hello i'm sumi somaskanda. president—elect donald trump has announced a new major cabinet nomination — his prospective health secretary. on thursday, mr trump selected former political rival robert f kenneder to lead the department of health and human services. mr trump made the announcement on his truth social platform saying mr kennedy will restore agencies to the traditions

of gold standard scientific research, and beacons of transparency, to end the chronic disease epidemic, and to make america great and healthy again! and just in the last hour donald trump announced his pick for veterans affairs secretary: former congressman doug collins, his pick for deputy attorney—general: one of his current lawyers — todd blanche, and for us solicitor—general — former missouri solicitor—generaljohn sauer. the most recent nominations comes as a previous one faces backlash on capitol hill. senators from both parties called for the release of a report on thursday into the former congressman matt gaetz — donald trump's nomination for attorney general. mr gaetz was the subject of an investigation by the house into allegations of sexual trafficking and illicit drug use — which he denies. our correspondentjess parker is in west palm beach, florida, where the president—elect has been making nominations, and has more. yes, i think we've probably had the announcement over the last 2a hours that has caused the most shock and the most jaws to be dropped on the floor and that is matt gaetz, proposed as the attorney general. amongst other things he says he

will help and the chronic disease epidemic in america. amongst other things he says he will help and the chronic disease epidemic in america. he calls him an environmental lawyer, but he has taken particular interest. and he is now set to be put in charge of emergencies. despite the fact that he is one of the country's most prominent vaccine deniers, and there was this recent admission as well that he admitted to dumping a dead bear carcass in central park.

despite all of this, donald trump has appointed him an importantjob. rfkjunior has important job. rfk junior has been importantjob. rfkjunior has been seen around here with donald trump in the run—up to the election. a truly powerful job if, of course, he can actually secure senate confirmation. this looks to be a potential test of republican senator winters to pass donald trump's more contentious cabinets pics. well a little earlier, i spoke to former republican congressman from pennsylvania charlie dent. we see them asking the house ethics committee to share their report on congress and mapped. do you think we will see that happen? do you think we will see that ha--en? , do you think we will see that ha en? , , ., do you think we will see that ha en? , _, ., , happen? this is a really interesting _ happen? this is a really - interesting situation because ordinarily what would happen is when an investigation is completed, they would vote on the report and they would release that report to the public. but if a member resigns from congress as is the case with matt gaetz, the ethics committee loses all jurisdiction over the member. that said, it appears that this investigation was complete. so the ethics committee has a choice to make. will the issue this report after the resignation of matt gaetz? i

think there is some precedent that it can be done, and, of course, senate democrats and i think the senate more broadly want to leave this report prior on his decision for attorney general. there's probably going to be some sort of sentencing against matt gaetz. they could've been —— they can reprimand him. orthey can recommend restitution depending on the findings of that report. at that is why i think the senate wants to see it, because obviously taking over as attorney general, they would like to know if there are some serious ethical issues. matt gaetz has _ serious ethical issues. matt gaetz has denied _ serious ethical issues. matt gaetz has denied any - gaetz has denied any wrongdoing, but what position do you think this puts fellow republicans both in the house ethics committee and in the senate? i ethics committee and in the senate? , , , . ethics committee and in the senate? , ,, . ., senate? i suspect at some point donald trump will _ senate? i suspect at some point donald trump will withdraw - senate? i suspect at some point

donald trump will withdraw the | donald trump will withdraw the nomination because... to say that matt gaetz is disliked by most of his house republican colleagues would be wild and dramatic understatement. they really do dislike them. and to a very significant degree. so i don't think there's any loss they are. i don't think many members are going out on a limb to protect matt gaetz because he has burnt a lot of bridges with his colleagues. so right now, i think republicans are prepared to throw him under the proverbial bus, so to speak. we have seen _ proverbial bus, so to speak. we have seen some republicans come out in support, some we have spoken to here on the bbc, but i also want to ask you, you dedicated your career to bipartisan ship as a member of congress. what about the prospects for that kind of bipartisan support? there will alwa s bipartisan support? there will always be _ bipartisan support? there will always be bipartisan - always be bipartisan cooperation in this congress particularly as it relates to spending bills. a member of the united senate, as long as the

