"We are definitely coming under specific attack," Sayyed Abdullah, head of Civil Defence in the south, told a group of mainly foreign media.

"We have had 40 ambulances which have been completely destroyed," he said, adding: "On top of that 24 rescuing stations have been hit - just in this area.

Israel-Iran latest: Powerful explosions near Beirut airport

"They were all targeted directly and I'm just speaking about our organisation."

A number of his colleagues, young and old, echoed that belief.

One Civil Defence worker who's been part of the emergency crew for 20 years told us how earlier in the day, a team of his colleagues had raced to a bomb site to help the injured.

"The first team went to rescue them and they were hit. Another team went to rescue them, they were also hit," he said.

"At the end the Red Cross went to rescue them and they too were attacked."

His 20-year-old young co-worker Yasser told us he would not be intimidated into leaving: "We will not leave. If we leave, who will look after the people?"

Several Civil Defence crews have been killed - seven in one hit in Beirut. Their colleagues and friends need no more convincing their lives are at risk.

The airstrikes and casualties are on a daily basis in this area of southern Lebanon.

The thud of bombs landing are a regular frightening noise here now. But with doctors and nurses too feeling they are being targeted, it seems it's becoming more and more risky to be an emergency worker in Lebanon.

"There are international laws protecting doctors all over the world," Dr Hussam Telleih, one young doctor told us, adding: "But not in Lebanon.

"There are no Hezbollah weapons in this hospital. You can see for yourself. You've been all over the hospital. We completely deny this."

"They are trying to do here what they did in Gaza. They said the same about al Shifa hospital in Gaza, calling it a Hamas control centre. We feel we are next."

As we are at the latest bomb site where the Civil Defence teams are working, an alarm goes up and we're told to evacuate.

The crews are nervous. There's a group of them in one place to talk to the assembled media and they're worried that this number of vehicles all together might draw the attention of the 'eyes in the skies' - the Israeli drones which also constantly circle above.

We reached out to the Israeli Defence Forces media office for comment on these accusations, but we received no reply.

When we move to another site in Tyre city, a young man is hobbling on a crutch near another crushed building.

He tells us about what appears to be a miraculous escape from death. An airstrike has caused two buildings to collapse, killing a family of five. Three women, including a teenager, a grandfather and a two-year-old baby have died.

The young man was in the neighbouring house but tells us he was trapped for several hours before rescue workers pulled him out of the rubble barely conscious.

"It's lies," he says, referring to the Israeli claim that every house hit contains Hezbollah weapons, a fighter or commander. "This is all lies. We are civilians and my uncle was killed and he wasn't doing anything."

We see, far off in the distance, dozens of volleys of rockets being fired off one after another.

Read more:
Sky News correspondents report from the site of strikes
Where Iranian missiles struck Israel
Listen: What happens next?

We've stopped to try to find a mechanic who can help repair our vehicle's punctured tyre, and a small group has gathered to watch the rockets shooting off. There are appreciative noises and a frisson of excitement among the group as the blasts arc across the skyline.

But the far more constant thunderous drum is the crashing thud and boom of Israeli missiles landing.

And that doesn't seem likely to ease any time soon.

A Sky News documentary, Netanyahu, will air today 4 October at 9pm

Alex Crawford reports from Tyre in southern Lebanon with camera Jake Britton, specialist producer Chris Cunningham and Lebanon producers Jihad Jneid and Sami Zein.

The woman, who does not use her name in the lawsuit and goes by Jane Roe, claims the assault occurred when she travelled from Nashville to Los Angeles with the singer, who was performing at the 2019 Grammy Awards.

The lawsuit - filed on Thursday in the Los Angeles Superior Court - alleges that despite Brooks normally travelling with an entourage, she and Brooks flew alone to the event on his private jet, and that he had booked just one hotel suite for both of them.

The woman claims that in the suite, he appeared naked in the doorway to the bedroom and raped her.

Representatives for Brooks have so far refused to comment.

The suit goes on to say Books proceeded as though nothing had happened and expected her to do his hair and make-up immediately after.

The woman further alleges that earlier in that same year, when she was at Brooks' home, he had appeared naked in front of her, grabbed her hands, and put them on his genitals.

Pre-empting the allegations, Brooks allegedly filed a separate lawsuit in federal court in Mississippi last month in which both him and the woman were anonymous, Thursday's lawsuit claims.

In court filings in that case, the plaintiff, named as John Doe, said the allegations were "wholly untrue", and he first learned of them in July when she threatened to publicly sue him unless he gave her millions of dollars.

He asked a judge to stop the woman from "intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation and false light invasion of privacy".

The lawsuit by Jane Roe claims that on top of the two described incidents, Brooks exposed himself to her on many other occasions, talked about sexual fantasies with her and sent her explicit text messages.

She says she was forced to keep working for him because of financial hardship, which he knew about and took advantage of.

