at six — two men who ran a people—smuggling operation from a car wash in south wales plead guilty in court. the men, who live in caerphilly, were part of a vast operation which brought hundreds of illegal migrants to the uk. they ran their business like a travel agency. someone said in my team, it was like tripadvisor. you know, they were rating their service. also tonight — a sixth tourist, 19—year—old holly bowles, dies after suspected methanol poisoning in laos. the family of the british victim, simone white, say she was one of a kind. the mixed martial arts star conor mcgregor is ordered to pay more than £200,000 to a woman who accused him of raping her. this was her message outside court. no matter how afraid you might be, speak up, you have a voice, and keep on fighting forjustice. chaos at gatwick airport, after one terminal was evacuated for hours, on a day that tens of thousands were expecting to fly. and as storm bert approaches,

we'll be telling you where and when the snow, wind and rain is likely to hit the uk. and on sportsday later in the hour on bbc news, ruben amorim lays out his manchester united master plan as he prepares to take charge of his first match this weekend. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. two men have pleased guilty to running a vast people—smuggling operation from a car wash in south wales. dilshad shamo and ali khdir, from caerphilly, moved hundreds of people from iraq, iran and syria into the uk using cars, lorries and boats. they were arrested last year by the national crime agency, who told the bbc that they ran

their business like a travel agency and even advertised their services, like a tripadvisor for smugglers. wyre davies has the story. 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. 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 in 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. 0ne 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's 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. 0ur 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 a deal, and most hawala banking has legitimate purposes. but experts say it shows why 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 refocusing efforts to combat migrant smuggling on those financial flows, 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's 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. more on that story tonight. undercover: people smugglers is on bbc1 wales at 7:30pm, and it's also on the iplayer. six foreign tourists have now died in laos, in south east asia, from suspected methanol poisoning. 19—year—old holly bowles died today. herfriend bianca jones, 19, has also died. and this is simone white,

a british lawyerfrom kent, whose parents have been paying tribute to her today. they were in a town called vang vieng in laos that's popular among backpackers. two other victims aged 19 and 20 were from denmark. an american man in his 50s has also died. some of those who fell ill were taken to hospital in thailand, from where rupert wingfield—hayes now reports. music this is a video bianca jones and holly bowles posted on tiktok earlier this year. two best friends, full ofjoy, about to take off on the adventure of a lifetime. today, news came that 19—year—old holly had died from methanol poisoning. bianca, also 19, died in hospital yesterday. meanwhile, the family of british victim simone white today released a statement, describing her as "one of a kind". "she had the most wonderful energy and spark for life," it said. "she has been taken from us too soon. she will be sorely missed by her brother, grandmother and entire family." the town of vang vieng has become a popular destination for young

travellers thanks to its natural beauty, river rafting and its reputation as a party town. come with me to nana backpacker hostel in laos. this is the nana hostel, where some of the victims are thought to have stayed. it's not known where any of them were poisoned, but the manager of the hostel has now been detained. one british man who stayed there two years ago says it was known as a party hostel. it's known that they had free shots from 7—9pm every evening, and it's just really scary to think that it could've been one of me or my friends, and it's so tragic. news of the deaths has spread fast, nowhere more so than here in bangkok. this is the famous khao san road in bangkok, and this is the place

where for people from all over the world, their south east asia adventure begins. and while we have met some people here tonight who said they have decided not to go to laos because of what has happened there, we've also met plenty of others who are entirely unperturbed. i need to go, but at the time, i didn't know anything about it. and what have your parents said to you? they're glad i'm out of laos, but i'm on my own in thailand for about a month now. so they're a bit more apprehensive. it worries my mum a little bit more, i reckon, but, you know, _ i i'm definitely going to play it. safe, pace myself, try and have drinks with a bottlecap on them and stuff like that. _ keep my wits about me, i reckon. more and more young people are travelling to south east asia to enjoy the freewheeling party scene, but many are unaware of the dangers that can lie in wait. so, sophie, behind me, this bangkok hostel is where one of the victims was brought who died today, all the way from laos, where the doctors

