BBC News Briefing

8 October, 2024

Jules Darmanin

Hello. Today my colleague Paul Adams explores what it would take to end the conflict in the Middle East, while Israel has announced an extension of its invasion in southern Lebanon. In Montenegro, Robert Greenall speaks to Russians and Ukrainians living together in the same seaside town on the Adriatic Sea. We're also reporting on North Korea, the US election, and a blockbuster film that has become a box office flop.

TOP OF THE AGENDA

What will it take to end the conflict?

Over 400,000 people in Lebanon have fled across the border to Syria to escape Israeli strikes, according to the Lebanese government. Credit: EPA

Israel has said its troops have begun ground operations in south-west Lebanon, expanding their invasion from the eastern side of the border. Our map shows new evacuation orders from Israel Defense Forces, which say they are targeting Hezbollah sites. Meanwhile, the Iran-backed group continues to fire rockets at Israel. With the fighting in the Middle East spreading further, a year after 7 October, our diplomatic correspondent Paul Adams asks what it will take to bring peace to the region. He offers a grim outlook. "Washington has rarely looked less influential," he writes, as US diplomatic efforts are held back by a presidential election where Gaza and the Middle East are political flashpoints. Bolstered by tactical successes, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to "harbour grand ambitions" for Israel's widely-expected response to Iranian attacks. At some point, "diplomacy may get another chance", Paul writes. "But right now, that all feels a very long way off."

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Follow live: Paul and chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet are fielding questions about the future of the conflict on our live page.

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Commemorations: Israel has held ceremonies to remember the victims of the mass killings and abductions carried out by Hamas on 7 October 2023. Here's how the day unfolded.

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The latest: Hezbollah's deputy leader Naim Qassam has suggested in an address that the group has appointed a new leadership following the death of Hassan Nasrallah - without elaborating on names or further details.

WORLD HEADLINES

Hurricane Milton: The south-eastern US is preparing for a second storm in two weeks. Footage shows cars clogging the highway out of Tampa, Florida ahead of an expected landfall on Wednesday. Take a look.

In Germany: Christian Brückner, the main suspect in the disappearance of three-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann, has been cleared by a court of rape and sexual abuse in an unrelated trial.

'Closest comrade': North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent a birthday message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, pledging to further relations between Moscow and Pyongyang.

Tunisian politics: President Kais Saied has won a second term with more than 90% of the vote, the country's electoral commission has said, in an election that was criticised by rights groups.

Cissy Houston: The renowned gospel singer and mother of Whitney Houston died on Monday morning at the age of 91, her family said in a statement.

AT THE SCENE

Budva, Montenegro

Ukrainians and Russians share oasis

Beachgoers sunbath in front of a harbour.

Montenegro has let in more than 200,000 Ukrainians since the start of the war. Credit: BBC

Since February 2022, Ukrainian refugees and Russian exiles have fanned out across Europe, fleeing war, conscription and Vladimir Putin’s rule. In Budva, a popular holiday destination on the Adriatic coast, they appear to coexist with little tension, even sharing a shelter in the town.

Robert Greenall, BBC News

Other parts of Europe have seen occasional friction between Ukrainians and Russians, but there has been little of that so far in Montenegro. Sasha Borkov, a driver from Kharkiv in Ukraine, distinguishes between Russians he has met in Budva and those fighting the war in Ukraine. "People here are trying to help, they’re not doing anything against our country, against us, against my children, [unlike] those who fire at and destroy our houses, and say that they’re liberating us." Friendships have grown among volunteers and residents, and between residents, and one Russian-Ukrainian couple who lived at Pristaniste, a shelter for Ukrainian refugees and Russians exiles in Budva, recently married.

Keep reading

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Young US voters on the economy

A family of young parents with a toddler smiling in a selfie.

Isabella Morris, 21, says it's tough to make ends meet as a young family. Credit: Isabella Morris

Eight million young Americans will be eligible to vote for the first time in November's presidential election. Though reproductive rights and the war in Gaza have dominated headlines as leading issues for young voters, many of them say their concerns about the economy and their financial future will weigh heavily on their vote.

Here's why

Lady Gaga holds the face of Joaquin Phoenix as they look into each other's eyes, in a scene from Joker: Folie à Deux (Credit: Alamy)

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

An expensive flop

Joker: Folie à Deux's mega budget spelled disaster, writes critic Nicholas Barber.

Here's why

And finally...

Here's an F.A.B. tale from southern England, where film cans containing unseen footage of the cult 60s TV show Thunderbirds were found in a garden shed. Twenty-two containers were found, some not in the best condition, as the images show. But one has been found to contain unseen footage it's hoped can be screened as part of the series' 60th anniversary next year.

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– Jules

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