welcome to newsday, i'm steve lai. we start in the us where president—elect donald trump has announced a new major cabinet nomination and it's a pick that's already courting controvery. mr trump selected his former rival — robert f kenneder, who's well known for his vaccine sceptical views 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 speaking in the last few minutes he had more praise for his former opponent. another one who's another great mind and a great guy and so popular and i think he's

right, he wants to make people healthy, it has driven him pretty wild over the last number of years and today, i nominated him for, i guess, if you like health and you like people that live a long time, it is the most important position, rfkjr. bobby. cheering and applause. and ijust looked at the news reports — people like you, bobby. don't get too popular, bobby! laughter. you know, you've reached about the level now... no, we want you to come up with things and ideas and what you've been talking about for a long time, and i think you're going to do some unbelievable thing — nobody — nobody is going to be able to do it like you and boy, does he feel it in his heart, so congratulations to you and your family. for more on the controversial nomination, i spoke withjess parker, who is in mar—a—lago,

florida. when yet, it's one of those appointments that kind of bit expected and kind of not in the sense that it was pretty clear rfkjunior was going to get some kind of health role in donald trump's administration that had been well advertised in advance but this really is the role in terms of running things, health secretary in charge of multiple important health agencies. as you've been reflecting, it's causing controversy because of a number of reasons but one of them particularly, rfkjunior�*s history of vaccine scepticism, leading voice, really. he was particularly amplified, or he got a new audience during the covid pandemic, but this does not seem to have bothered mr trump. he has spoken before about giving rfkjr relatively free reign over this brief. of course, he will have to get confirmed, we think, well, he will have to get confirmed somehow via

the senate so it will be an interesting test, i think, of donald trump's grip on the senate where, of course, his party has now taken control. and tell us a bit more about that help process works and tell us a bit more about how that process works regarding the senate and the appointment. candidates who have been submitted or nominations, they have to go through a senate committee hearing and then potentially too, if they passed that, to a vote of the senate as well. it can be a fairly smooth process or it can be a rather gruelling one, where people can be really grilled by senators about their views, about their suitability for thejob, about their experience but i think what's quite interesting here about rfk is it will be a platform for him and he was a figure once upon a time he was quite on the fringe of politics but this will take him into the mainstream if he is confirmed and certainly give him a platform if he testifies before the senate which will bring a lot of interest,

a lot of media interest, i think in that particular testimony but look, i think it's worth pointing out as well picking up on what you were just playing in the clip there from donald trump, making the speech and media was invited in to film it, he is completely confident, he is doing his victory lap in his bow and tie, thinking people in the audience, including javier milei from argentina, the leader who is visiting here, in florida. i think you are seeing a real confidence exuded there, from donald trump and he talked a lot about different categories they want to during this presidential election so he is certainly riding high. i think it reflects on his appointment, he is not afraid of making contentious ones. i spoke with dr georges c benjamin, executive director of the american public health association. i asked him about his organization's opposition to the appointment. we are going to oppose it. we think it is a very bad choice.

he is not competent by training, management skills, temperament or trust. he is absolutely the wrong guy for it. ~ ., absolutely the wrong guy for it. . ., , , it. what i use in is the implications _ it. what i use in is the implications if - it. what i use in is the implications if it - it. what i use in is the implications if it is - it. what i use in is the implications if it is to l it. what i use in is the i implications if it is to get through? the republicans do have control of congress now. this is a big agency. about $1.9 trillion with over 80,000 people that work on the agency. he does not really have the management skills to manage such a complex organisation and his views particularly on vaccines as an example have resulted in increases in infections in this country. he really is just a person without a health background that has already caused great damage in the country. i think is a problem the senate will take into consideration as he goes through hearing. he

into consideration as he goes through hearing.— into consideration as he goes through hearing. he said every american wants _ through hearing. he said every american wants vaccines - through hearing. he said every american wants vaccines for i american wants vaccines for themselves or their children will have access to them for that we don't have to go too far back in the past to see how the covid pandemic played out, what would an appointment like i have kids in your men if another pandemic were to happen? another pandemic were to ha--en? another pandemic were to happen?— another pandemic were to hauen? ., , ., , happen? he does not believe in vaccines, and _ happen? he does not believe in vaccines, and we _ happen? he does not believe in vaccines, and we have - happen? he does not believe in vaccines, and we have him - happen? he does not believe in vaccines, and we have him on l vaccines, and we have him on the record as that. what would happen if we had another pandemic with a vaccine preventable vaccine, more people would get sick. that is not the thing you want for your key health strategist to have on your views and he has also never run an agency that has the largest health insurance programme in the country. a large research enterprise out to do health promotion and disease prevention, these are not skills and expertise this man has. not skills and expertise this man hae— not skills and expertise this man has. , , ., , man has. given your feelings towards rfk _ man has. given your feelings towards rfk junior, - man has. given your feelings towards rfk junior, i- man has. given your feelings towards rfk junior, i am - towards rfkjunior, i am wondering how you intend to get this message across and pushed for the case for him not to be appointed. we