The unnamed claimant is believed to have also worked for Brooks' wife, fellow country singer Trisha Yearwood, since 1999.

Read more from Sky News:
Eminem to become a grandfather
Melania Trump speaks out on abortion rights
British honeymooners stranded for four days after storm

Oklahoma-born Brooks, 62, was the biggest star in country music of the 1990s, with hits including Friends In Low Places and The Thunder Rolls.

He remains the number one-selling individual artist in US history with 20 Billboard no 1 singles and 157 million record sales, according to his official website.

In March this year, he finished a residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas.

He married fellow country star Yearwood in 2005.

The response has been branded "woeful" by the local council - who have had to pay £500,000 to support residents who have lost everything.

It's been five weeks since people ran for their lives in the early hours after fire ripped through the privately owned Spectrum Building in east London during works to remove dangerous cladding.

Residents said fire alarms failed to sound and an escape route was padlocked, which meant some had to climb fences to flee.

"They don't care… we are nothing to them," said Kasia Stantke as we sat in her budget hotel room next to a busy dual carriageway where she's been living for most of the past five weeks.

"We are worthless [to them], why would they not meet us?" she asked.

The 43-year-old management accountant describes the building that she, and 80 other residents, called home as a "death trap".

She was horrified to learn various works to address fire safety problems had been ongoing for the past four years.

"The people responsible should be prosecuted, if guilty they should go to jail," said Kasia.

Other residents have told Sky News they too feel abandoned.

Some are tenants who were renting their flats, others own the leases of their properties.

The freeholder - who owns the building - employed a firm called Block Management to manage the communal areas.

One woman described the response since the fire as "an insult" that has compounded the trauma of that night.

A children's nursery on the ground floor has also had to move to a new temporary home.

Sky News tracked down the director of Block Management, who reluctantly agreed to speak to us near their headquarters in Suffolk.

David Collinson acknowledged the situation residents have been left in is "absolutely awful".

However, he rejects the council's claim that his company should have led on support for residents.

"I'm very sorry we don't have that legal obligation," he said.

"We are employed as a block manager to manage the common parts of the property, not the leasehold flats and not the tenants.

"We don't have a contract with them. Obviously, we're massively sympathetic. And if I could wave a magic wand to help them out, I promise you, you know, that's exactly what we would do."

"I would love to go meet with the residents, but I haven't," he added. "We physically haven't got anything tangible to say to the residents."

We asked if he was aware of the history of fire safety problems in the block.

He said: "There's been various projects over probably the last 48 months of fire remediation works. And to the best of our knowledge, everything was done as it should be."

"The freeholder has the ultimate responsibility. It's his building," Mr Collinson added.

'Attitude needs to change'

Sky News has tried repeatedly to reach Brijesh Patel, the director of Arinium, the listed freeholder, but he has not responded to calls or messages.

The local authority has had to step in with emergency help and accommodation for residents and has so far spent over £500,000.

The leader of the council told Sky News the management company's remote communications have been unacceptable given the circumstances.

"Contacting remotely from an office? It's woeful, isn't it?" Councillor Dominic Twomey told Sky News.

"If Block Management are symptomatic, and I'm hopeful they're not, of management companies, then I think that attitude needs to change."

"Just go and talk to people," he pleaded.

After the fire, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner visited the Spectrum building and promised to make sure residents were supported.

She also vowed to accelerate the remediation works to remove dangerous cladding on residential blocks around the country.

Read more from Sky News:
Car industry sounds warning
Ovarian cancer 'could be wiped out'

Cllr Twomey added: "It has to be a national change... more teeth for local authorities like us.

"Because if we had more powers to speak to and tackle freeholders or block management companies, if we could actually make them come to the table and engage, that would just be a step in the right direction."

The fire, which broke out on 26 August, is still under investigation by the Metropolitan Police, London Fire Brigade and the Health and Safety Executive.

More immediately for Kasia, the erection of scaffolding outside her budget hotel room has brought the memories of that night flooding back.

"I'm scared now again, I'm really hoping it will be a week or so and I will be able to move on," she said.

"But for now, another scaffolding outside my window."

"Am I again trapped? What's going to happen now? I can't believe it, it's a living nightmare, absolutely," she added.

Chris Playfoot, 35, and Retha Ritter, 40, had wanted an "outdoorsy" break after tying the knot in Virginia last month.

The newlyweds were driving through North Carolina when their campervan broke down on Thursday 26 September - hours before the hurricane made landfall in Florida.

They managed to fix their vehicle before driving onto a campsite where they were meant to be staying for the night.

However, when they got there the area had been evacuated as North Carolina braced itself for the hurricane.

Mr Playfoot, from Manchester, and Ms Ritter, who was born in South Africa but is a British citizen, managed to book a mountainside cabin in Swannanoa, close to the city of Asheville, before settling down for the night.

