scientists have discovered the largest coral ever recorded in a remote part of the pacific ocean. they travelled there to see how the ocean has been affected welcome to newsday, by climate change. the coral was discovered i'm steve lai. by divers off the solomon we start in the us where islands in the president—elect donald trump south—west pacific. researchers believe has announced another cabinet nomination that is courting controversy. the healthy mega coral — mr trump selected former rival — robert f kenneder, who is a well known our science correspondent vaccine sceptic — georgina rannard has more. to lead the department deep in a remote part of health and human services. of the pacific, not a reef, but a huge single on his truth social piece of coral. platform mr trump said seen for the first time, "mr kennedy will restore it's lived deep here the agencies to the traditions in the pacific ocean of gold standard scientific for perhaps 500 years, growing uninterrupted research, and beacons from the time henry viii ruled england, and it's mega. of transparency, to end measuring 32m long, it is bigger than a blue whale. the chronic disease epidemic, but it was found by accident. and to make america great on maps, its location used and healthy again!" to be marked as a shipwreck. and speaking in the last few scientist manu san felix hours he had more praise was diving with his son off for his former opponent. the solomon islands when he discovered the remarkable coral. another one who's another great mind and a great guy well, i have behind me... and so popular and i think he's right, he wants to make people speaking from his research healthy, it has driven him ship, he told me he was in pretty wild over the last awe of it. number of years and today, i nominated him for,

i guess, if you like health look into this amazing coral and you like people that live and with the biggest smile, i'm excited. a long time, it is the most i'm thinking, "wow, important position, rfkjr. bobby. cheering and applause. 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 there he is. and ijust looked at the news warn that coral reefs and their communities are now reports — people like you, at real risk from the ocean bobby. warming caused don't get too popular, bobby! laughter. by climate change. you know, you've reached coral reefs is very important. about the level now... our economy depends very much on marine and fisheries no, we want you to come up for its survival, and it's important for the world to know that we — it's a special place with things and ideas and it needs to be protected. and what you've been talking about for a long time, in shallower waters nearby, and i think you're going to do entire reefs are dying some unbelievable thing — because of climate change nobody — nobody is going to be but this centuries—old coral has managed to survive. able to do it like you and boy, does he feel it in his heart, so congratulations to scientists call it a beacon you and your family. of hope that they want for more on the controversial to learn from. nomination, i spoke georgina rannard, withjess parker, who is in mar—a—lago, florida. bbc news, in baku. king charles has marked his 76th birthday by opening two hubs that will distribute large volumes

of surplus food to food banks, schools and community centres. it was pretty clear that he was going to get some sort of health role in the it's part of his administration that was well coronation food project, advertised in advance but it is designed to make better use really the role in terms of running things.— running things. health secretary _ of food that would otherwise running things. health secretary in _ running things. health secretary in terms - be thrown away. running things. health secretary in terms of i running things. health i secretary in terms of -- running things. health - the project has so far rescued secretary in terms of -- in secretary in terms of —— in charge of multiple health 940 tonnes of surplus food, agencies. as you have been estimated as enough to make 2.24 million meals. reflecting, it is causing three more hubs are due controversy because of a number open in the next year, of reasons. one of them is rfk with 19—million dollars raised to create a network of up to 10 across the uk. junior �*s vaccine scepticism and particularly amplified and got a new audience during the covid pandemic but this does that's all for now — not seem to have othered mr stay with bbc news. trump. he has talked before about giving rfkjunior relatively free reign over this brief. of course he will have to get confirmed, we think, he will have to get confirmed somehow via the senate so it hello there. once again, morning fog will be an interesting test, i could be an issue for some but the weather story think, of donald trump �*s group is on the change as we head on the senate were of course into the weekend. his party has not taken rain will arrive, and that is