filibuster rule is maintained, demand a serpent part of bipartisan cooperation. virtually anything out of the united states senate with some limited exceptions called what's called a reconciliation process. that necessitates bipartisan cooperation, so i'm reasonably optimistic that they will still have to put a lot of things together. that said, republican �*s will take this mandate and do what they will with it, usually a party misreads and overreaches with respect to their mandate, and certainlyjoe biden did that come i suspect donald trump and republicans will do that. at that said, they will have to cooperate particularly on spending bills and with a very tight margin in the house of representatives. republicans need to democrats to help them pass major bills.— pass major bills. one more question — pass major bills. one more question to _ pass major bills. one more question to help _ pass major bills. one more question to help you - pass major bills. one more question to help you go -- | question to help you go —— before you go. what do you think they tell us about what we are going to see from him in

the second administration? some ofthe the second administration? some of the appointment _ the second administration? some of the appointment 's _ the second administration? some of the appointment 's are - of the appointment �*s are sound, marco rubio, congressman walz as the national security adviser. i think most would say those are smart appointments. the questions are, obviously, with matt gaetz, the attorney general, which is really, nobody saw that coming. a lot of questions about the defence appointments, the defence secretary appointment and the selection of director of national intelligence, and it just seems that trump, in some respects, a film in the eye of what he perceives to be the establishment. so there is going to be quite a battle over a few of these appointments. some good and some highly questionable. for more perspective from the hill, i spoke to democratic congressman from maryland glenn ivey, who also serves on the house judiciary & ethics committee. i know that you cannot talk about what is in this ethics

committee report on congressman matt gaetz. we have seen senator dick durbin, he wants your committee to preserve and hand over relevant parts of the

investigation. will that happen? well, i cannot get into those details and that is something that remains to be seen. i believe a republican senator has also made a request that the documents be provided, but i think we will have

to see how that plays out. i think sooner or later, there is going to be a reckoning that comes with that. they've got other sources where they can get a lot of the documents, like that affirmative justice, for example, that did the investigation. he is going to have to answer questions about that israel's military continues to hit densley populated areas in southern beirut.

israeli aircraft lauched several raids on the suburb of dahiyeh on thursday morning, following evacuation orders in nearby neighbourhoods. israel's military said it was targeting weapons facilities and military bases used by lebanese armed group hezbollah. it is the third day in a row that israel has attacked the lebanese capital. lebanon's health ministry says strikes killed 78 people across lebanon and wounded 122 others in the last 2a hours. the strikes come as his brother claimed a number missile attacks against israeli forces along the southern front on thursday. elsewhere, israel killed at least 15 people in air raids on two residential buildings in the syrian capital damascus on thursday — that's according to syrian state media. israel says it was aiming at, and centres belonging to palestinian islamichhad. our correspondent hugo bachega sent this update from beirut. one of the locations hit was in a neighbourhood of damascus. this is an upscale area of the city where security headquarters, embassies, un offices are located. the other building hit was to the west of damascus. the israeli military said it had struck military targets and also infrastructure

being used by the palestinian militant group, islamicjihad. we've seen that in the past year since the hamas attacks, israel has intensified its campaign against irani and lynch targets in syria, including palestinian factions and also the lebanese group, hezbollah. in lebanon, it was another day of israeli air strikes targeting beirut�*s southern suburbs. it was the third consecutive day of intense israeli attacks here in beirut. it could be part of an strategy to put even more pressure on hezbollah. there has been intense international efforts to try to reach a cease—fire in this conflict, and hezbollah has indicated it could accept a deal based on the un resolution 1701. this is the resolution that ended the conflict between hezbollah and israel in 2006. it requires hezbollah

to remove its fighters and weapons from areas near the border with israel. but one sticking point in this negotiation is that israel wants to have the right to act inside lebanon should any deal be violated. a demand that here has been seen as unacceptable and a violation of the country's sovereignty. a un committee has found that israel's practices and policies in gaza are "consistent with the characteristics of genocide." the un special committee to investigate israeli practices said on thursday that israel is "using starvation as a weapon of war". half of gaza's 2.2 million population are facing imminent famine amid shortages of food and medicine. israel rejects allegations that it is collectively punishing palestinians, and says its military raids aim to eliminate hamas. the united states says it disagrees with the un's findings. here's the state department spokersperson speaking to reporters.

the acquisition of genocide specifically in that un commission, those accusations are unfounded. also, the point i made about criticism of israel needing to be grounded in facts, our viewpoint is some of the metrics outlined by the humanitarian groups in their scorecard released the other they are inconsistent with what we are seen on the ground. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the health secretary, is facing criticism over his interventions opposing a change in the law on assisted dying in england and wales. chris mason reports. should you be able to choose when you die? campaigners say yes, but it's a huge question. the health secretary said he'll vote against it. a month ago, wes streeting told a large, notionally private meeting of labour mps he would vote against a change, and he's said it repeatedly since. i've made it clear that i'll be voting against the assisted dying bill this time.

