BBC News Briefing

19 September, 2024

Sofia Lotto Persio

Hello. A second wave of device explosions has heightened fears in Lebanon ahead of a speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah's later today. My colleagues bring you up to date with the latest reactions in Beirut and beyond. In India, Cherylann Mollan reports on the Samsung workers who have been striking for union rights. Also, make sure to read our investigation into sexual assault claims against former Harrods boss, the late Mohamed al Fayed. And finally, a French poet's resting place emerges from restoration work in Notre-Dame.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

Panic spreads after two days of explosions

A yellow wall in a Lebanese home is stained black and damaged from an explosion

Exploding pagers and walkie-talkies injured thousands across Lebanon on Tuesday and Wednesday. Credit: Getty Images

A second day of deadly explosions in Lebanon has shaken the country. Hugo Bachega reports that people are fearful of using electronic devices - not just pagers and walkie-talkies, which have now been banned from Beirut airport, but phones and laptops, too. The amount of injuries resulting from the explosions has overwhelmed doctors. "All patients had lost fingers or had eye injuries. It was something we never had seen before," Dr Nour El Osta told Nafiseh Kohnavard. Israel, which Lebanon has blamed for the attacks, has not commented. Its military, however, said it had hit several Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon overnight. In Washington DC, Tom Bateman reports on the "barely concealed sense of exasperation" at developments that could lead to a wider conflict in the Middle East. Top US and European diplomats are meeting in Paris today for talks about the deepening crisis. Get the latest.

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Meanwhile, in Israel: The country's security services said they had arrested an Israeli citizen on suspicion of being involved in an Iranian plot to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials.

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Analysis: Explosions in Lebanon push Hezbollah and Israel closer to the edge of an all-out war, writes international editor Jeremy Bowen.

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Watch: Smoke rising from the sites of the exploding walkie-talkies is seen across the Beirut skyline.

WORLD HEADLINES

White House race: One of America's most influential labour unions, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, has declined to endorse a candidate in the US presidential election.

Kentucky highway shooting: Police say they believe they have found the body of a suspected gunman who wounded five people in the US state almost two weeks ago.

Shenzhen Japanese School: A 10-year-old student at the school in southern China has died one day after he was stabbed. A 44-year-old suspect has been arrested.

Burkina Faso: Islamist insurgents have stepped up attacks on civilians, carrying out door-to-door killings, slitting throats and targeting Christian worshippers, according to a report by campaign group Human Rights Watch (HRW).

X ban: The Elon Musk-owned social media platform has blamed a change of network providers for its "inadvertent and temporary service restoration" in Brazil, where it is subject to a Supreme Court ban.

AT THE SCENE

Chennai City, India

Samsung workers strike for a union

A man in an orange polo speaks to hundreds of workers who are sat on orange mats on the floor. They are all wearing the same uniform: light blue shirts and black trousers.

The prolonged strike has led to major disruptions in production. Credit: Reuters

For the past 11 days, about 1,500 workers of Samsung Electronics have been on strike in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. They are demanding the South Korean electronics giant recognise their union, which will help them negotiate better wages and working hours.

Cherylann Mollan, BBC News

Sijo, a protester who asked us not to use his real name, said that he arrives at the protest site daily at 08:00 IST (02:30 GMT) and stays until 17:00, joining hundreds of workers in their blue Samsung India uniforms. The union arranges for lunch and water for the protesters, while a makeshift cloth tent protects them from the elements. "Things have been getting bad over the past couple of years and now we need the support of a union," Sijo said.

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BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Former Harrods boss accused of rape

An illustration of Mohamed Al Fayed in front of the Harrods department store building in Knightsbridge, London

More than 20 female ex-employees said the billionaire, who died last year aged 94, sexually assaulted them. Credit: BBC

Five women say they were raped by former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed when they worked at the luxury London department store. As part of their investigation, the BBC's Cassie Cornish-Trestrail, Keaton Stone, Erica Gornall and Sarah Bell gathered evidence that, during Fayed’s ownership, Harrods not only failed to intervene, but helped cover up abuse allegations. Harrods’ current owners said they were “utterly appalled” by the allegations and that his victims had been failed - for which the store sincerely apologised.

Read now

Teide in Tenerife was selected as the real-life setting for the realm of Rhûn

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

A Tolkien trail

The real-life locations behind Middle-earth's awe-inspiring fictional landscape.

Take a look

And finally...

Post-fire restoration work in Notre-Dame cathedral has revealed the tomb of Joachim du Bellay, one of France’s best-loved early poets. It was known that du Bellay was buried in the cathedral, where he had served as a minor clerical official, after he died in 1560. But the lead coffin containing the writer's remains had never been located - until now.

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– Sofia

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