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 speak to the bbc about their growing alarm. 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 dying just like this. a new yorkjudge grants donald trump permission to seek dismissal of his hush money case. angerfrom developing countries as the draft text of a new global climate agreement is published. hello.

welcome to bbc news. 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 tripadvisor for smugglers. the bbc can also reveal that dil—shad shamo and ali k'dir 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 ran 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. one critical feature exposed by the nca investigation into shamo and khdir is how their lucrative operation was financed.

inside this building is erbil�*s thriving money market. huge amounts of dollars and other currencies are exchanged. what is also going on is hawala banking, a traditional system based almost entirely around trust. hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of deals are made and there are few electronic or paper trails. reasons why hawala banking is often preferred by people smugglers. 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. 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. in the last hour, the parents of simone white said thery of simone white said they were "devastated by the loss of our beautiful, kind and loving daughter." 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 hostel, where staff have confirmed the manager has been detained by police. methanol is a colourless liquid that tastes similar to alcohol. it is often used in paint thinner, antifreeze and de—icer. a relatively small amount can be lethal, as it's absorbed into the bloodstream quickly. prompt treatment offers the best success. if you can get in early enough, then the outcome can be fine. 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. natasha moore is a british backpacker has been staying in the vang vieng area this week and she told us more about how tourists have been feeling after hearing the news of the deaths.

i've just got out of vang vieng, i've been there the last five nights and it has been awful, all of us have been so scared, you feel safest in your own hostel so then hearing about all of this, it is just awful. give me an idea of the sort of conversations you have been having with other tourists? so, i was in another place in laos just before i went to vang vieng and when i was actually booked to go to nana 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's 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. and are you travelling on your own or 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 and the one place you do feel the safest is in your own hostel which makes it so much worse. luckily i made friends with a big group and they were also a big group and they were all so nice and we stuck together, only drank drinks if we saw them being opened or bottled but even then we were scared because if alcohol can be spiked, what else can be spiked? we didn't know whether it was an accident, intentional, we felt 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 yesterdayjust 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.

a final thought because 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 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. that was natasha moore talking to me in the last hour. i spoke to dr knut erik hovda from the humanitarian organisation msf — which tracks the number

of methanol outbreaks around the world, and he told us more about how they tracks these events and how often they occur. 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 actually all over the world in varying frequency. tell me two things 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 formic acids orformate. 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 me about treatment because am i right in saying if you get to it quick enough, you can help and ease the worst effects? you can ease 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 antidotes

and the most easily available antidote is regular alcohol. 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 backpacker and she had never heard of a danger like this, do people locally, are they aware of things like this happening? you know, it varies 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 with a very difficult 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. you watching bbc news.

you're watching bbc news. breaking news from the us where a judge in new york has allowed donald trump to seek dismissal of the so—called hush money case against him. donald trump became the first former or sitting president to be convicted of a crime in a trial earlier this year. lawyers for the president—elect had argued for the case to be dismissed as it would have caused what they described as a "unconstitutional impediments" in his ability to govern. all the while, there is still huge focus on donald trump's latest appointment to his cabinet so let's talk about both of those elements.

let's speak to eric ham who is a us political analyst. i will come to the judge in i will come to thejudge in new york in a moment or two but in terms of what we have seen with the appointments, matt gaetz going over the side yesterday, how surprised where you that enough republicans spoke up so that appointment couldn't happen? that appointment couldn't ha--en? , that appointment couldn't ha en? , ., , �* that appointment couldn't hauen? , , ,, happen? this wasn't surprising at all, happen? this wasn't surprising at all. we _ happen? this wasn't surprising at all, we know— happen? this wasn't surprising at all, we know when - happen? this wasn't surprising l at all, we know when presidents are first elected, oftentimes they are testing the limits and boundaries of their power, of their new—found strength, and so clearly what we are seeing here is while donald trump certainly relishes loyalty over all, this was just another attempt by donald trump to see how far he could go in appointing people, certainly with controversial backgrounds, but what we have seen from donald trump, much like we have seen from previous presidents, is that there was clearly a course correction that we saw when the gaetz nomination went