here tried to save her, but they were ultimately unsuccessful. and i think one of the lessons that we have learned from this tragedy is just how dangerous methanol poisoning is. experts are saying that as little as 25 millilitres of methanol can be fatal to human beings. and it is absolutely key when someone does get poisoned with methanol that they get proper treatment very, very quickly if they are to survive. but for many of these victims, that was not possible because they were up in rural laos where that sort of treatment was simply unavailable. studio: rupert, from thailand, thank you. a court in ireland has ordered the mixed martial arts star conor mcgregor to pay more than £200,000 in damages to a woman who accused him of raping her at a hotel in dublin. nikita hand told the civil court that he would not take no for an answer when he assaulted her in 2018. he had denied the claim, saying the sex was consensual.

0ur correspondent kevin sharkey is in dublin. this happened a short time ago, tell us more about what has happened this afternoon. ~ . ., us more about what has happened this afternoon. ~ _, ., ., afternoon. well, the court room here at the hiuh afternoon. well, the court room here at the high court _ afternoon. well, the court room here at the high court in _ afternoon. well, the court room here at the high court in dublin _ afternoon. well, the court room here at the high court in dublin is - at the high court in dublin is small, it was packed to capacity and tension filled the air earlier this afternoon when thejury tension filled the air earlier this afternoon when the jury returned to deliver their verdict. they were asked, did conor mcgregor salt nikita hand? and they responded, yes. they then went on to would damages against mcgregor of almost a quarter ofi million euros. afterwards, nikita hand came out to meet the media and she said it proves that people can be vindicated. you can stand up for yourself if something happens to you, no matter who the person is, and justice will be served. to all the victims of sexual assault, i hope my story is a reminder that no matter how afraid you might be, speak up — you have a voice and keep

on fighting forjustice. conor mcgregor, he left the high courtjust before nikita hand spoke. he was surrounded by family and friends and bundled into a car and he left without saying anything. with the latest from dublin, thank you. energy bills are set to rise again injanuary. bill payers are being urged to shop around for the best deals, after the regulator, 0fgem, increased its price cap for the second time since october. someone paying by direct debit and using a typical amount of gas and electricty will pay around £1,700 a year. 0ur cost of living correspondent colletta smith reports. customers here know how to make every penny stretch further. drying is really, really popular, and people come in just to use the dryer. so they'll come in with wet washing... wet washing, and use a dryer cos it's actually

cheaper to use our drying service than to use it in the house. but this laundrette is a little different. run as a co—op, they give a free wash and dry to anyone who needs it, and tea and toast while you wait. for rob, that's a lifeline. how does it feel, waking up in your house? cold. just...just cold. yeah, it takes you longer to wake up. you know, you have to... black coffee is a godsend of a morning. you know, the extra hoodie, the extra duvet, the extra blanket, that's what you've got to do. an extra couple of pounds a month on his energy bill will be tough. that would dig into the money that i've allocated for food, for instance. and then, as it is, i have one meal a day. right now, a typical bill paid through direct debit is £1,717, but that will go up injanuary to £1,738, lower than this time last year, but still way above prices before the energy crisis. although today's price rise isn't the biggestjump we've seen this year, it will feel the toughest for a lot of people.

that's because it kicks in on the 1st ofjanuary, which is a time of year when we all use maximum amounts of energy. it's already freezing outside. in rural lancashire, houses here in pendle have some of the worst insulation in the country. it's really hard to stay warm without spending a fortune. people need the help from me, i and i can't leave until i know i've kind of fulfilled my promise to them. i hello, good morning, it'sjessica. i'm calling from - the open door centre. i see an influx of pensioners coming in who their utility bills _ are probably on par with a family. notjust pensioners, single people, people on their own who are having to heat the full house. it's expensive. most pensioners won't get extra help because of the cuts to the winter fuel allowance this year, which the prime minister says was necessary. there were lots of decisions we had to make in the budget which, to be perfectly honest, i'd have preferred not to have had to make. there are a number of people

