family and friends back home to worry. but, she is critical of the u.k. government. >> i 100% think the u.k. government should be doing a lot more. of course it has to worry about it citizens. i understand that. but i think there are priorities. we would not have to leave for the fact that israel is bombing this country. >> tonight, these men are wondering if they could be the next to be bombed. they are the government civil defense team in the city of tyre . they have just had a call telling them to leave their headquarters. an israeli voice claimed there was a hezbollah target nearby. station chief fear's is

repeating itself. >> my daughter was killed in the war in 2006 in an israeli strike on the center, i had brought her there for safety. my wife was badly maimed. she is still suffering. i don't want to lose any of my men in the center this time. they say they will now work from the street to keep saving lives. orla guerin bbc news, tyre. >> the white house said it was deeply concerned after hezbollah launched a missile towards tel aviv. john kirby told u.s. media he believed there was still time for a diplomatic solution to the -- to de-escalate tensions. foreign secretary david bombing -- david lammy called for an

immediate cease-fire and of the u.k. plans to provide 700 troops for iraq -- for immediate evacuation of lebanon. the bbc spoke to keir starmer. >> the situation is escalating. we need to de-escalate. for our states nationals, leave now. i am concerned about increasing escalation that is not only day on day, but our on our. >> nearly 600 people have been killed in lebanon since monday. as another humanitarian crisis looms i spoke to the united nations coordinator for lebanon. can you describe the situation on the ground in lebanon with people think these airstrikes? >> it is catastrophic. i think that's the best word to describe what's happening now. one has to remember people have been living a very tense,

anxious life for 11 months, almost a year now. over the last few days, the last week, we have seen at a level of escalation that we haven't seen before. on the first day of this week, monday, we had close to 600 people killed in one day. that is more or less 50% of the total number dead in the 2006 war. >> the people fleeing, can you tell us where they are going? where are they able to find shelter? >> i have seen on your network, the bbc, a lot of images showing huge traffic jam those people on the coastal road trying to move north. it has essentially been people from the south trying to move north. and other people trying to move. what had happened earlier the first 11 months or so as we had

about 110,000 people displaced, mainly in the south, in different areas of the south. over the course of the last few days we had an additional 100,000 doubling the number more or less of displaced. now, they are moving practically to every part of lebanon to try to find safety. >> we have spoken to israeli representatives here at the united nations that said israel did provide a warning for anyone, any resident near hezbollah weapons at stores that they should leave the area. is there a sense with the people you have spoken to that they feel like they are being given enough warning before they have to leave? >> well, the since we have seen, what we have seen on the road, people moving, the level of anxiety, it is a great deal of confusion about what has been happening. i think it has prevailed in the

whole last week in terms of different types of attacks happening. certainly, i think that when you meet a lot of these people and remember we are seeing a huge impact on the civilian population, yes, i do not think they were expecting it. i don't think they knew how to really act or react to this. >> we are hearing world leaders speaking about the need to de-escalate the situation and find a diplomatic solution. what would you say is most needed now. >> absolutely what you are saying. all of us want to see a cessation of hostilities, cease-fire. we want to see the firing stopped. we want to help people. we want to access people. we want them to be able to access us. and we would like to then move

toward something more sustainable. >> we are hearing news that the israeli defense forces chief told his troops they are preparing for a ground incursion. can you give us a sense of what it would mean? >> i think we have the experience of 2006 and what happened at that time. what we need to be prepared for, i suppose, in a situation like this is people being cutoff, people not being able to move. a lot of what we are doing right now is trying to get the resources to reposition supplies, to work in different areas of the country. and in particular, of the south, of course. >> ok. we will have an update on the situation on the ground in lebanon later in the program. as discussions here continue on the war in ukraine, russian president vladimir putin reiterated russia reserves the right to use nuclear weapons.

