a massive airstrike on a multi—storey building in the heart of lebanon's capital leaves dozens injured and at least four dead, according to local reports. president—elect trump makes a number of big nominations to his cabinet, including picks to lead the treasury, labour and the centers for disease control. the laos government says it is profoundly saddened by the poisoning deaths of six foreign tourists. hello, i'm carl nasman. we start in beirut, where there are reports of casualties after several blasts in the lebanese capital. these are the latest pictures we have, showing first responders at the scene of the blast. reuters news agency is quoting the lebanese state news agency saying an eight—storey building was hit with five missiles in the central basta area of beirut. the lebanese health ministry says at least four people were killed and dozens are injured. this is the scene in beriut, as israel continues its offensive against hezbollah.

you can see the smoke across your screen. meanwhile, the un peacekeeping agency in southern lebanon says four italian peacekeepers were injured after a rocket attack hit one of its bases. it comes as the humanitarian situtation in the country continues to worsen, with the international rescue committee in lebanon reporting that children have been separated from their families amid the escalating conflict. the un's children's agency, unicef, says that more than 200 children have been killed in lebanon since october and that more than 300,000 children have been displaced. elsewhere, the british government indicated on friday that israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu could face arrest if he travels to the uk.

it comes a day after the international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for mr netanyahu over alleged war crimes in gaza. a government spokesperson refused to comment directly on the case but said the uk will fulfil its legal obligations. mr netanyahu has blasted the icc�*s allegations, accusing the court of bias and antisemitism. for more on the situation across the middle east, i spoke to gina abercrombie—winstanley, non—resident senior fellow at the atlantic council. i want to first ask you about these arrest warrants issued by the icc. we heard the uk among several nations saying that they would honour those if he were to travel to their country. what does this all say now for israel and for the prime minister? good evening, carl. well, it shows that there is creeping pressure from the international community on the way that the government of israel has conducted the war in the gaza strip. this is one of the few ways

that the international community is able to make its views known, via the icc. strictly speaking, of course, because israel and the united states are not parties, it's not going to have a strong impact on him domestically — not at all, of course. and indeed, his popularity may raise a little bit because he is seen to be a victim of worldwide anti—semitic behaviour, as he has charged. but it is a reaction to the way the war has been conducted. one of the challenges for israel increasingly will be the fact that they have kept out non—involved observers — journalists and others who can see exactly what is going on on the ground, how much of the damage has been done, is aid getting in. that could help them

make their case that there have not been crimes against humanity or violations of international humanitarian law. but if he travels, many countries are going to have to make that hard choice. do they stand by this court, as they have said, or are they only supporting the court's work when it doesn't cost them anything? so this is the challenge for the rest of the world. you know, we heard some optimistic words, actually, about a potential ceasefire from lebanon, those coming from a top us official, amos hochstein, who is in the region trying to broker this deal. is this the best chance to get a piece deal signed between israel and hezbollah? yes, it may well be. but the reality is that it's not going to be the last chance, even if it does not work. there are many reasons to be hopeful. mr netanyahu said his goal is to get residents back into the north of israel.

he cannot do it, even with the devastating impact their war in lebanon, and of course the attacks on the communication devices, have had. they have really struck hard against hezbollah, but hezbollah proves on a daily basis that they can still fire rockets into the north of israel. so that goal cannot be met, and is unlikely to be met unless there is a ceasefire. so if the pressure is strong, it may happen under the biden administration, and if not, it most likely will happen under a trump administration. you know, we've seen the us working hard for these deals in terms of ceasefires on the ground, but then we also saw the us vetoing for the fourth time a un security council resolution calling for a ceasefire in gaza because it didn't directly link that ceasefire to the release of hostages. when it comes to the un, do you think the us is potentially taking too hard of a line when it comes to the wording

of these ceasefire resolutions? i believe that many would argue that this last veto was extraordinary and deeply unfortunate. certainly the palestinian representative spoke what many people think — that a ceasefire will not solve everything but it is the first step to solving anything. and that quote is one that resonates with many. this could be — again, president biden feels very strongly in support of israel, and in spite of his frustrations with the prime minister, even in support of the prime minister. and this was his last statement that the us is standing with israel, right or wrong. but it does undermine the united nations when you've got a 14—1 vote. it does make clear that the normal paths to having the international community have a voice are not available. nonetheless, all of

