guilty to being part of a vast operation smuggling thousands of migrants to europe. an australian teenager becomes the sixth person to die in suspected methanol poisoning in laos. backpackers in the country speak to the bbc about their growing concerns. last, i won't drink from an open bottle and i won't drink home—made alcohol. scary because not every day people are dying just like this. angerfrom developing countries as the draft text of a new global climate agreement is published. i'm at the un climate change conference in baku where panama's special representative for climate change says, "it feels that the developed world wants the planet to burn."

a security alert at gatwick has ended after hours of disruption, delays and cancellations continue, we will bring you the latest. and... we'll show you the ancient forests that lurk beneath this sinkhole in china. hello. let's start with breaking news that two men from south wales have pleaded guilty to being part of a vast people smuggling operation — bringing thousands of migrants to europe. they ran their business like a travel agency and advertised their services — described, as like trip advisor for smugglers�*. the bbc can also reveal that dilshad shamo and ali khdir exploited an informal, and virtually untraceable, banking system to finance their operations across several countries. wyre davis has this report. from this innocuous and

otherwise legitimate car wash, ali khdir and dilshad shamo run a prolific people smuggling operation that brought thousands of migrants to europe. five, six, seven, eight. business was booming as they advertised their services on social media. thank you so, so much. migrants shot videos promoting their experiences, described as like a travel agency for smugglers. there was a number of videos that we identified where they would be effectively doing a promotional video to say how wonderful shamo and khdir were and what a great service they provided. someone said to my team it was like tripadvisor. they were rating their service. after a tip—off, the pair, who lived in the uk legally, came to the attention of the national crime agency and an undercover operation was put in place. tapped phone calls caught them discussing routes and migrant numbers.

most of the migrants trafficked by shamo and khdir came from the middle east, including iraqi kurdistan. here in the city of erbil, using an undercoverjournalist, we soon find smugglers on social media. they offer us passage to the uk and, in some cases, counterfeit or stolen passports. or stolen passports. one critical feature exposed one critical feature exposed by the nca investigation by the nca investigation into shamo and khdir into shamo and khdir is how their lucrative operation was financed. inside this building is erbil�*s thriving money market. is how their lucrative huge amounts of dollars and other currencies are exchanged. what is also going on is hawala as instructed by a smuggler, banking, a traditional system based almost system based almost entirely around trust. entirely around trust. hundreds of thousands hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of deals of dollars worth of deals are made and there are few are made and there are few electronic or paper trails. electronic or paper trails. reasons why hawala banking reasons why hawala banking is often preferred by people smugglers. is often preferred by people smugglers. our undercover reporter, our undercover reporter,

as instructed by a smuggler, goes to a hawala to discuss the passport and passage to the uk. we don't go through with the deal and most hawala banking has legitimate purposes. but experts say it shows quite difficult—to—trace cash transactions are also preferred by organised crime. are we doing enough at the minute to stop the exploitation of hawala banking by smugglers? definitely not enough is being done. what we would call for right now is really a refocusing effort to combat migrant smuggling on those financial on those financial aspects rather than simply targeting smuggled migrants who arrive in a certain country. what we need to understand is where is the real money going? today, shamo and khdir admitted their role in smuggling people across europe. it is thought they could have made millions of pounds.

all of the people who offered us deals in iraq later denied being involved in smuggling. but thousands of migrants continue to enter the uk illegally every year as the continental trade in human misery continues. wyre davies, bbc news. we will talk live to wyre davies live on this programme a little later on. let's turn to that other developing, important story because more details today... a second australian teenager has died of suspected methanol poisoning, bringing to six the number of foreign tourists who have died after apparently drinking tainted alcohol in laos. the family of australian teenager holly bowles said it was with "broken hearts" that they confirmed her death, more than a week after she fell ill in the tourist town of vang vieng. herfriend bianca jones and british lawyer simone white from south—east london, were confirmed to have died on thursday. police have arrested the manager and owner of a hostel in connection with the deaths. jessica lane has the latest.