speaking at a meeting of his security council he said aggression by a not a nuclear country backed by a nuclear power would be considered a joint attack. it came after ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy addressed the general assembly at the united nations warning countries against supporting a peace proposal that would allow the continuation of russian aggression in ukraine. he says his plan to end the war would be the only way to bring lasting peace. >> i want this for my people, real peace and justice. i'm asking for your support from all nations of the world. we don't divide the world. i asked the same of you, do not provide the world. be united nations. it will bring us peace. >> the speech comes one day before president zelenskyy is due to meet with president biden

and other leaders in washington. our correspondent in kyiv jessica parker has this analysis of what the ukrainian president hopes to achieve during his trip to the u.s.. >> i think that president zelenskyy is trying to refocus the world's attention on the russian invasion. he used his address to issue stark warnings, including this claimant by kyiv that russia has been assessing ukraine's nuclear power plant and is even, may, planning to attack them, to disconnect them from the power grid. that is what president zelenskyy claimed in his speech. he is due, of course, to meet with u.s. president joe biden thursday. one at ukrainian official i spoke to recently said they hope mr. biden will choose to make history by taking some decisions in ukraine's favor during his last few months in office. top of the agenda is likely to be the request, so far denied by

ukraine that they might be able to use western ranges long -- western made longer-range missiles on military targets deep in russia. there is added urgency to the meeting. donald trump, the republican nominee for the white house again suggested he could curtail aid to ukraine if he were to be elected again as president. interestingly, we have heard president zelenskyy and donald trump might meet during zelenskyy's trip for the u.s.. it is now unclear whether that meeting will happen. >> as president zelenskyy pushes his peace plan to world leaders i spoke with the president of finland about whether peace talks are on the table. >> we need a just peace. we need a peace beast -- based on their respective territorial integrity and sovereignty. volodymyr zelenskyy needs four things. number one, territory, number two security guarantees, number three justice.

war criminals indicted. number four he needs reconstruction. if those things are met he can start negotiations. >> in washington the u.s. house of representatives passed a stopgap funding bill averting partial government shutdown that would help again next week keeping government services and jobs functioning in the late september -- late december. it is headed to the senate where it's expected to pass and kamala harris is sitting down for her first one-on-one interview of the presidential campaign on nbc. the interview is taking place in pittsburgh where vice president harris gave a speech wednesday on her economic proposals. >> we will reform tax law to make it easier for businesses to let workers a share in their company's success. i will challenge the private sector to do more, to lift up workers through equity, profits, and benefits so more people can

share in america's success and prosperity. >> her opponent donald trump is also on the campaign trail. the former president has been speaking in the battleground state of north carolina where he touched on the war in ukraine repeating his opinion that the conflict would never have happened if he was president. mr. trump spoke about the economy and immigration criticizing his opponent on those issues. >> our economy is doing really really badly. kamala harris goes to work every day in the white house and families are suffering now. if she has a plan, she should stop grandstanding i'm just do it. you have a few months left. do it. if you have plans for the border, do it now. you don't need anything at the border. all you need is the president of the united states to say the border is closed. >> now turning to cuba where official crime statistics remain low but many citizens believe it fails to reflect violent reality

on the streets. the popularity of the cheap new drug is compounding the problem. our correspondent reports from havana. >> fidel castro once called cuba the safest country in the world. havana's dimly lit streets have changed since he uttered those words and today cubans are reporting a search of violent crime on social media. in this neighborhood friends of this aspiring music producer gathered to send him off. 19 when he was killed he was stopped twice in an apparent gang dispute outside a recording studio. his sister samantha doesn't feel like she lives in the world safest nation. >> so many young people have been killed this year. the violence is getting out of hand. they are basically gangs. they fall out with each other. that is where it is all coming from, the killing some of the best -- deaths of young people.

>> a few photos are all she has left of her siblings. she says street quarles art settled with knives, machetes, or guns rather than fists. she bans a new drug circulating in cuba. the government acknowledged the problem with the jeep chemical high on state tv. communist party officials denied the crime rate is going insisting only 9% of crimes are violent and 3% are murderers. >> the difficulty facing the authorities in cuba is that a low crime rate is one of the revolutions stand out achievements. when critics pointed to the lack of rights on the island they could retort that the streets of havana were safer than almost any in the u.s.. if that is beginning to slip, people will increasingly ask what they are getting in return for their lack of basic freedoms. >> cuba's supreme court rejects any issues with the justice system.