for the case for him not to be appointed-— for the case for him not to be a- ointed. ~ ., ., ., ., ~ appointed. we are going to talk to the public. — appointed. we are going to talk to the public, talk— appointed. we are going to talk to the public, talk to _ appointed. we are going to talk to the public, talk to the - to the public, talk to the media, talk to members of congress, advocate as loudly and often as we can to make sure people know what a risk he is to be public and the public�*s health. 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". 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. i spoke to scott paul, associate director of peace and security at 0xfam and former un respresentative for the centre for civilians in conflict. i got his thoughts on the key points in the un report. i would say the key thing to understand here is that there are 2.2 million people in gaza who, for the past 13 months, have been unable to meet their most basic needs, including the need

to eat enough food to survive, let alone to thrive. and this report lays responsibility where it belongs — at the feet of the government of israel, which controls what goes into gaza, which controls who goes into gaza, which controls who is safe in gaza and which controls movement within the gaza strip of the same people and goods. and the reality is there is simply nowhere near enough food or other basic commodities or services reaching the people most in need in gaza. so what does it mean, then, that the us themselves have denied the un's claim of genocide? we are in a week where 0xfam joined with seven other agencies to follow up on a letter that secretaries blinken and austin sent to the israeli authorities. and they themselves made clear that humanitarian assistance

was being blocked by the israelis. they didn't use those words but they said 19 things need to change or else the law that requires recipients of us military aid to not blockade would be violated. so essentially, they said do these things or you are not conforming with the law. we assessed each of those 19 benchmarks. and what we found based on our own experience is that there was minor progress towards four row, negligible process or backsliding on the other 15 and in the midst of all of this, an accelerated campaign of depopulation and intentional starvation of the population in north gaza government. and so, when you ask what i think of the us government's reaction? it's yet another grotesque distortion of the situation on the ground to suit the ideological commitments of this administration. what do you think it means, then, for the humanitarian

crisis in the middle east going forward if the us isn't going to act, the 30—day deadline passing those 19 points, what more can be done? we have to really hope and continue to demand that the us government and others see the situation on the ground for what it is. 0xfam's colleagues, 0xfam staff in gaza, we have 23 people still on the ground, all of our partners working for palestinian organisations, our peers wake up every morning unsure if they will make it through the day alive themselves, let alone the people they are working with. when they see a us government promise to consider what israel is doing and to assess it impartially, they used to feel a moment of hope. and what they now feel is anticipation of yet another empty promise that their reality will be seen and validated and that someone will speak up in defence of their lives. we are soon going to be seeing someone else take the white house with

president donald trump, president—elect donald trump taking office injanuary. do you think things will change then? we know from president trump's first term exactly what to expect. during his first term, the trump administration allied itself very closely with the israeli far right and settle the movements and it did so to the great detriment of the human rights and humanitarian outcomes that we see every day in communities across the west bank and the gaza strip. if the biden administration failed to stand up for palestinians, what we are hoping to avoid in the trump administration is a full—throated endorsement of what the government of israel has done over the past 13 months and indeed, well before that. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. the uk 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 is a huge question for the a month ago on the latest version of a private meeting of labour mps you would vote against the change and said he repeatedly since. i don't think palette of caricom end—of—life care is where it needs to be to give people a real choice.— real choice. privately and -ublicl real choice. privately and publicly labour _ real choice. privately and publicly labour figures i real choice. privately and i publicly labour figures think the health secretary should wind his neck end and now another cabinet minister has chosen to speak out for the first time. i chosen to speak out for the first time-— first time. i will be voting for the bella. _ first time. i will be voting for the bella. i— first time. i will be voting for the bella. i always i for the bella. i always believed in giving people as much choice and control as possible. with all the right safeguards that this bill has. more on that story on our website. 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 follows 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, saw fayed walking in. walked into my bathroom — no knocking, no saying anything. i mean, it's like — it was like out of a horror film. 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 — a 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 myjeans' 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 that he...