down. in flames. when the gaetz nomination went down. inflames. his down. in flames. his replacement - down. in flames. his replacement is - down. in flames. his replacement is pam| down. in flames. his replacement is pam bondi, in terms of that pic, we are seeing pictures of her on—screen, at lower levels, a number of lawyers have come from donald trump's legal team, there is a concern that in a sense, critics say he is privatising the whole department ofjustice? department of 'ustice? that is certainly true. — department ofjustice? that is certainly true. in _ department ofjustice? that is certainly true. in fact, - department ofjustice? that is certainly true. in fact, we - certainly true. in fact, we know that a number of the undersecretary is that he has also announced that he will appoint to the justice department, these are people who served as donald trump's own personal lawyers so what we are seeing here is the department ofjustice is quickly becoming a donald trump's own personal law firm which is actually how he wants it. in regards to pam bondi, she too is seen as a maga loyalist but someone able to run something like the

department ofjustice having served as the attorney general for florida, one of the largest in the country.— in the country. you see any other big — in the country. you see any other big appointments - other big appointments unravelling?— unravelling? there are allegations _ unravelling? there are allegations against - unravelling? there arej allegations against the unravelling? there are - allegations against the defence secretary, the head of intelligence, a lot of concern that she has echoed vladimir putin's propaganda. rfkjunior, putin's propaganda. rfk junior, all of putin's propaganda. rfkjunior, all of the conspiracies around him? each of these nominees have a enormous unwanted baggage which will certainly way down their nominations, as you mentioned some of the problems they deface. the biggest concern all of these candidates will face is the fact that they don't have the qualifications or the experience to run massive organisations. not to mention the fact that each one of them are anathema to the actual mission itself of the agencies they will be tasked with running. while there is expected to be an enormous amount of pushback from democrats, we could also expect

some republicans to be concerned about a number of these appointments as well. here's the thing, because we talk names and gaetz is out, someone else in, does it make a difference given the power, the totality of power, donald trump as whoever is ultimately installed, they will do what trump wants?— installed, they will do what trum wants? ., , ., , , trump wants? that is absolutely correct but _ trump wants? that is absolutely correct but what _ trump wants? that is absolutely correct but what we _ trump wants? that is absolutely correct but what we are - trump wants? that is absolutely correct but what we are now - correct but what we are now seeing is the fact that matt gaetz withdrew his nomination because the votes simply weren't there now begs the question, do those senate republicans who will be the final check on donald trump's power, are they now emboldened or are they simply looking for donald trump to actually appoint someone that will not have the political reverberations on those senate republicans because we have to remember, two years is a very short time when many of these republicans will be up for the election and they will certainly have to answer for many of these confirmations

donald trump will ultimately make. ., ., , , , make. final thoughts because we are looking _ make. final thoughts because we are looking at _ make. final thoughts because we are looking at pictures _ make. final thoughts because we are looking at pictures as - make. final thoughts because we are looking at pictures as you - are looking at pictures as you close that i thought of donald trump in court, that conviction i was just trump in court, that conviction i wasjust reading trump in court, that conviction i was just reading out what has happened with that in new york judge. your reaction to that? people around the world might look with incredulity that he has been convicted and in a sense nothing is going to happen?— sense nothing is going to hauen? . 3 ~ happen? that's right. i think this is now _ happen? that's right. i think this is now where _ happen? that's right. i think this is now where the - happen? that's right. i think this is now where the task i happen? that's right. i thinkj this is now where the task of american democracy really comes into play because if this is in fact a nation of laws and a jury fact a nation of laws and a jury of its peers found him guilty, there needs to be some accountability for that entire experiment it comes into question. experiment it comes into question-— experiment it comes into question. experiment it comes into cuestion. ., . ., question. thanks so much for 'oinin: question. thanks so much for joining us _ question. thanks so much for joining us here _ question. thanks so much for joining us here on _ question. thanks so much for joining us here on the - joining us here on the programme, great to talk to you. programme, great to talk to ou. . ~' programme, great to talk to ou. . ~ , ., the un peacekeeping force in lebanon says four italian peacekeepers have been injured after two rockets struck their position in the south of the country. the force said the rockets were likely launched by hezbollah