control. —— has now taken going to help lift some of that fog. control. -- has now taken control-— but once the rain clears, control. -- has now taken control. , ., , ., control. tell us how this works in regards _ it will also introduce control. tell us how this works in regards to — control. tell us how this works in regards to the _ control. tell us how this works in regards to the senate - control. tell us how this works in regards to the senate and l in regards to the senate and the appointment. this something noticeably colder. the winds will be a feature with widespread frosts likely and an increasing risk of some candidates who have been of those showers turning submitted or nominations. timer;r wintry. submitted or nominations. they have to go _ more details on that submitted or nominations. they have to go through _ submitted or nominations. they have to go through a _ submitted or nominations. tie: have to go through a senate injust a moment. committee hearing and then potentially of a path that to a but for the here and now, vote in the senate as well. it we're still under this influence of high pressure. there is a weather front can be a fairly smooth process pushing into the northwest. already can be a rather that's introduced more of a breeze, so fog—free gruelling one where people can here and a little milder. be really grilled by senators about their views, about their but further south across england and wales, one or two spots, low single figures, some suitability for thejob, about suitability for the job, about their experience but suitability for thejob, about of that fog dense in places. their experience but i think what is interesting here in that will lift and that's terms of rfk is it will be a where we'll likely see the best of the sunshine as we go platform for him. he was a through the day on friday. figure once upon a time who was some drizzly rain into quite on the fringe of politics north wales and northwest england. but this will take him into the mainstream if he is confirmed more substantial rain starting and certainly give him the to gradually push into the far platform if he testifies before northwest of scotland. the senate which will bring a scotland and northern ireland lot of interest and a lot of see temperatures peaking at 13 media interest, ithink, in celsius. that particular testimony. i further south, a little bit think it is worth pointing out, cooler, but that's where we've got the sunshine. now, that cold front picking up on what you are just will continue to push its way playing in that clip there from steadily southwards, introducing colder air behind, donald trump, making that so underneath that blanket

speech and media was invited of cloud will keep double digits first thing into film at, he is completely on saturday morning. colder to the north of it and still clear skies confident, he is doing his and colder to the south. victory lap in his bow and tie but eventually, that frontal system, although not that much thinking people in the audience in the way of substantial rain, will gradually drift its way including happier malay, the south into wales, down into the midlands. leaderfrom argentina behind it, sunny spells and a few brisk showers including happier malay, the leader from argentina who is being driven along by that visiting in florida. and they brisk northwesterly wind. eight or nine degrees here, 10—13 elsewhere. now, as we move out of saturday talked about the different —— the general election —— javier into sunday and monday, milei, argentinian leader. he that's when we're likely is not afraid of making to see the change. contentious appointments. i spoke with dr georges c the colder air kicks benjamin, executive director in and on top of that, of the american public health we've got weather fronts association. i asked him about his trying to squeeze in from organization's opposition the atlantic, so that to the appointment. cold air will push all the way steadily south. the front could give us a few will absolutely oppose it. headaches in terms of how much we think it a very bad choice. rain, sleet and snow we're he is not competent going to see but one thing's for certain — we could have widespread frosts into next week under those clearer skies. by training, management skills, temperament or trust. but let's take a look to have thisjob. at the forecast as we go

through sunday and monday. he is just absolutely sunday sees the rain clearing. the wrong guy for it. somewhat colder conditions so, what are you seeing with the risk of some rain, is the implication that if he is to be pushed sleet and snow for some. through because the republicans do have control of congress now. you know, this is a big area, about $1.9 trillion with over this 80,000 people that work on the agency. he has not really got 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. so he's reallyjust a person without a health background who has already caused great damage in health in the country and so, i think that's a problem that hopefully the senate will take into consideration as he goes through his confirmation hearings. let's turn to developments in the middle east now — 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. earlier i spoke to scott paul, associate director of peace and security at oxfam and former un representative for the centre for civilians in conflict. he told me what he thought about the key findings 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 an uneven recovery: what goes into gaza, which controls who goes china sees an uptick into gaza, which controls in retail sales in october who is safe in gaza but its property market and which controls movement