who are entitled to pension credit who aren't claiming it, and it's very important that we take up that...or they take up that entitlement. there are fixed deals available now which could save money, so the regulator is encouraging people to shop around. but energy bills in the new year will still be a stretch for most. colletta smith, bbc news. there's been chaos at gatwick airport today, after the south terminal was evacuated because of a security alert. thousands of people were stranded for several hours, as flights had to be delayed or cancelled. around 100,000 people were expected to pass through the airport today. it's the uk's second busiest. from there, nickjohnson reports. stranded at britain's second—busiest airport. most of gatwick�*s south terminal was evacuated this morning after staff found a suspected prohibited item in luggage. check—in was closed, flights were cancelled. i mean, i imagine the airport's got a pa system, but there's been no announcement since i've been here and i've been here for two hours. and now the phones are not working

because everyone's trying to phone. so people have gone on to the airport wi—fi, and now the airport wi—fi has gone down. some described an initial feeling of panic, with little information and passengers being offered foil blankets. i think we managed to get one of the last rooms... with little prospect of getting on a plane, 14—year—old kaylin and his family checked into an airport hotel to wait it out. as police responded to the situation, roads around the airport were closed, trains to and from gatwick station were cancelled. i landed at 9:45, and i was supposed to catch a train to liverpool. - and that's not happening, so now i have to re—route| and i have to go to devon. by mid—afternoon, the security alert had been resolved, but the airport has warned of persisting delays and cancellations while it works to clear the backlog.

well, i have just well, i havejust checked well, i have just checked the departure boards and those delays and cancellations continue into this evening. the 6115 b to zurich cancelled, the 7:40pm to valencia cancelled, the 7:40pm to valencia cancelled and there are others as well. in terms of the incident itself sussex police has confirmed that officers from its explosive disposal team were involved in making that package are safe. it says that two people who were detained at the time have subsequently been allowed to continue with their journeys. subsequently been allowed to continue with theirjourneys. the force says they will remain an increased presence in the area over the coming day to allow people to get back into the south terminal and carry on with theirjourneys. sophie. the time is 6.16 our top story this evening... two men have pleaded guilty to running a vast people smuggling operation from a car wash in south wales. i wales. couldn't have been clearer. they were, i couldn't have been clearer. they were, emily. i couldn't have been clearer. they were. emily-— nearly 20 years since the release

of the cult classic film the devil wear�*s prada, now it's been refashioned for the stage. at and on sportsday in the next 15 minutes on bbc news, max verstappen can hit the formula 1 jackpot this weekend in las vegas, but his red bull is a long way off the pace after the first day of practice. donald trump was due to be sentenced next week after being found guilty of concealing payments to the porn star stormy daniels. but today the judge ordered the sentencing to be delayed — indefinitely — now that he has been re—elected to the white house. 0ur north america editor sarah smith is in washington. so is that it? guilty but no sentence? well, in fact donald trump's lawyers are saying that it should be entirely overturned and it should be thrown out in order to allow for the orderly transition of power as mr

trump comes in as president. separately they point to a supreme court ruling from earlier this year that says that presidents have brought immunity from prosecution for acts and they that the hush money payments to stormy daniels comes under the definition. unsurprisingly the prosecution do not agree with this request and what they say should happen is that the judge should freeze donald trump's conviction and then return to it once he has finished his presidential term in 2029. both sides have to submit their arguments but even before that donald trump's spokesperson is calling this a decisive win for the president—elect. but as it stands, in fact, donald trump would be the first ever convicted felon to enter the white house as president. if the judge decides not to quash this conviction. judge decides not to quash this conviction-— judge decides not to quash this conviction. ., ,, . ~' , .,

downing street has indicated that israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu faces arrest if he travels to the uk, after an international arrest warrant was issued for him yesterday. a no 10 spokesman refused to comment on the specific case but said the government would fulfil its "legal obligations". the international criminal court has issued an arrest warrant for benjamin netanyahu, along with israel's former defence minister yoav gallant, over alleged war crimes in gaza. mr netanyahu last visited the uk in march 2023. the court also issued a warrant for a senior hamas military commander. queen camilla will miss the royal variety performance this evening as she is still recovering from a chest infection. earlier this week the queen returned to public duties, receiving an honorary doctorate from the university of london but doctors have advised that she prioritise rest to fully recover. the king will attend the show as planned. this is mia, she's14 years old and earlier this year she suffered paralysis in the lower half of her body after a suicide