that's mainly because i don't think that palliative care, end of life care, is where it needs to be to give people a real choice. privately and publicly some labour figures bluntly think the health secretary should wind his neck in. and now another cabinet minister has chosen to speak out for the first time. i'll be voting for the bill. you know, i've always believed in giving people as much choice and control as possible, and with all the right safeguards, which this bill has, i believe it's a really you're live with bbc news. three former employees at the luxury department store, harrods, have come forward saying they were abused by the younger brother of the owner mohamed al fayed. salah fayed is accused of attacking the women, between 1989 and 1997, with one of his accusers, saying she was raped. he died in 2010 and harrods is now under new ownership. the claims follow a bbc investigation, into decades of serious abuse by mohamed al fayed himself. helena wilkinson's report,

contains some graphic details. right behind you... 1989 and salah fayed helping launch a book by the former first lady, nancy reagan, with his brother mohamed al—fayed. helen is one of three women who have, for the first time, spoken about shocking abuse at the hands of salah fayed. in the same year as this event, helen says she was abused by both mohamed al—fayed and by his brother salah. in february 1989, helen went on a business trip with mohamed al—fayed and was told to stay in the same hotel suite as him. i was taking off my make—up in front of the mirror and in the mirror i saw fayed walking in, walked into my bathroom, and no knocking, no saying anything. i mean, it's like out of a horrorfilm. it was, like, so frightening.

he decided he was going to take me into his room. you know, he was pulling me all the way up the corridor and i was saying, "no, no, let me go." and ijust hadn't got the... i knew i couldn't stop him. so, yeah, he raped me that night. months later, she was sent by mohamed al—fayed to do some personal assistant work for his brother salah, here on the left. helen saw it as a way to escape. i'd met salah. he seemed really nice and friendly, and he didn't seem in the slightest bit like his brother — had totally different character. you know, that's how i felt. but on completing the two—day task, helen says she was drugged by salah and believes she was then raped by him while unconscious. i woke up the next morning in a completely different room, lying on a settee, and he was sitting at my feet. i remember saying, "i want to leave. i want to leave now."

and i went to sit up and i noticed that my jeans' button was undone. helen recalls feeling a sensation in her body and then discovering semen. i knew then what had happened. in my head i knew, because you just know, don't you? this is the letter that mr fayed gave me... earlier that year, two months after helen says mohamed raped her, she was told to sign a harrods non—disclosure agreement. she says it's partly because of that that she's felt unable to speak out for 35 years. the bbc has also spoken to two other former harrods employees who don't want to be identified, and who say they experienced a range of abuse by both salah and mohamed, including

trafficking and sexual assault. in response to this bbc news investigation, harrods said that these new claims point to the breadth of abuse carried out by mohamed al—fayed and raised serious allegations against his brother salah fayed. harrods said, "we encourage these survivors to come forward and make their claims to the harrods scheme." they also said they hope survivors are looking at every appropriate avenue to them at their pursuit ofjustice, whether that be harrods, the police or the fayed family and estate. for helen, what was meant to be a dream job has left her with lifelong trauma. it's affected my life. it really has. i know it's affected my life badly, all of these things i've talked about.

we need to speak up to stop it happening to other people. and if you are in the uk and have been affected by any of this, there are details of organisations offering information and support. just go to bbc.co.uk/actionline, or call for free, at any time to hear recorded information, on 0800 077 077. and if you are outside the uk — rainn has a list of resources on their website — that is rainn .org. rainn is spelled with two n's. the number of casualties in sudan's civil war is far larger than previous estimates. that's according to a new study by the sudan research group at the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine. the study found more than 61 thousand people died in sudan's khartoum state alone since the conflict began 18 months ago. that figure is more than three times the number of deaths estimated by the united nations for sudan as a whole.

of those 61,000 deaths — nearly half were killed in direct violence. the study found preventable disease and starvation is the leading cause of death. dr eva khair is the director of the sudan transnational consortium — an global advocacy network for civilians in sudan. she is also a political and parliamentary adviser on sudan, she told me about the latest challenges sudan is facing. a new study shows the number of people dying in the war is significantly higher than previously reported, can you tell us what you think the death toll is so much higher? thank you, it is clear from the study that we have a situation where data collection is very difficult on the ground, there is a lot of chaos occurring, and it is very tricky for local responders to be able to collect data.