the death of holly bowles has been confirmed this morning, the day after that of her best friend bianca jones, who was also 19. holly had been rushed here to hospital in bangkok after drinking alcohol that's suspected to have contained methanol. she's the sixth person to have died in the suspected mass poisoning in vang vieng in neighbouring laos. in a statement, holly's family said... holly and bianca played on a football team together at home in australia. tonight at the season's launch, their friends say they will gather to remember them. families are taking a huge amount of comfort from the overwhelming support right across australia. back in vang vieng, people are worried. i won't drink from a glass, i won't drink from an open bottle and i won't drink

home—made alcohol. it's scary, because not every day people are i dying just like this. well, of course, it's going to affect tourism, i'm sure a lot of people are going to cancel. i hear there have been quite a few cancellations. 28—year—old lawyer simone white from orpington in south—east london has also died. the foreign office says it's supporting herfamily. in a statement, her company paid tribute, saying... others including an american and two danish women are thought to have been victims of the suspected poisoning. many were staying here at the nana backpacker hostwl,

laos is one of southeast asia's poorest nations, but it's popular with backpackers. the government here is now warning them all to be very careful about what they drink. jessica lane, bbc news. let's speak to natasha moore, who has been staying in the vang vieng area this week. thanks forjoining us here on the programme, _ thanks forjoining us here on the programme, how- thanks forjoining us here on the programme, how alarmsi thanks forjoining us here on- the programme, how alarms argue by what _ the programme, how alarms argue by what has — the programme, how alarms argue by what has happened? _ the programme, how alarms argue by what has happened? -- - the programme, how alarms argue by what has happened?— by what has happened? -- how alarms are _ by what has happened? -- how been having with other tourists? ., by what has happened? -- how alarms are _ by what has happened? -- how alarms are you? _ by what has happened? -- how alarms are you? i've _ by what has happened? -- how alarms are you? i've just - alarms are you? _ by what has happened? -- how alarms are you? i've _ by what has happened? -- how alarms are you? i've just - by what has happened? -- how alarms are you? i've just got i alarms are you? i've 'ust got out of vang * by what has happened? -- how alarms are you? i've just got i alarms are you? i've 'ust got out of vang * alarms are you? i've 'ust got alarms are you? i've 'ust got out of vang vieng h alarms are you? i've just got out of vang vieng and - alarms are you? i've just got out of vang vieng and it - alarms are you? i've just got out of vang vieng and it has| out of vang vieng and it has been awful, all of us have been out of vang vieng h alarms are you? i've just got out of vang vieng and - alarms are you? i've just got out of vang vieng and it - alarms are you? i've just got out of vang vieng and it has| out of vang vieng and it has been awful, all of us have been so scared, you feel safest in so scared, you feel safest in your own hostel so then hearing your own hostel so then hearing about all of this, it is just about all of this, it is just awful. about all of this, it is 'ust awful. about all of this, it is 'ust awful. , ., ., ., awful. , ., ., ., awful. give me an idea of the sort of conversations - awful. give me an idea of the sort of conversations - awful. give me an idea of the sort of conversations you - awful. give me an idea of the| sort of conversations you have awful. give me an idea of the sort of conversations you - awful. give me an idea of the| sort of conversations you have been having with other been having with other

tourists?— tourists?— been having with other tourists? ., ., tourists? so, iwas in another lace in tourists? so, iwas in another place in laos— tourists? so, iwas in another place in laosjust _ tourists? so, iwas in another place in laosjust before - tourists? so, iwas in another place in laosjust before i - place in laosjust before i went to vang vieng and when i was actually booked to go to nano hostel and on the train on the way, luckily a girl was sat next to me and asking where i was staying and i said nana and she said, have you heard what has happened? i said no and she filled me in and i cancelled straightaway and got into another hostel. the general consensus is we are alljust really scared, we still tried to make a good time but we are just feeling so sad for the victims and family and friends, you can't even imagine it. bare you can't even imagine it. are ou you can't even imagine it. are you travelling _ you can't even imagine it. are you travelling on _ you can't even imagine it. are you travelling on your own or with others? 50 you travelling on your own or with others?— with others? so i am a solo backpacker. _ with others? so i am a solo backpacker, i— with others? so i am a solo backpacker, i have - with others? so i am a solo backpacker, i have done . with others? so i am a solo | backpacker, i have done five months already, a little with my boyfriend but the rest i've been on my own