attempt. like many other young people, she struggled to get the right mental health support. now bbc analysis of nhs data shows that even those young people who do get psychiatric treatments don't see improvements in their health. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan met with mia to hear her story. i just want to be ordinary. i just want to feel ordinary. mia has been left with catastrophic injuries after a suicide attempt in march, the culmination of near lifelong mental health problems. ijust wish i could have done things differently. at age seven, mia diagnosed herself as being autistic, but mental health professionals insisted she wasn't. tests for autism have now been updated to better spot the condition in girls. i find it very difficult to socialise with people in a quote unquote normal way, like there's

never truly anywhere that i will belong. having felt ignored through primary school, at age 12, mia was diagnosed as being autistic. she got an eight week cbt course, but everything was too late. the same year, she made her first suicide attempt. aged 13, she received medication for depression and anxiety. i kept telling them that she was in danger, you know. were you that explicit? yeah. she tried to take her own life four times. bbc analysis of official nhs data shows that mia is not alone. over half of young people receive psychiatric support, show no improvement in their health after treatment, with one in ten actually deteriorating. the main story we hear is that, you know, people will eventually, you know, get some care and then, you know, they'll maybe get ten sessions of cbt and then no matter what improvement they've been, they'll be discharged.

nhs england say that stabilising symptoms can allow a patient to be offered new options, but in mia's case, her health worsened further and earlier this year she tried to end her life. her recovery has been gruelling. i couldn't move, couldn't sit up. i was in constant pain. i was on multitudes of medication just to not cry. whittington health nhs trust, which provided mia with mental health services, said the care they provided was in line with national guidance and regret that mia's difficulties continued to escalate. so, essentially, i'm trapped in my own home. the 14—year—old now faces another challenge. her home in this block of flats has no lift, so to get anywhere she has to shuffle down two flights of stairs. i have to go off the step and then put my legs down and lift myself down each and every

step individually. most of mia's days are now spent staring out her bedroom window. like many other young people, she feels failed by mental health services. yet tomorrow, she believes, will be better than today. one day i'm going to be proud of myself, and i think that's what i'm looking towards. a place where i can look behind at all of this and be proud at how much i've overcome. michael buchanan with that report. if you are suffering distress or despair and need support, including urgent support, a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline the cop29 climate summit in azerbaijan is expected to continue into the weekend as arguments persist about how much rich countries should pay to help poorer nations combat global warming. a draft agreement proposes that 250 billion dollars should be provided annually by 2035. climate activists and developing

countries say more is needed. a big moment for manchester united this weekend — the club's new head coach ruben amorim says he is the "right man at the right moment" but will need time to implement his ideas. his first match in charge is on sunday at ipswich. speaking ahead of the game, the 39—year—old said he has faith in his new players. 0ur sports editor dan roan reports. for more than a decade, the managerial merry—go—round at old trafford has been nonstop. the latest to fill the manchester united hot seat, ruben amorim, but in his first news conference since arriving, the portuguese coach rejected the idea that this is now football's impossible job. i believe that... call me naive, but i truly believe that i'm the right guy in the right moment. i could be wrong, but the earth still will turn, the sun will rise again, it doesn't matter. so i'm not worried about that.