the infrastructure has fallen away and trying to do monitoring and data collection can be targeted, to the highest penalty, including death, and so a study like this, by triangulating and leveraging sudanese population and others outside the country, to get idea of death that occurred since this started in april 2023, probably has a better ability to get to the figure that has. we have seen the high casualty numbers for women and children, why have they been such a target in the conflict? in the study, it was 61,000 deaths, and some are conflict related directly, but normally they are not targeted directly in that kind of violence but in hotspots where atrocity violence have occurred

women and children have been targeted, but where we have a situation where a centralised health system has fallen away, and there is inadequate health care, no vaccination problems, infant mortality is a strong feature, we start is the indirect causes of death due to health care, preventable disease claiming lives, as well as widespread hunger which is a big problem. scientists have discovered the largest coral ever recorded in a remote part of the pacific ocean. our science correspondent georgina rannard has more. deep in a remote part of the pacific, not a reef, but a huge single piece of coral. seen for the first time, it's lived deep here in the pacific ocean for perhaps 500 years, growing uninterrupted from the time henry viii ruled england. and it's mega. measuring 32 metres long, it is bigger than a blue whale. but it was found by accident.

on maps, its location used to be marked as a shipwreck. scientist manu san felix was diving with his son off the solomon islands when he discovered the remarkable coral. well, i have behind me... speaking from his research ship, he told me he was in awe of it. look into this amazing coral, and with the biggest smile, i'm excited. i'm thinking, "wow, this is really special." this discovery has happened at the same time as the un climate talks here in azerbaijan, where small island nations have come to warn that coral reefs and their communities are now at real risk from the ocean warming caused by climate change. coral reefs is very important. our economy depends very much on marine and fisheries for its survival, and it's important for the world to know that we... it's a special place, and it needs to be protected. in shallower waters nearby,

entire reefs are dying because of climate change, but this centuries—old coral has managed to survive. scientists call it a beacon of hope that they want to learn from. georgina rannard, bbc news, in baku. stay with us here on bbc news hello there. once again, morning fog could be an issue for some, but the weather story is on the change as we head into the weekend. rain will arrive, and that is going to help lift some of that fog, but once the rain clears, it will also introduce something noticeably colder. the winds will be a feature, with widespread frost likely and an increasing risk of some of those showers turning wintry. more details on that injust a moment. but for the here and now, we're still under this influence of high pressure.

there is a weather front pushing into the northwest that's introduced more of a breeze, so fog free here and a little milder. but further south across england and wales, one or two spots, low single figures, some of that fog dense in places. that will lift, and that's where we'll likely see the best of the sunshine as we go through the day on friday. some drizzly rain into north wales and northwest england, more substantial rain starting to gradually push into the far north west of scotland. scotland and northern ireland see temperatures peaking at 13 celsius — further south, a little bit cooler, but that's where we've got the sunshine. now, that cold front will continue to push its way steadily southwards, introducing colder air behind. so underneath that blanket of cloud will keep double digits first thing on saturday morning. colder to the north of it, and still clear skies and colder to the south. but eventually that frontal system, although not that much in the way of substantial rain, will gradually drift its way south into wales, down into the midlands. behind it, sunny spells and a few brisk showers being driven along by that brisk north westerly wind —

eight or nine degrees here, 10—13 elsewhere. now, as we move out of saturday into sunday and monday, that's when we're likely to see the change. the colder air kicks in, and on top of that, we've got weather fronts trying to squeeze in from the atlantic, so that cold air will push all the way steadily south. the fronts could give us a few headaches in terms of how much rain, sleet and snow we're going to see. but one things for certain, we could have widespread frosts into next week under those clearer skies. but let's take a look at the forecast as we go through sunday and monday. sunday sees the rain clearing, somewhat colder conditions with the risk of some rain, sleet, and snow for some.

this is bbc news.

we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. it is 50 years this month since the ira's murderous birmingham pub bombings, which precipitated one of the greatest miscarriages ofjustice in english legal history. at that time, paddy hill, who's my guest in this interview recorded in 2011, was a young northern irishman trying to make a living in england. the ira bombing campaign on the british mainland was at its height. on the 21st of november 1974, two bombs exploded at pubs in birmingham. 21 people were killed, 182 injured. hill and five others were arrested within hours. the men, who came to be known as the birmingham six, maintained their innocence and accused the police

of forcing them to sign false confessions.