the resolutions that have been passed before have not made an impact on the ground. in the last few hours donald trump has announced multiple major picks for his new cabinet when he returns to the white house next year. for labour secretary, the president—elect plans to nominate republican congresswoman lori chavez—deremer of oregon. ms chavez—deremer notably was endorsed by the teamsters, one of the largest worker unions, to serve as labour secretary. mr trump also announced drjanette nesheiwat as surgeon general. she is a family doctor who also appears as a medical correspondent on fox news. to lead the centers for disease control, mr trump nominated former republican congressman dr dave weldon. a trained physician, he'll oversee a public health budget of $17.3 billion. in charge of the us department of housing and urban develpoment, the incoming president plans to nominate scott turner. he is a former american football player who served in donald trump's first administration. and for the critical role

of treasury secretary, he plans to nominate scott bessent, a billionaire hedge fund investor. mr bessent advised president—elect trump on economic policy during his 2024 presidential campaign. and just a reminder — all these cabinet picks will have to be confirmed by the senate, which is republican controlled. meanwhile, thejudge in donald trump's hush money case ordered his sentencing to be delayed indefinitely. the president—elect was scheduled to be sentenced next tuesday, but that has now been suspended in what his team is calling a victory. mr trump was found guilty in may on 3a counts of falsifying business records to cover up a payment made to an adult film star. his lawyers argue his conviction should be dismissed on the grounds of presidential immunity. prosecutors continue to fight for his sentencing, but suggest it could wait until after trump's second term, set to end in 2029. for more on this i spoke to politico senior legal affairs reporterjosh gerstein.

first of all, the sentencing in new york has now been postponed indefinitely. walk us through this, and at what point, if ever, do you think we may see a sentencing date in this case? well, it's hard to say, carl, when we're going to see sentencing. i think it's looking like dwindling chances between now and 20 january, when donald trump is scheduled to be inaugurated. we've seen two different serious issues come up in this case after the convictions of donald trump on the 3a felony counts earlier this year, the first big event being the supreme court decision on presidential immunity. people might think off the top of their head that doesn't have much to do with something where basically most of it occurred before the 2016 election, long before donald trump was actually serving as president. but there were some things that were testified to at trial that did occur while trump was president, and there now

needs to be some vetting of that testimony and that evidence under the supreme court decision. and then another very significant development, of course, is donald trump's election a couple of weeks ago to be president again. and those two things combined have really waylaid this case — have made it difficult for the sentencing to proceed and difficult even for the legal discussion about immunity and so forth to go forward. it's really looking like the clock is going to run out on this over the course of the next two months. i guess the question that a lot of people are thinking is, is it legal to actually sentence a sitting president or a president—elect? what does the constitution say about that? that seems to be a tricky situation. well, it's uncharted territory. we have had presidential candidates serving in prison while they were running for president, but we've never quite had the situation where you had a president—elect that was facing sentencing

or a president that might possibly be sentenced to prison. while there's no direct analogue and no direct precedent, most legal experts, including people on both sides of the political spectrum, feel especially a state court really cannot go forward with this kind of a proceeding — certainly after 20 january, when donald trump becomes president again. and then there's an open question about whether they can do some proceedings or proceed to sentencing while he's president—elect. technically they probably can. as a practical matter, it mayjust not be practical to make it happen. it looks like the schedule for this case is now spilling into mid—december anyway. you have the christmas holidays and obviously more and more intensive preparations for the new administration as we approach that inauguration day. yes, and josh, ijust wanted to bring up this new reporting that we're reading in the washington post tonight that donald trump wants to fire jack smith's team.

