Plus: Mohamed Al Fayed's rape allegations, and the discovery of a French poet's tomb ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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| 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. | |
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TOP OF THE AGENDA | Panic spreads after two days of explosions | | 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.
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.
Analysis: Explosions in Lebanon push Hezbollah and Israel closer to the edge of an all-out war, writes international editor Jeremy Bowen.
Watch: Smoke rising from the sites of the exploding walkie-talkies is seen across the Beirut skyline. | |
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| Samsung workers strike for a union | | 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. |
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| | Cherylann Mollan, BBC News |
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| | 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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| | | Sign up: BBC business correspondent Michelle Fleury is writing a new weekly newsletter to keep readers up to date with the most consequential stories shaping global business – from the boardroom and beyond. World of Business launches 25 September. |
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BEYOND THE HEADLINES | Former Harrods boss accused of rape |
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| | | 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. |
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SOMETHING DIFFERENT | A Tolkien trail | The real-life locations behind Middle-earth's awe-inspiring fictional landscape. | |
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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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World of Business | Gain the leading edge with global insights for the boardroom and beyond, every Wednesday from New York. | |
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MORE BBC NEWSLETTERS | | Football Extra: Get all the latest news, insights and gossip from the Premier League, weekdays to your inbox. Subscribe. | | The Essential List: The best of the BBC, handpicked by our editors, in your inbox every Tuesday and Friday. Subscribe. | | In History: The past comes to life through the BBC's unique audio, video and written archive, each Thursday. Subscribe. | |
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