hello i'm caitriona perry president—elect donald trump is continuing to name key allies to join his government, amid public backlash for some of his top picks. the latest nomination is doug burgum to the department of the interior.|ts agencies are responsible for public land, as well as domestic energy production. the governor of north dakota joins a growing list of trump cabinet hopefuls, which includes robert f kennedy junior and matt gaetz — trump's pick for attorney general.both men have been the subject of scrutiny since their nominations this week. there have been calls for the house ethics committee to release its report into gaetz, who was being investigated over misconduct allegations. but gaetz�*s abrupt resignation from the house on wednesday halted the investigation, as only current members can be investigated.

speaker mikejohnson made clear on friday his position on the report's release. the speaker doesn't control the ethics committee. i've only expressed my opinion in tradition, i will not release a report on a former member of the house because i could open a dangerous pandora's box. the selection of rfkjr as the nation's next health secretary has also been seen as contentious. as health and human services secretary, rfkjr would lead a department that oversees much of the us health industry — including food safety, health services, and vaccinations. kennedy is a known vaccine sceptic, who has long blamed the food and drug industries for american�*s poor health. for the latest on the transition, i spoke with our correspondentjess parker who is in west palm beach, florida. yeah. i mean, it's been a small tsunami of names over the last week, hasn't it? as donald trump has made his pics from his home here in florida, where conservative activists are coming out for an investor

�*s summit as well. in terms of those pics, from senate confirmation hearings, the way it tends to work is that it's quite rare for somebody to actually be turned down at the final confirmation vote. what can happen, though, these pressure points, people's biographies being looked over, things they've said things they've done, and in the interim period which can add point put pressure on people who've nominated candidates as to whether they should withdraw them. i'm sure donald trump for the most part is certainly not going to be looking to do that. he seems to be in a really bullish mood. and i think that's been signalled by the type of candidates he's chosen. he will have known some of these people where going to spark a controversy and he's gone ahead and done it anyway. in terms of the process,

and oversight committee starting to hold hearings actually before inauguration day which will be onjanuary 20 and then moved to a vote to the full senate soon after that. we are looking at an extensive time. between now and then to find out whether these candidates will get through, but it certainly safe to say that some look like they are going to face a rockier road than others. and we've learned in the last hour who will be behind the podium in the white house delivering briefings to the press. karoline leavitt, the trump transition team's spokeswoman, has been named white house press secretary. she's the youngest to hold that position at 27 years old. shejoins another trump spokesperson: steven cheung, who will become white house comunications director in the new administration. well for more on all the day's updates, i've been speaking to republican strategist greta joynes and democratic strategist joi chaney. do you think this ethics committee report should be

released, at least to those on the committee of the senate who will be holding these hearings? when the confirmation process starts there are background investigations that will begin. now, the question is will the work that the house has already done be part of that investigation? i think that's tbd. the house investigation processes a very specific process that is entirely different than the normal background check for a nominee. i think it will search in... there will certainly be senators who will want to understand what the scope of that report is. i think it's unclear if the actual report, which as yet unfinished, will actually be released without a vote of the ethics committee. do you think it should be? i think that it should certainly be considered. but i do think that the unknowns around what was actually in the report, i think it would be really problematic for the way the house works to release it without a bipartisan vote of

the members of the committee. we should point out that a criminal investigation into matt gaetz found there was no case to answer and no charges were brought against him. so this is an entirely separate thing. it could exonerate him for all we know. we don't know the findings. do you think it should be made public? absolutely. more portly a lot of republican senators believe it should be at least shown to them whether it is public or not is different. let's be clear. it's going to become public whether it's, you know, it's going to be leaked. but in terms of official channels, they should at least be able to look at it in a closed setting, which i think is fair and could be something that we could replicate for other people as well. you may not wanted to publicly released, but the senators ought to be able to consider it as they are making this decision as they consider lots of things, some of which are public, some of which are behind closed doors. on the broader issue of the senate confirmation process as is, we have heard a lot of discussion this week about bypassing it and holding reset appointments that president—elect trump has intimated that he