>> in my 30 years as a judge i do not thinkple lack confidence in their authorities. the police have a high success rate solving crime and we'll see people taking the law into their own hand like in other parts of latin america suggesting people trust the cuban justice system. >> this transgender activist disagrees. she was attacked at 51 night and she says she ran to two police officers for help and they refused to come to her aid. >> i was clearly distressed, but they said, we are not here for that. i told him where the attacker was going and what he was wearing but they ignored me. as franco's coffin was loaded onto the hearse the mourners songs gave way to weeping and prayer. buried with every young victim of violence is another piece of the islands claim to be the

safest country in the world. will grant, bbc, havana. >> while the major conflicts in the middle east and ukraine are dominating the agenda here, other issues are being discussed at the general assembly. one is climate change and ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. negotiations are underway on a treaty on plastic pollution that would introduce legally binding rules on production and consumption. i spoke to two advocates of the treaty, the fastest solar sailor to sail around the world and the executive secretary of the united nations framework convention on climate change. >> dominating the agenda is global conflicts. is there a willingness to discuss climate change and the impact it has? what there is. the huge contribution of the plastics treaty is it is looking at global pollution that is very visible. that has been one of the frustrations of the climate convention.

you can't see co2 molecules. but we are all surrounded by plastic all the time. it is very visible. you can make your own issue. it humanizes and personalizes global pollution. this incredibly helpful. it's helping raise awareness and raise political, social, financial, and corporate willingness to do something about it. >> and we are seeing global records being broken. the hottest summers, flooding, climate disaster, extreme weather disaster. do you feel there is a sense of urgency needed behind climate action? >> i have felt a sense of urgency for many years, but we aren't doing enough. i think the point about interrelatedness is very important. on the current trajectory with plastics, by 2050 plastics are 15% of emissions, a massive amount. these conversations, when we

talk about climate it's not just the energy transition. that's just 55% of the shift we meet -- need to make to stay on to one .5 degrees. 45% of that is how we make and use of things including food, automotive, manufacturing. there is massive potential in that space that i think that is what we need more of this week. >> now our top story, the cross-border strikes between israel and hezbollah. let's go to the lebanese capital of beirut were correspondent anna foster is standing by. how tense are things on the ground now? anna: in the last few hours there has been a real shift in mood here in beirut and lebanon. now the question is one of timescale. we have heard them of israel's army till -- tell his troops to be prepared to cross over and begin a ground invasion in lebanon.

he made it clear the strikes we have seen the last several days were to try to tear the ground -- clear the ground ahead of ground troops going in. i think now there is question and nervousness about the timescale, whether it will happen quickly or take a few days or even a week or so to come to fruition. this would give a small sliver of time for diplomacy, for efforts to be made to try to de-escalate between the two sides. where you are at the united nations in new york you have these conversations going on, really high-level diplomatic conversations and it is such a contrast to conversations happening here in lebanon tonight. people that have moved from their homes in the south, people who are nervous and concerned and fearful that at this stage an all-out war, a new war, the first since 2006 between israel and lebanon may be looking increasingly inevitable. >> so many people are on the move. we heard from a humanitarian

leader earlier in the show. what is it like at the moment for those fleeing the fighting? >> it is really difficult because they have nowhere to go. in a lot of cases people are coming from all communities where people live together with their families. it is not a question of going somewhere else in the country and finding relatives or friends to stay with. people are very much about their community and moving en masse. humanitarian organizations are trying to put shelters in place. i lot have been turned into reception centers where people can get shelter, food, medical care, essentials they need. when you look at the scale of the numbers of people that are on the move, tens of thousands. there isn't enough space for the mall and you can't really leave the country either. i have seen reports over the last few hours, and it's very difficult to independently

verify them, but some of the syrian refugees that live here in lebanon are going back towards syria, back into syria to try to escape fighting that might happen here. people can't leave by land from the south. they can't actually go into israel. there is a suggestion people are going to the far north of lebanon to try to get boats out of tripoli but that itself is highly unusual and part of the problem. people are internally displaced and it is becoming increasingly difficult both for lebanese and other nationals to actually leave the country at the moment. >> a very tense situation on the ground. anna foster reporting from beirut, thank you for the update. and, of course we will have many more interviews with the major players at the united nations general assembly the whole week. stay with us on bbc news. find more on all the days news on our website bbc.com/news.

we have the latest information and analysis from correspondence on the escalating situation in lebanon and efforts towards diplomacy at the united nations. to see what we are working on at any time to check us out on your favorite social media site or download the bbc out. we will cover all of the action at the united nations in new york. 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,

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geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna nawaz is on assignment. on the "newshour" tonight, florida braces for impact as hurricane helene barrels towards the gulf coast. israel strikes hezbollah in lebanon for another straight --