within the gaza strip slump continues. of the same people and goods. plus, fed chairjerome powell says he's in no rush to lower interest rates, calling the us economy "remarkably good". —— as global legals arrive in peru we discuss how the trump and the reality is there is simply nowhere near enough food or other basic commodities administration is viewing the or services reaching the people most in need in gaza. region. 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 so what does it mean, then, in better than expected, that the us themselves have rising 4.8% year on year. denied the un's it wasn't as rosy a picture claim of genocide? on the industrial production we are in a week where oxfam joined with seven other front with october's print coming in shy of estimates. agencies to follow up similar story for housing on a letter that secretaries with home prices falling blinken and austin for the 16th straight month. sent to the israeli katrina ell from moody's analytics weighed in on the outlook for the property authorities. market and whether beijing needs to do more to support the world's second largest economy. and they themselves made clear that humanitarian assistance was being blocked by the israelis. i think that's where a lot they didn't use those words of the concern and the weakness but they said 19 things need in the chinese consumer to change or else the law that is coming from, it's requires recipients of us from but deeper and more military aid to not prolonged correction in the property market. blockade would be violated. so essentially, they said do we need to remember that these things or you are not chinese households have a lot conforming with the law. of their wealth tied up in the property market and so,

we are seeing forward indicators like housing sale we assessed each of investment remaining week and we are expecting house those 19 benchmarks. prices to continue to contract and what we found based on our own experience on an annual basis right is that there was minor throughout the remainder progress towards four row, of this year and through most negligible process or of next year, unfortunately, backsliding on the other 15 and in the midst of all so no turnaround in of this, an accelerated campaign of depopulation and intentional starvation of the population in north gaza government. the property market and so, when you ask what i think of the us at this point. and now that donald trump has government's reaction? returned to the white house is a certainty, are we likely to see any adjustments made it's yet another grotesque distortion of the situation on the ground to suit or changes in china's strategy? the ideological commitments of this administration. to peru now, 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. the coalition led by sri lanka's new president is on course for a landslide victory in parliamentary elections. with about a third of the vote counted, anura kumara dissanayake's left—wing national people's power has more than 60% of the votes. it's a massive turnaround from the previous parliament when the npp only claimed three of the 225 seats. the result is a boost for mr dissanayake, who was elected president in september on a promise to combat corruption. for more analysis, we can speak to foreign policy analyst and political commentator uditha devapriya. he is also chief international relations analyst at factum — an asia—focused foreign policy think tank based in colombo. thank you forjoining us me to talk about this today. the

president _ talk about this today. the president promised - talk about this today. the president promised to tackle anticorruption and the anticorru ption and the struggling anticorruption and the struggling economy stopped two messages that have resonated very well with voters.- very well with voters. yes, as a matter _ very well with voters. yes, as a matter of — very well with voters. yes, as a matter of fact, _ very well with voters. yes, as a matter of fact, that - very well with voters. yes, as a matter of fact, that is - very well with voters. yes, as a matter of fact, that is true. | a matter of fact, that is true. based on the latest available results they are on course for a two—thirds majority is much more than 130 seats but we are saying —— what we are seeing right now is a recalibration of politics in sri lanka. just to give each election cycle, a set number of officials have always been... itjust so happened that in 2024 at the presidential and parliamentary election it was of widespread revulsion against what was seen to be in the establishment politics. we are seeing a reversal of that right now with basically on the one hand before the parliamentary election a set number of old established politicians opted out of the race in the election itself, we are seeing a number of, a dazzling number, of