wants to see happen. but that is incredibly rare. do you think that is something that could happen or should happen? what is your view? i do think that it could happen. the confirmation process in this day and age and the speed in which the senate operates generally, i think the president was very frustrated by during his first term. i do believe that there are a lot of senators, in particular new senators who have never gone through this process were uncomfortable without being able to participate and vent all of these different people that are potentially going into the administration. now, do you go to a recess type appointment where you go through a lot of the normal channels, meaning you do the interviews and you go in and you have discussions? maybe. i think that regardless,

the president has 53 republican senators who i think a large part are buying into his agenda and realise they wouldn't have the majority if president trump hadn't run. so i do think that they are going to get confirmed regardless of how they do it. what do you think, joi? there are 53 senators who are, i think, she is right, in favour of the president's agenda and he has the right to select his own cabinet but they also believe in the senate rules and believe in the constitution and they are vested in their own responsibilities, which is advice and consent. a recess appointment is really going around that, it's meant for an emergency situation. it's not meant to say got controversial people that you are not going to provide advice and consent for, so i'm going to get around you. that'sjust completely unconstitutional, undemocratic. it's not actually what the american people voted for. i think that while it is definitely possible, i think that he's going to run into trouble, and i think if he does it, some senators might choose to oppose him on people they might have confirmed, but they don't like the process. and when you are talking about controversial pics

and so on, i want to talk briefly about robert f kennedy junior, because he's got some policies, even the president has said in speeches, me and bobby don't agree on everything, but some of those things around denying vaccines or concerns about fluoride in the water, are they now the policies of the republican party? is that what rfkjunior brings? no! i think whoever is confirmed to run hhs is they are to carry out the president's agenda. i think it is good to have disagreements and discussions ultimately about policies that hhs will implement of which there are many. it is notjust fluoride, and it's notjust vaccines, there are hhs is one of the largest agencies within the federal government. we heard the former vp, mike pence, raising conservative alarm bells over rfk's position on abortion services. i think there are concerns on both sides. rfkjunior was considered to be a member of the obama administration's cabinet administration as well. he �*s been around a long time. i think the confirmation

in the vetting process will be significant with him. at the president didn't just air drop in rfk from out of nowhere. he's been with the president on the campaign trail throughout every single battleground state that he won. and i do think that he will be an important voice in the president's white house regardless of if he is at hhs or not. but i do believe that he will ultimately be confirmed. from a democratic perspective, is it's good to see someone who is a former democratic independent in the ranks with president trump has meant that he is trying to be the president for all people, as he said? rfk is not representative of the democratic party. he is fringe, if there was a definition, he is. i think there are questions about his stability and fitness for office or an appointed role in this case. what's most concerning is that donald trump, i think he said, do whatever you want to with health and human services, which means there's a real lack of a health care agenda for the nation.

and as my colleague said, hhs covers many things, including all of the implementation of your medicaid and medicare and your marketplace coverage. that is the largest insurance company in the world. if rfk, someone who has a worm in his head, according to him, is implementing. that's concerning. so i do think those are going to be some real questions you might be a candidate for a recess appointment someone who cannot get the regular order because he's just not confirmable. israel is launching deadly strikes on beiruit, as it continues a week—long campaign against what it says are his brother positions in lebanon's capital. scattered strikes lastest all through friday, including this attack that flattened a high—rise building. it's not yet known how many people were killed or injured. elsewhere in the country, officials say at least 15 rescue workers, waiting to be dispatched to help civilians, were killed when an israeli missile struck a civil defence building.

