This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Alex Ritzen and in the early hours of Thursday the 3rd of October, these are our main stories.

President Biden has said the US does not support an attack by Israel on Iran's nuclear sites.

Israel says eight of its soldiers have been killed in fighting in southern Lebanon where it's carrying

out ground operations against Hezbollah. Scientists have completed a detailed analysis of all

130,000 brain cells of a fruit fly.

Also in this podcast.

Why honking on the streets of the Bangladeshi capital could soon be a thing of the past. The United States has said that it will support Israel as it considers its response to Iran's

missile attack on Tuesday night.

President Biden has told Israel that it had a right to respond,

but any action should be proportionate,

and he wouldn't support attacks on nuclear sites in Iran.

Tom Bateman is our State Department correspondent.

He is effectively ruling out as far as he's concerned any Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear sites. He was asked that question directly by

reporters under the wing of Air Force 1, would he back such a strike and he said

no he wouldn't. So I think he's making very clear and his administration

will be to the Israelis that that is off limits as far as they're concerned.

I mean the sense we're getting is that there is almost continuous discussion, conversation at various levels of

the administration between the Americans and the Israelis overall of this.

The question is then to what extent the Israelis are listening to what my understanding

is an American sort of push for restraint on the Israeli retaliation to Iran.

I mean the administration's kind of caught here because on the one hand they are very firmly

...