Little did they know that they would end up being stranded on the mountain in Buncombe County for four days with no electricity or running water after Hurricane Helene battered the southeast of the US through the night.

Speaking to The UK Tonight with Sarah-Jane Mee, Mr Playfoot said: "On the first day, on the Friday morning, we had no idea what was happening. We had zero power."

Ms Ritter added: "The thing that was really frightening was the rivers that formed overnight when first light came and we could see there had been a landslide.

"That's the moment where we thought, wow, we think we might be in danger here... cell phone service went out but luckily we had a Garmin inReach, which is a satellite texting device.

"When we realised we were in danger we were able to send a text to my mother with our location. We told her we would check in every four hours, and if she doesn't hear from us to please call for help."

Read more:
People still unaccounted for days after storm as search efforts continue
The political aftermath in the wake of widespread hurricane devastation

The couple's cabin was surrounded by rivers of water and fallen trees as the power of the storm also caused roads in Swannanoa to collapse.

Ms Ritter continued: "What we saw was post-apocalyptic, we were cut off, the destruction was enormous. What got us through was the kindness of the neighbours - they gave us food, cakes, even a bottle of prosecco.

"The resilience they showed was incredible."

Mr Playfoot added: "We had what we call 'hurricane parents' up there, Jackie and Matt, they were a couple that really helped us out.

"They provided us with some food, provided us with some water and they really made the experience a lot more palatable.

"Lots of other neighbours on the mountain were really helpful as well."

The couple were finally able to leave Swannanoa on Tuesday after the roads had been cleared.

'Hurricane parents' Jackie and Matt drove them to Atlanta, Georgia, where they are continuing their honeymoon.

Mr Playfoot and Ms Ritter have since set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to support people who have been affected by the hurricane in Buncombe County and western North Carolina.

Southeastern US reeling from impact of Helene

At least 202 people are reported to have died after Helene made landfall in Florida on Thursday night before leaving a trail of destruction across parts of the southeastern US, according to figures collected by Sky's US partner network NBC News.

The fatalities include at least 98 deaths in North Carolina, 19 in Florida, 33 in Georgia, 39 in South Carolina, 11 in Tennessee and two in Virginia.

Many people lost their homes and communities across the region continue to struggle without vital supplies such as food, water and gas.

OvarianVax is a vaccine that teaches the immune system to recognise and attack the earliest stages of ovarian cancer.

It's being developed by scientists at the University of Oxford.

The hope is that women could receive the jab preventatively on the NHS with the goal of eradicating the disease.

Experts have suggested it could work in a similar way to the human papillomavirus (HPV) jab, which is on track to stamp out cervical cancer.

Professor Ahmed Ahmed and his team at the ovarian cancer cell laboratory at MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine at the university are working to identify cellular targets for the vaccine.

They will establish which proteins on the surface of early-stage ovarian cancer cells are best recognised by the immune system and how effectively the vaccine kills models of the disease in a lab.

Then they can take it to human clinical trials with people who have BRCA gene mutations - which massively increase the risk of ovarian cancer - and healthy women too.

Cancer Research UK is funding the study with up to £600,000 over the next three years.

Asked if ovarian cancer could be wiped out with the new jab, Professor Ahmed said: "Absolutely - that would be the aim.

"We still have a long way to go but it is a really exciting time. I'm very optimistic myself."

Presently, there is no screening test for ovarian cancer, which is often diagnosed late because symptoms like bloating and no appetite can be vague.

Women with BRCA mutations, such as actress Angelina Jolie, are known to be at high risk.

Almost 45% of people with an altered BRCA1 gene and almost 20% with an altered BRCA2 gene will develop ovarian cancer by the age of 80, compared with just 2% in the general population.

Currently, women with BRCA1/2 mutations are recommended to have their ovaries removed by the age of 35, which means they go through early menopause and cannot have children in the future.

There are around 7,500 new ovarian cancer cases every year in the UK, with BRCA mutations accounting for around 5-15% of these.

Professor Ahmed said BRCA mutation carriers could benefit greatly from the new vaccine because "they wouldn't then have to have their ovaries removed".

Read more from Sky News:
Angela Rayner's Ibiza DJ rave was £836 freebie
Old graves could be reused
GP 'planned to kill mum's partner with fake COVID jab'

He added: "I am optimistic because we are talking about preventing the very first few cancer cells that develop - and not trying to cure or treat or prevent the tumour coming back.

"I'm hoping that, because the number of cells that we will be targeting is quite small, we will have success.

"We've seen success with the HPV vaccine - it's really, really incredibly effective."

While the "full-blown timeline" for the vaccine being approved "might be many years away" the visible impact could be sooner.

Professor Ahmed added that, through clinical trials, he would hope to start seeing the vaccine's impact "in four or five years on the healthy population".