six weeks into israel's invasion, lebanese officials say their government is considering a new us truce proposal aimed at halting the conflict. iran, which backs his brother, has said it will support any decision made by the group and the lebanese government. our middle east correspondent, hugo bachega, is in beirut. efforts for a cease—fire deal in the conflict for israel and has blood continue, the american ambassador to lebanon delivered a draft proposalfor a deal to the lebanese authorities, but don't have details of what is in this proposal. —— hezbollah. the lebanese government is saying that they are open to any deal, this is the resolution that ended the 2006 war between israel and hezbollah, it requires hezbollah to move their fighters and weapons from areas near the border with israel. but a sticking point is that

israel wants the right to act inside lebanon should any deal be violated. a demand that the lebanese authorities say is unacceptable. here on friday, a senior iranian official had talks with a senior lebanese official. he said iran would support any decision taken by the lebanese government. this is seen as an indication that iran wants to see the end of the conflict here. iran is the main supporter of hezbollah. and the lebanese prime minister said that his government's priority is to reach a cease—fire and that negotiations will continue. in gaza, the washington post reports at least 26 people were killed friday in attacks that included mawasi, a desgnated safe zone. the post says the israel defense forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment. for more on the prospects for peace in gaza and in

lebanon, i've been speaking to frank lowenstein who sered as us special envoy for middle east peace between 2013 and 2017 frank, thanks forjoining us on the programme once again. let's start with gaza and we will talk about lebanon and just a moment. there had been talks continuing in qatar with a view to secure a piece cease—fire hostage release deal in gaza. what does the likelihood now of anything coming from that as you see it? i think we are very unlikely to see a cease—fire in gaza in the foreseeable future. there are still thousands of hamas fighters operating in the south. benjamin then yahoo has showed no interest in a cease—fire. i think we could be looking at a long term counterinsurgency there. i don't think hamas is of any mind to give up. at this point i'm not even sure who's in charge

of any mind to give up. at this point i'm not even sure who's in charge over there. it could be a long, hard road in gaza. the decision from the state department this week to continuing to supply military aid to israel said it felt it was making steps to improve the humanitarian crisis in gaza. the assessment it asked israel to make and that's an assessment that all the eight agencies working in gaza disagree with. has that sort of endorsement from the state department reduced any incentive on israel's part to do anything at this point? he didn't do it before but he had an opportunity in april and there was really no percentage of them doing that right now. the israelis probably did the minimum they could to allow biden to proceed, but from the president's perspective if they cut off arms it would impact his legacy on the war without really changing anything on the ground because trump would have just done it right away. you have a lot of experience in negotiations and so on. when you look at what's happening in lebanon

at the moment, the us proposal we are told has been passed to hezbollah. iranian officials are involved in trying to make a push to get the deal to happen. what is your assessment of that? and think the israelis are getting pretty close to achieving their military objectives and a of hezbollah�*s military capabilities. and get the civilians to return to the north. that will probably require an agreement with hezbollah to stop firing across the border. so i can see an interim agreement reached under the biden administration that would have a 45 to 60 day cease—fire while they would work out the final modalities which may save for trump to claim credit for. 0n the role that iran is playing, and our newest partners here are reporting that elon musk met a ran�*s un ambassador in new york earlier this week. given how close elon musk is to president—elect donald trump,

what does your view of that meeting having taken place? what might have been achieved there, whether it could've happened at all. trump �*s got a bit of a contradiction on his hands when it comes to iran. his party have been very hawkish on iran. 0n the one hand. 0n the other hand he ran on american first policy getting out of wars and containing the violence over there the best he could. the way forward on that would be to increase sanctions on iran and threaten a military force which may work better than it has in the past. the easiest path would be if i can come to some ——the easiest path would be if they can come to some kind of understanding with iranians on them. i don't think there would be any formal agreement like thejcpoa, but i can imagine an informal agreement for each side agrees to step down a step back a little bit. elon musk has not been given a policy role in the president—elect�*s administration. he will be involved in cuts to the civil service and efficiencies and so on,