establishment politicians from other parties buying out, basically being kicked out of the race so the beneficiary of these trends have been the npp, these trends have been the npp, the national people's power alliance and what is interesting about this particular election based on the results we've got right now is that the majority of seats, not just is that the majority of seats, notjust in the south, they are also in the west, north and east, dominated by mainstream muslim populations so it is all across the board. it is respective of ethnicity and religious. respective of ethnicity and religious-— respective of ethnicity and religious. respective of ethnicity and reliaious. ~ ., ., , , religious. what do you put this down to cover _ religious. what do you put this down to cover this _ religious. what do you put this down to cover this mass - religious. what do you put this down to cover this mass purge| down to cover this mass purge or rejuvenation of officials that don't find themselves in parliament. i that don't find themselves in parliament-— parliament. i think the critical turning - parliament. i think the critical turning point i parliament. i think the i critical turning point was parliament. i think the - critical turning point was the 2022 crisis. the president at the time had obtained a near two—thirds majority in 2020 on the basis that he was a complete outsider to all politics in sri lanka and the

perception was that he could actually clean their stables but clearly didn't deliver on that. there was a bit of around 2022 in which party would mobilise in establishment politics. in the one hand you have who galvanised the moment, so to speak, have got together and he was selected as the president, not elected, so it is very clear that centre—left politics has taken centre stage in sri lanka and the npp is the party that managers to secure that sort of discontent, capitalise on that discontent in 2022. sri capitalise on that discontent in 2022. ,, ., , in 2022. sri lanka still feeling _ in 2022. sri lanka still feeling the _ in 2022. sri lanka still feeling the effects - in 2022. sri lanka still feeling the effects of. in 2022. sri lanka still| feeling the effects of a struggling economy. that will be the number one going —— number one concern going forward with the new administration?- forward with the new administration? , , administration? yes it will but ou have

administration? yes it will but you have also _ administration? yes it will but you have also got _ administration? yes it will but you have also got to _ administration? yes it will but you have also got to realise i you have also got to realise that the npp reduce brands that —— branded as marxist, leninist, socialist, by much of the international press, is actually moving towards the centre. i wouldn't say so much so that it is discarding its own positions on economic reforms because clearly since coming to power in september 2024 it has research —— reverse some of the reforms the previous administration put into effect but on critical fundamental issues like engaging with the imf, it is very clear what their position now is. they want more negotiations with the imf. it is left to be seen whether they want a new agreement or a new debt analysis with the imf but it is also very clear they don't want to rock the boat too much, they don't want to disturb the applecart. they want to go ahead with those fundamental reforms but on small issues there will be turnarounds and shifts. thank ou so turnarounds and shifts. thank you so much. _ turnarounds and shifts. thank you so much, we _ turnarounds and shifts. thank you so much, we will- turnarounds and shifts. thank you so much, we will leave i turnarounds and shifts. thank you so much, we will leave it| you so much, we will leave it there. thank you for that context for us. cheap

international relations analyst at factum. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

you're live with bbc news. in the uk, 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 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 — 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. rainn is spelled with two n�*s. 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 418 on thursday — which is defined as severe. a good rating is between zero and 50. the indian city has to deal with smog every winter — as cold air traps dust, emissions and smoke from illegal fires. our india correspondent, arunoday mukharji, gave us the latest from dehli. 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 24—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. meanwhile, our pakistan correspondent caroline davies is in islamabad where air pollution levels have also been very high. you can see behind me how thick the smog here in islamabad still is. you can just about make out some of those buildings on the horizon. now, bear in mind that, here in the capital, the numbers have been at about 200 on the air quality index. now that is still high,

but it is nothing by comparison to the figures that we've seen in places like lahore, where it's regularly peaked at over 1,000 on the air quality index, and multan, which has even seen over 2,000 in the course of the last week. now anything over 300 is considered to be hazardous, so these numbers really are particularly extraordinary, particularly at this time of year as well. now, pakistan is used to having a smog season, but often that is later in the year. now we also know that this has been sitting here. these numbers started spiking aboutjust over two weeks ago now. 00:22:25,964 --> 2147483051:47:57,697 so the big concern, too, 2147483051:47:57,697 --> 4294966103:13:29,429 is this smog is not moving on.