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, or someone you know in the uk and have been affected by any of this, you can find resources at bbc.co.uk/actionline — or call forfree, 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. let's turn to peru, where world leaders are gathering

for the asia pacific economic cooperation — or apec — meeting. forjoe biden, it marks one of his final engagements on the south american continent as us president. he's due to meet chinese president xijinping on saturday — it's likely to be the pair's last encounter before donald trump enters the white house. during his campaign, the president—elect vowed he would tax all goods imported into the us if he won back the white house. india's capital delhi has overtaken the pakistani city of lahore as the most polluted city on earth. according to the swiss group iqair — delhi's air pollution index had reached a18 on thursday — which is defined as severe. a good rating is between 0—50. the indian city has to deal with smog every winter as cold air traps dust, emissions and smoke from illegal fires. 0ur india correspondent, arunoday mukharji, gave us the latest from dehli

as you see behind me, these are the kind of sites that have been greeting the residents of the national capital region for the past few days — buildings engulfed in a thick blanket of smog. if you step out of the house, your eyes start watering and burning. your throat has a burning sensation. you're trying to do shorter breaths because, psychologically, your body is telling you not to breathe this air. but it's very hard, obviously. but there is laboured breathing. in fact, a lot of surveys have also happened which have reported that the number of people going to hospitals with respiratory problems has increased over the past one week. now, of course, there are a lot of people who have the option of keeping their doors and windows shut and staying at home, keeping their air purifiers switched on 211—7. but then there are a lot of people who can't afford those air purifiers who have to step out of their homes for work. as you can see, evidence is there in terms of how much traffic we see behind us. for those people, it is really a very worrying situation. four british soldiers killed in the korean war have finally been identified after six years of investigation.

buried for decades in unmarked graves at korea's un cemetery — they are the first unknown british soldiers killed in the conflict to be successfully identified. 0ur correspondent in seoul, jean mackenzie, was there. bagpipes skirl. a lifetime of not knowing how his father died is over. an unmarked grave now bears his name. michael's father was killed fighting in the korean war but his body has only just been identified. what was it like to receive the news? the emotional release was just — well, i can't describe it. ijust wailed like a banshee for about 20 minutes. i am so ill, i don't have a lot of time left myself. i had written it all off. i thought, "what a waste of a life — we'll never find "anything out about him, we have no remains."

at the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will rememberthem. bugle plays last post. here, at the un cemetery in south korea this ceremony honours four british soldiers whose whereabouts were previously unknown, all killed in battle. it was thought their bodies were lost for good. another of them was tabby�*s father, major patrick angier. the last embrace and the hesitant goodbye were different. this poem written by her mother after his death. when i was a child in those days in the �*50s, people didn't talk about anything to do with wars and i didn't know — i knew he had gone but people in the village used to say, "oh, those poor children. "they've lost their father." so i used to think if he is lost, they are going to find him. tabby and michael's father were in the gloucester regiment. file: the british 29th

brigade was digging i in to the north of seoul. they famously fought in the battle of imjin river, holding back the chinese army forjust long enough so the allied troops could regroup and defend seoul. it's fantastic to see the grave finally has a name on it. the painstaking work to identify the soldiers was done by nicola nash. she pieced together the puzzles using burial reports, letters and eyewitness accou nts. it feels like it has been quite an emotional day, an emotional moment for you as well. the children have spent their lives not knowing what happened to their fathers and for me to be able to do this work and then bring them here to korea to actually come to the graves and say their goodbyes and have that closure, it means everything. tabby has visited this cemetery twice before, trying to get as close to her father as she could, not knowing that all along he was here. jean mackenzie, bbc news, busan.

scientists have discovered the largest coral ever recorded in a remote part of the pacific ocean near the solomon islands. they travelled there to see how the ocean has been affected by climate change. 0ur 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 32m long, it is bigger than a blue whale. but it was found by accident. 0n 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. that's all for now. we will be looking at the china market reaction from the latest edit out this week. goodbye. 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 frosts 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 northwest 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 northwesterly 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 front could give us a few headaches in terms of how much rain, sleet and snow we're going to see but one thing's 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.

an uneven recovery: china sees an uptick in retail sales in october but its property market slump continues. plus, fed chairjerome powell says he's in no rush to lower interest rates, calling the us economy "remarkably good". hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. let's begin in china, where we got a deluge of data out this morning. retail sales in october came in better than expected, rising 4.8% year on year.

it wasn't as rosy a picture on the industrial production front with 0ctober�*s print coming in shy of estimates. similar story for housing with home prices falling for the 16th straight month. katrina ell from moody's analytics weighed in on the outlook for the property market and whether beijing needs to do more to support the world's second largest economy. i think that's where a lot of the concern and the weakness in the concern and the weakness in the chinese consumer is coming from, it's from but deeper and more prolonged correction in the property market. we need to remember that chinese households have a lot of their wealth tied up in the property market and so, we are seeing forward indicators like housing sale investment remaining week and we are expecting house prices to continue to contract on an annual basis right throughout the remainder of this year and through most of next year, unfortunately, so no turnaround in the property market at this point. find turnaround in the property market at this point. and now

that donald _ market at this point. and now that donald trump _ market at this point. and now that donald trump has - market at this point. and now. that donald trump has returned to the white house is a certainty, are