do you think there is going to be a notable change in the direction of us foreign policy in relation to the middle east? i don't think there will be any dramatic changes. i think marco rubio is a fairly sensitive guy, and will continue to do much of what president biden does. the rhetoric will be different, the tone will be different, but i don't see big changes. that said, what trump cares about the most is what's in the best interest of trump. if he sees an opportunity to make a deal with saudi arabia on normalising relationships, that will become their top priority. frank lowenstein, as always, thank you so much for talking to us here on bbc news. meanwhile, israel's new defence minister says he's approved a new round of draft notices to ultra—orthodox jews. in a post on x, israel katz said 7,000 notices would be sent out to "ease the burden" on idf troops, with the first phase being issued on sunday. ultra—orthodox dues, known as haredim, have been exempt from israel's universal

conscription for most of the country's history. but israel's supreme court overruled that exemption over the summer. the carve—out had faced increasing scrutiny as the haredi population has grown, and particularly since israel's invasion of gaza after hamas's deadly attacks of october seventh last year. the previous defence minister, yoav gallant, had pushed to ramp up the conscription of haredim, but there was speculation the draft could be slowed after he was sacked and replaced by mr katz.these new draft notices have the potential to put mr netanyahu's coalition at risk, which includes many haredis and supporters of the exemption. as the uk government says it will "smash the gangs" that bring people across the english channel in small boats, the latest annual figures from the uk's interiror ministry —the home office — show that people from afganistan are more likely than any other nationality to try to get to the uk by that route. theirjourney takes them through iran and turkey,

then up through mainland europe into germany and france — before they head for the uk. 0ur south asia correspondent yogita limaye reports on the factors pushing some to leave their homeland and head west. in afghanistan run by the taliban, a third of the people are struggling to eat. women live under brutal restrictions and those who worked for the former military fear for their safety. it's why afghans are among the biggest groups fleeing their homes, going to the uk and other parts of the world. this former military officer is risking his life to speak to us. he's tried three times to make the perilous journey out of afghanistan. translation: |'u| keep trying to flee,

even if i lose my life. 0ur circumstances are such that we are dying every moment. we drove through kabul to get to where the officer started his journey. it's from this bus stop in kabul that many of the people we've spoken to have told us that they've taken buses to the western border with iran, where they've met up with people smugglers. and from there on, at each point they're passed from one people smuggler to another as they try to make their way from iran to turkey, and eventually to europe. this is one of the main routes out of the country. afghans waiting to slip into iran on foot. a crossing that's become particularly dangerous. a month ago, iran was accused of indiscriminately shooting afghan migrants. this video of the injured and dead, verified by the bbc. if they make it through iran, migrants must cross this border wall into turkey. a smuggler puts a ladder against the iranian side, cuts the razor wire to make a path. many break their limbs, making thejump. and this is video

from last winter. "run, run," the smuggler shouts. "don't be scared." that people are willing to endure this is testament to how desperate they are to flee. 0n the other side of the wall, these afghans are pleading for help, allegedly beaten by turkish forces. turkey has not responded to the allegations. the video can't be independently verified by the bbc, sent to us by an afghan smuggler in iran — who we found after weeks of digging through their networks. you're endangering the lives of afghans, taking thousands of dollars from them, engaging in this criminal activity. how do you justify that? translation: we don't force people to take these risks. . we tell them they could be killed or imprisoned. what are we supposed to do when people tell us their family is going hungry in afghanistan? the uk is one of the main

destinations that afghans want to reach, seen to offer more work opportunities than most countries in europe. and by the time afghan migrants get to this final leg, the risk of crossing the channel feels like nothing compared to what they've endured. in liverpool, we met an asylum seeker who arrived in a small boat six months ago. a former government employee, she protested against the taliban. she could be eligible for one of the uk's resettlement schemes, but the safe legal routes have simply been too slow, which means she's had to undertake a traumatic journey. translation: | come - from a well known family. i've never done anything illegal, but i was afraid i would be detained and tortured in afghanistan. a difficult decision to come a world away