after a dismal start to the season, united sacked erik ten hag last month, and amorim has had just a few days with his new players ahead of his first match against ipswich on sunday. i'm a little bit a dreamer, and i believe in myself. i also believe in the club. i think we have the same idea, the same mindset. and how much time do you think you're going to need realistically to repair united? i don't know about repair, but like i said, we have space to grow as a team. i know that when you are in manchester united, you have to win games. it's a great league, the strongest league in the world. amorim gave an assured performance here at united's training ground today, but ultimately he knows he'll be judged by results on the pitch. and with the club unlikely to be able to afford to spend too much on new players injanuary, the task of restoring them to the top of the english game will not be easy. amorim forged a reputation

as one of europe's top coaches at sporting lisbon, and in his final champions league match there, secured a famous victory over united's archrivals manchester city. their manager, pep guardiola, ended speculation over his future this week by signing a two—year contract extension, giving the club a timely boost. the champions continue to contest a catalogue of charges of alleged financial rule—breaking. they deny wrongdoing, and the coach today insisted he would stand by city. what happened, i will be here. next year, we'll come up to the... i don't know the position of the conference they're going to bring us, we're going to come up and come up. we're going to come back to the premier league. having won four titles in a row, city are currently on a four—match losing streak, but guardiola is now set to extend his trophy—laden stay to more than a decade. how his new rival on the other side of town would love to achieve even some of that success. dan roan, bbc news. it's almost 20 years

since meryl streep's portrayal of the ferocious fashion editor miranda priestly ensured the film the devil wear�*s prada became a cult classic. now it's been refashioned for the stage — the musical features an all—star cast and music that's been written by sir eltonjohn. charlotte gallagher has been back—stage ahead of it's west end debut. i couldn't have been clearer. there you are, emily. how many times do i have to scream your name? actually, it's andy. it was a huge hollywood hit on screen. now, the devil wears prada is making its west end stage debut. vanessa williams, who famously played cut—throat wilhelmina slater in ugly betty, is taking on the role of another fearsome fashion editor, miranda priestly. charlotte. charlotte! there you are, charlotte. yes, miss williams. how many times do i have to scream your name? i'm so sorry. have a seat. so i've been used to playing strong women with definitely missions to accomplish.

and i guess it'sjust, you know, a casting director saying, oh, i know who can do this. and that's when i get the call. vanessa has been in showbiz for four decades and, at the age of 61, says hollywood is realising audiences want to see actors their own age. you know, we're not dead yet. we've got plenty of stories to tell, and i think it's reflective on an active and an avid fandom that are women that are 60 plus. they're going to give us stuff that, you know, appeals to us. you don't deserve them. you eat carbs. in the film, emily blunt and anne hathaway play professional rivals. their theatrical counterparts, amy di bartolomeo and georgie buckland, put that rivalry aside to speak to us, and the show is georgie's west end debut. i don't really know how i got here and how this happened so fast, because i didn't think it was going to happen so quickly and all at once. but, god, i'm so lucky. a million girls would

kill for thisjob. and you have some of the best lines in the show. we get to dive in even more in the show than she does in the film. so i get to talk about her backstory and why she is the way she is, and i hope that makes sense to why she is the way she is. the devil wears prada film has been fashioned into a musical with songs and costumes tailor—made. charlotte gallagher, bbc news. time for a look at the weather, here's darren bett. yes, storm bert has a triple threat this weekend. for a while across northern parts of england and scotland there will be heavy snow, blizzards and drifting. but with snowmelt and heavy rain that is the risk of flooding. and added onto that we have widespread and very windy weather, too. at the moment things are fairly quiet but you can see out to the west we are going to see out to the west we are going to see the wind is picking up later in

the night, wet weather moving in, snow briefly over the hills of northern ireland and wales. temperatures down to —12 in eastern parts of scotland. temperatures will rise through the night but it is still cold enough for scotland and northern england to have some heavy snow early tomorrow morning. 0ver northern england to have some heavy snow early tomorrow morning. over in the east, the pennines and scotland blizzards drifting. a lot more snow over the hills. there maybe further amber warnings issued but at the moment we have this one across this part of scotland and here they could be as much as a0 centimetres of snow, very treacherous. what we find through the day is it is rain for most areas and where it is snowing the snow will turn to rain. this note lifting on to the mountains. some of the rain will be heavy. not much rain towards the south—east and east anglia and it will clear away i think in the afternoon for northern ireland but it will be very windy. widespread gales, the strongest winds around the coastal areas in the west and the irish sea. gusts of 60 or 70 miles an hour. instead of a

northerly wind it is as