of course, that's the team within the justice department that worked on those two federal prosecutions against him. can he do that, and what would that mean for the justice department? well, part of that, i think, is going to be very difficult for donald trump to do. that's the part about firing jack smith. the reason i think that's going to be almost impossible is i'm virtually certain that jack smith won't be working comes into office. he will step down himself — is that what you mean? yes, he was brought in specifically to deal with this case or these cases. they've already signalled that that office is planning to wind down. so i think he'll have departed the justice department by the time trump and his appointees arrive, and then the question becomes what becomes of his staff, which is for the most part not specially hired. most of them come from the career ranks of the justice department. i guess anything is possible. you could declare them fired and take them off the payroll. that would be a pretty strong aberration, in my view,

from the way misconduct of the kind that donald trump is claiming was engaged in here — political targeting and lawfare are the words him and his supporters like to use. usually if you have attorney misconduct there is a procedure that goes throughout the justice department, and any kind of discipline requires the approval or concurrence of the most senior career official in the justice department. and it's just sort of hard to see how that will happen in any way on a quick timeline, in the way this story is suggesting that the trump people want. i guess it's always possible they could choose to deviate from procedure. i think if that happens, of course, you're going to see, as you always do, especially when attorneys are involved, a lot of tangled litigation over this question if they really do try to fire career prosecutors who were attached either to jack smith's office

or to his predecessor, special counsel robert mueller�*s office, which is something the trump administration is talking about doing. the government of laos says it is profoundly saddened after six tourists in the south—east asian country died in a suspected mass methanol poisoning. the australian government says 19—year—old backpacker holly bowles died in a hospital in thailand. she was on holiday with her best friend, bianca jones, who is another suspected victim. on thursday it was confirmed 28—year—old simone white, a lawyerfrom the uk, had also died. they were staying in a town called vang vieng in laos that is popular among backpackers. two other victims aged 19 and 20 were from denmark, and an american man in his 50s has also died. some of those who fell ill were taken to hospital in neighbouring thailand. rupert wingfield—hayes sent us this report from there. 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. holly was brought all the way from laos to this bangkok hospital, where doctors tried to save her life, but experts say methanol poisoning is extremely dangerous. as little as 25 ml can be fatal, and prompt treatment is key to survival. 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 backpackers 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. and now tourists who were supposed to go to the hostel are staying clear, and many are leaving the town. i spoke to my mum and dad yesterday, just as the news was coming out, and they were both just absolutely distraught, like crying, saying please come home. and it'sjust awful, really. so i've managed to book — i'm going to australia next. i managed to move the flight forward by two days and get one of the few trains with tickets left out of vang vieng today. 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 was there a few weeks ago, so at the time i didn't know anything about it. and what have your parents said to you? they're glad that i'm out of laos, but i'm on my own in thailand for about a month now, so i think they're a bit more apprehensive. it worries my mum a little bit more, i reckon. but, you know, i'm definitely going to play it safe, pace myself, try and have drinks with a bottle cap 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. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in bangkok. ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky, called on world leaders to respond seriously after russia attacked his country with a new kind of hypersonic ballistic missile.

he said ukraine was already talking with allies about new air defence systems. russian president vladimir putin has publicly praised the missile system, known as 0reshnik, used to attack the ukrainian city of dnipro. though that attack used a conventional missile, it's thought the system is designed to deliver nuclear weapons. mr putin said a decision was made to begin production of the experimental weapon and the technology could pose a risk beyond ukraine's border. with a range of 3,000 miles, it's a weapon that could threaten targets across europe. two men have pleaded 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, which told the bbc the criminal enterprise was run along the lines of a travel agency, with services advertised like a tripadvisor for smugglers. here is wyre davies. from this innocuous

and otherwise legitimate car wash, ali khdirand 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 irbil, 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 irbil�*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.

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 the 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 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. the us rapper and music producer sean "diddy" combs appeared in a new york court on friday to make a new request for bail as he awaits trial on sex trafficking and racketeering charges. mr combs has been detained at a new yorkjail for more than two months. two previous bail requests were rejected afterjudges deemed him a flight risk and said he may try to contact witnesses. as court wrapped up on friday, thejudge did not make a decision on whether to grant mr combs bail, saying he needed additional information. the 55—year—old star, one of the most influential figures in the us music industry, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and denied any wrongdoing. 0ur correspondent nada tawfik sent this report.