from everything she knows, because home can't provide the most basic of human needs — safety, food, freedom. the number of people dying from sudan's civil war is significantly higher than previously reported — according to a new report from the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine's sudan research group. more than 61,000 people have died in khartoum state, where fighting began last year. until now, the un and other aid agencies have been using the figure of 20,000 confirmed deaths. preventable starvation and disease are the leading causes of death — but the group concluded that 26,000 people were killed as a direct result of violence. i spoke with wala suleiman, sapa coordinator in khartoum sudan. i asked her about the

humanitarian situation there. actually, medical practitioners continue to provide in this region, and especially in hospitals with a surgical pathologist. we are seeing people for stabilisation. they are mostly seeing hospitals outside the state. i think we need to come of the international community, needs to intervene more, especially in the field of health, especially... i think health and food supplies, especially

medications and medical supplies as a whole. thanks for watching- _ supplies as a whole. thanks for watching. stay _ supplies as a whole. thanks for watching. stay with _ supplies as a whole. thanks for watching. stay with us - supplies as a whole. thanks for watching. stay with us here - watching. stay with us here on bbc news. we leave you with this image of the supermoon seen across the world. hello there. it's turning a lot colder for all of us next week. the transition starts this weekend — colder air already across northern scotland will continue to push southwards. and that will introduce the risk of snow showers, certainly in northern areas, but we could even see a spell of rain, sleet and snow during sunday night into monday. more on that in just a moment. but the colder air is moving around this area of low pressure from the arctic, already across northern scotland, and through saturday, it will push further southwards.

but across the south of britain, it will stay fairly mild but with a lot of cloud around. now the boundary is this cold front with some rain on it as it continues to push southwards, so rather grey day on saturday — central and southern areas. behind the cold front, the cold air is digging in, so it's brighter with sunny spells, scattered showers, these will be wintry over the hills across scotland. you can see the temperature contrast from north to south — milder in the south, pretty cold in the north, particularly factor in the strong northerly wind. and then through saturday night, the colder air continues to trundle southwards, eventually reaching all areas and will continue with wintry showers, mainly around coastal areas. and a risk of ice as well — it will be a cold night to come across the northern half of the country and turning colder in the south, but it does mean sunday will be cold but brighter, with sunshine across large parts of england and wales. further wintry showers across northern and western scotland. then we look to the west to an area of low pressure that will start to push rain into northern ireland and increasingly across england and wales. temperatures on sunday could reach ten or ii degrees in the south, but it's another cold one for central and northern areas. now, through sunday night, that rain becomes heavier

and it pushes its way eastward. so rather a wet night to come for the southern half of the country. it turns milder and windier in the south, but it stays cold across the north with further wintry showers. you can see that temperature contrast to start monday. but the start of next week through monday could cause some issues. a bit of a headache to the uncertainty. this area of low pressure could be further north, it could be further south, but it looks like its northern flank could see some snow on the hills across northern england to scotland, whereas further south will mainly of rain and there'll be strong winds. as it pulls away, though, into the near continent, opens the floodgates to an even colder arctic northerly from tuesday onwards. and you can see that here on the outlook — chance of snow across northern areas, rain in the south, and then from tuesday onwards it's very cold with cold nights.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you butjust after this programme.

this week, alastair�*s looking to the skies for guidance. we're going to get some help navigating from up there. she is getting hangry with a robot hand. no pressure, but i am quite hungry. i'm not sure how peeling that lettuce is looking after having that done to it. and spencer leaps forward to the year 2125. from eye to eye with a cuttlefish. doesn't he need a snorkel for that? mit's computer science and artificial intelligence laboratory is a world leading facility, but today i've come facility, but today i've come to teach you a thing or two to the robots. that is not the people. in a bid to help them behave as humanly as possible, especially with the tasks that we wouldn't give a second thought to. this reinforcement learning where the machines mimic humans,

is how the ai is trained. it aims to make the bots less, well, robotic