or affiliated groups. the attack comes amid heightening tensions in the region with heavy shelling and ground skirmishes in recent days. 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 $1.3tn a year from public funds that poorer nations have asked for. here's our climate editor, justin rowlatt, on the reaction to this draft since it has been published.

there has been 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, 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 a huge gaggle ofjournalists, 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 first offer — indicating they were open to further negotiations. i think we will see that total increase. it isjust after 7pm here in azerbaijan, the conference was supposed to finish at 6pm, already running over and our understanding is we probably won't get a significant development, a new text with a new figure in it, until the morning. there will be negotiating teams shuttling between each other trying to work out a compromise that people can coalesce around if you like, matthew. as you are speaking, we are showing pictures of the consequences of climate change, as you would expect. let's leave finances aside

for the next question, in terms of this cop, just take me through and give you your assessment of the successes and failures? right at the beginning, we did get an agreement on one of the last remaining issues from the paris agreement which was back in 2015, the real landmark development in this whole process where all the countries of the world, for the first time ever, said they would all work to tackle climate change. but the reward for developing countries for signing up to that was the hundred billion dollars a year of funding from the developed world that you referred to. what the developed world back said back in paris in 2015 was that was a down payment, we will come back in ten years' time and increase that figure and here we are in baku and that is the negotiation that is under way. this is very much part of the process and there was an agreement right at the beginning saying

there's a carbon trading system that might potentially generate billions of dollars for the developing world that has been in discussion for those full nine years and we got agreement on that, or tentative agreement on that i should say, there is some suggestion there needs to be some details worked out. the big question is this finance issue and also what commitment, whether we will restate the commitment made in the uae and dubai last year to transition away from fossil fuels, that is still in play here in baku. justin rowlatt our climate editor. we will have more fun that a cop here in about ten minutes' time. one more story because the american singer katy perry has won an appeal in a long—running trademark case against a fashion designer in australia. both women share the same name but should spell theirfirst same name but should spell their first differently. the designer trademarked her company in 2008, the same year the pop star had herfirst company in 2008, the same year the pop star had her first hit but the court ruled the name is now synonymous with the singer.

all change weather—wise, something i would have stormy. to date quieter, still a very cold ice and snow underfoot but blue sky and sunshine, two but there will be some severe weather through the weekend from storm bert, severe gales and heavy rain and as that bumps into the cold air, likely to turn to snow. drifting snow over the tops of the hills, here are some of the snowfall amounts, perhaps even blizzard —like conditions. snow to lower levels, parts of the central bout and down through north—east england. here is the storm approaching tonight, for a while, temperature is likely to dip below freezing again, will be some snow for a while across northern ireland, parts of wales and north—west england perhaps, temperature is in scotland could dip as low as -12, the scotland could dip as low as —12, the coldest all week. the storm pushes its way northward

and snow turns back to rain, the rain continues to pile into west and wales, south—west england, too. they could possibly be flooding here but the air is mild, 13 to 15 celsius towards the south. still cold across scotland and this is where we have our amber weather warning across parts of the grampians, they could be as much as a0 centimetres of snow drifting around with those strong gusty winds. widespread gales across the whole of the uk, some irish sea coasts and towards north sea facing ghosts, gusts of up to 70 mph. winds also picking up a cross channel coasts even towards the south—east of england as we head through sunday morning. this is where the bulk of the rain is likely to be on sunday, across central southern england, stretching across the south east england, some heavy downpours at times. still windy on these irish sea coasts, more showers packing into western scotland and into northern ireland but also some scotland and into n