my boyfriend but the rest i've been on my of spiked, alcohol can be spiked, what else can be spiked? we didn't know whether it was an accident, intentional, we felt very on edge. accident, intentional, we felt very on edge-— very on edge. you told our producer— very on edge. you told our producer that _ very on edge. you told our producer that you - very on edge. you told our producer that you actually | very on edge. you told our - producer that you actually have spoken to your parents and they advised you simply to get away from that area, is that right? yeah, i spoke to my mum and dad yesterday just yeah, i spoke to my mum and dad yesterdayjust as the yeah, i spoke to my mum and dad yesterday just as the news was coming out and they were both absolutely distraught crying saying please come home. it is awful really so i've managed to book, i'm going to australia next, managed to move the flight forward by two days and get one of the few trains with tickets left out of vang vieng today. by tickets left out of vang vieng toda . �* ., ., tickets left out of vang vieng toda. ., ., ,, today. a final thought because an one today. a final thought because anyone doing _ today. a final thought because anyone doing travelling - today. a final thought because anyone doing travelling like i anyone doing travelling like you are for long periods of time, all sorts of assessments are made and you are aware of many sorts of dangers, had you ever been told or discussed or heard about a danger like this? absolutely never, all over southeast asia i have been and

having free shots, free drinks because you do trust it, you don't even think twice about it really. you have new friends, you saved up all this money to try and finally see the world and finding out people pass away from just trying to enjoy themselves is just heartbreaking and it could have been anyone of us and once again, my heart goes out to the victims and all their family and friends. but i would have never imagined in a million years that anything like that could have happened. natasha, aood luck could have happened. natasha, good luck in _ could have happened. natasha, good luck in the _ could have happened. natasha, good luck in the coming - could have happened. natasha, good luck in the coming days, | good luck in the coming days, thank you for taking time to speak to us here on bbc news, thank you. speak to us here on bbc news, thank yon-— speak to us here on bbc news, thank you._ let's i thank you. thank you. let's continue — thank you. thank you. let's continue with _ thank you. thank you. let's continue with this. - let's speak to global expert in methanol outbreaks dr knut erik hovda who is professor and senior consultant at oslo university hospital— and a spokesperson for independent medical humanitarian organisation medecins sans frontieres — which tracks the number of outbreaks around the world. thank you forjoining us on the programme, this is an absolutely terrible case but you track these events globally, where do you see the most cases? we

globally, where do you see the most cases?— most cases? we try to track it but it is predominantly - most cases? we try to track it | but it is predominantly through the news and open sources we find these events. the majority of them are in asia but we don't really know how many they are. we are very aware that this is probably only the tip of the iceberg but most of these incidents i have seen in asia and some in africa, some latin america but we see them all over the world in varying frequency. all over the world in varying frequency-— all over the world in varying freauen . ., , frequency. tell me two things in one answer, _ frequency. tell me two things in one answer, how _ frequency. tell me two things in one answer, how toxic i frequency. tell me two things in one answer, how toxic is i in one answer, how toxic is this substance and why is it actually put in to drink? methanol is not toxic itself but it is metabolised or being transformed in the body to a very toxic metabolite which is forming acids or formate.