several members of his family walked past the media here and went inside to support him. all six of his adult children and his mother. and when the disgraced hip—hop mogul saw them inside the courtroom, he beamed and he blew them guesses. now, it was noticeable when he was escorted in wearing a ten gel uniform without shackles just how noticeably he had changed in his appearance since his arrest in september. he was noticeably thinner, his hairfar more grey, but his team really has pushed hard for him to be released on bail. they proposed the $50 million bond but have gone even further with stricter proposed conditions, including 24/7 security at an apartment on the upper east side of manhattan, saying that he would give up any connection to the phone or internet except to speak with his legal team. but prosecutors argued that he remained a

danger to the community. they say that since their investigations started, they have learned of even more incidents of violence between him and his employees, his romantic partners and people who just got too close. they are also worried that he would tamper with witnesses and abstract proceedings. now, his defence lawyers say that the conditions at the jail in brooklyn where he currently is horrific, and that's preventing him from preparing for trial. they say that he is not a violent person. he has pleaded not guilty to the charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. it is now up to thejudge to weigh racketeering. it is now up to the judge to weigh in. the judge said he will make a decision by next week. and before we go, it's not quite thanksgiving yet here in the us, but preparations are already under

way for christmas celebrations. this is the lighting of chicago's official christmas tree in the city's millennium park, with a fireworks display and cheering crowds around the 53—foot colorado blue spruce. elsewhere, the capitol christmas tree arrived in washington on friday as part of a tradition dating back to 1964. it traveled 700 miles by sea and 4,000 miles by truck to reach the us capitol, from tongass national forest in alaska. it'll be fully lit up injust under two weeks. and this is denver, and the mile high tree. 0fficially lit up for the season just a few hours ago, it's a 110 foot tall conical structure covered in 60,000 led lights. you can see the light show it puts on for people watching both out and inside the structure every night in denver's civic central park. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there.

storm bert is bringing wet and windy weather in from the atlantic and bringing with it a triple whammy of severe weather as we head into saturday. there'll be some heavy snow for a while across parts of northern england and scotland. it'll turn to rain, and with snow melt and a rapid thaw, together with some heavy rain elsewhere, there could be some flooding and it will also be very windy. the winds are picking up and temperatures are lifting overnight, but these are the temperatures by the morning. so it's still cold in scotland and northern england, and it's across these areas that we've got these amber weather warnings from the met office. snow in the morning across this part of northern england and southern scotland. some snow to low levels. blizzards and drifting over the hills, and the snow may last into the afternoon across this part of scotland, the southern highlands. there could be 30cm, even 40cm of snow. now, the snow levels are going to rise as we introduce milder air. so the snow turning to rain, and with wet weather elsewhere, there's the risk of some flooding with some heavier rain. not too much rain until later towards the south—east. the rain should clear away

from northern ireland in the afternoon, but it is going to be windy. widespread gales, severe gales and the strongest winds around coastal areas, particularly through the irish sea and into the north—west. gusts of 60—70 miles an hour, but it's a southerly wind this time, which is why temperatures are going to be lifting through the day. it's going to turn very mild in northern ireland, wales and the south—west in the afternoon, and temperatures further north and east are likely to rise as we head into the night. there's storm bert lingering to the north—west of the uk. we do have this weather front bringing some more rain overnight and into sunday. that'll be hanging around across this part of england and wales. could be heavy rain at times. closer to the storm, this is where we've got the strongest of the winds and the more frequent showers. but it will be windy everywhere, and the winds could be stronger running through the english channel as well. but again, it's going to be a mild day. this time the highest temperatures are going to be across eastern england — 15 or 16 degrees. even as we head into the beginning of next week, storm bert is going to be there across parts of scotland, maybe weakening just a little, but still bringing some very windy weather

for northern areas. gusts of 50 or 60 mph in scotland, even through the central lowlands. and we've got showers or longer spells of rain. as you move further south into england and wales, it's not going to be as windy. there'll be fewer showers and more sunshine around. temperatures perhaps not quite as high. top numbers around 12 celsius.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. all of our lives are defined by the places we're connected to... ..and the people we hold close. they speak vietnamese my name is william lee adams and i'm a vietnamese—american journalist and an author. i was born six years after the vietnam war ended. i'm here to explore a country that's helped shape me. for me, it all flows from the war that brought my parents together. two people, born 12 time zones apart, thrust together to build a life. my family lived in america and my big brother, john, was my best friend. william speaks vietnamese

but two years ago, he passed away.