itself, it is mixed into alcohol mostly for profit reason is because it is cheaper than regular alcohol and it is easily available for industrial purposes or for environmentally friendly fuel. tell purposes or for environmentally friendly fuel.— friendly fuel. tell me about treatment _ friendly fuel. tell me about treatment because - friendly fuel. tell me about treatment because am i i friendly fuel. tell me about i treatment because am i right in saying if you get to it quick enough, you can help and ease the worst effects? you enough, you can help and ease the worst effects?— enough, you can help and ease the worst effects? you can ease all effects, _ the worst effects? you can ease all effects. you _ the worst effects? you can ease all effects, you can _ the worst effects? you can ease all effects, you can easily i all effects, you can easily walk out of any hospital without drinking a lot of methanol if you get to hospital early enough and that hospital actually has available the treatment that is needed. so that means you can die from a very small proportion of alcohol and you can survive from a quite a substantial one if you get to help. the most important part of the treatment is the anti—docs and the most easily available antidote is regular alcohol —— antidotes.

are critical to what you just said is also the hospital recognising what they are dealing with and giving the right treatment. a final thought about tourists, i was asking a backpack and she had never heard of a danger like this, do people locally, are they aware of things like this happening?— they aware of things like this haueninu? ., ~ ., ., , happening? you know, it varies a lot. happening? you know, it varies a lot- now. _ happening? you know, it varies a lot. now, there _ happening? you know, it varies a lot. now, there will— happening? you know, it varies a lot. now, there will be i happening? you know, it varies a lot. now, there will be a i a lot. now, there will be a very high awareness around this subject, both locally in these areas, among tourists, in the press, among health care providers. whereas after some days, weeks, these are all forgotten. with a very good diagnosis, the symptoms are often so vague until you get really sick. even the health care providers are often not aware of it so locals, i would say, not more than tourists typically are, health care providers are not always

either. ., ., , , either. doctor, that is very illuminating _ either. doctor, that is very illuminating talking - either. doctor, that is very illuminating talking to i either. doctor, that is very| illuminating talking to you, thank you so much forjoining us here on the programme, thanks for your time.- us here on the programme, thanks for your time. thank you so much- _ thanks for your time. thank you so much. plenty _ thanks for your time. thank you so much. plenty more - thanks for your time. thank you so much. plenty more on i thanks for your time. thank you so much. plenty more on that i so much. plenty more on that sto a so much. plenty more on that story a little _ so much. plenty more on that story a little later _ so much. plenty more on that story a little later through i story a little later through the course of today's verified live. let's turn to the next few minutes to the cop29 climate summit. the cop29 climate summit has released a new draft climate finance deal that would have developed nations take the lead. but a european negotiator has said the new draft deal is too costly. delegates in baku have been trying to negotiate a deal that would dramatically increase the amount of money wealthier countries give to poorer ones to help them adapt to global warming. the deal proposes wealthier countries give $250 billion per year to developing nations by 2035 to help tackle climate change. the figure is up from the $100 billion a year currently in place but it's still much lower than the $1.3 trillion a year from public funds that poorer nations have asked for.

let's speak to our climate editorjustin rowlatt who's at cop in baku. we were just giving the details there of the figures but take me through the reaction there has been since this draft has been published?— has been since this draft has been published? there has been fu , i been published? there has been fury. i think _ been published? there has been fury. ! think it— been published? there has been fury, i think it is _ been published? there has been fury, i think it is fair— been published? there has been fury, i think it is fair to - fury, i think it is fair to say, from developing nations. we heard from panama's climate envoy saying it seems as if the developed countries want the planet to burn and we got this from the marshall islands climate envoy, saying, marshall islands is a very low lying islands, very vulnerable to sea level, one of the most vulnerable in the world. a pacific island nation. she says year after year, we bring our stories of climate impacts to these meetings and we receive only sympathy and no real action from wealthy nations. we are not here to tell stories, she says, we are here to save our communities. we were

hearing really similar things from african delegations who said they were going to oppose this. even the lead negotiator for cop29 came very briefly down and was immediately surrounded by huge gaggle of journalists, i managed to get a question to him, i said is 250 billion enough, i know it sounds like a huge amount but i said is it enough and he said it is not as ambitious as we hoped and he said we will go back to parties, that means countries, in these negotiations and continue the talks. he is kind of saying that azerbaijan doesn't think this is enough and indeed there was a statement from the uk team suggesting in a way this is the 1537 00