labour and the centers for disease control. the laos government says it is profoundly saddened by the poisoning deaths of six foreign tourists. sean "diddy" combs faces further days in detention after a new yorkjudge delays a decision on whether to grant him bail. and several yellow weather warnings are now in place across the uk, as storm bert brings high winds, rain and snow. hello, i'm lauren taylor. we start with a developing story, and lebanese media says israeli warplanes have struck an eight—storey residential building in central beirut with several missiles. massive explosions were heard in the lebanese capital early on saturday morning. these are the latest pictures we have, showing first responders at the scene of the blast. earlier, israel struck several targets in the southern

suburbs of beirut. local reports say several people have been killed and injured. these are live pictures from beirut and we understand the strike was around 4am local time, according to reuters. at least four bombs were dropped in the attack and it is the fourth is rarely airstrike this week targeting central beirut, which is where the bulk of israel's attacks have been, normally in the southern suburbs. an eight story building has been hit and at least four people killed and 33 injured, but we are monitoring that toll and we will bring you more details as they come in. there has been a flurry of nominations by donald trump for senior positions

in his administration, with his top team almost complete ahead of his return to the presidency injanuary. amongst his picks announced on friday are the republican congresswoman lori chavez—deremer as labour secretary and the former american footabll player scott turner, who is nominated as housing and urban development secretary. and this man, scott bessent, a billionaire and wall street investor, is set to be his treasury secretary. he has long been a strong advocate of mr trump's america first agenda. our north america correspondent peter bowes sent this update. scott bessent is very well known as a wall street financier, as a hedge fund manager, praised by donald trump as being widely respected as one of the world's foremost investors. scott bessent worked for a large part of his career for a large part of his career for the hedge fund that was started by george soros, and there is some reporting here that donald trump quite liked the idea that he used to work for one of the best—known donors to liberal causes, but

mr scott bessent now fully signed up to the maga philosophy, the make america great again america first policies of donald trump, which includes lowering taxes, pursuing american energy dominance policy, and perhaps most controversially, using tariffs as a bargaining tool. now, with donald trump's likely relations with countries like china, countries like mexico and the tariffs emerging large in terms of potential negotiations involving trade, scott bessent�*s influence is going to be critical there. he does support the use of tariffs as a bargaining tool, but they are of course widely derided by many economists, who fear that they could start trade wars, they could start trade wars, they could start trade wars, they could result in higher prices for the american public. on that radicular issue, his influence in the trump administration is going to be crucial.

let's speak to edward mckinley, political reporter for the houston chronicle and san antonio express—news. he is in austin in texas. thanks very much indeed for being with us. so another round of appointments here. any surprises in this latest lot? yes, i think hejust surprises in this latest lot? yes, i think he just picked surprises in this latest lot? yes, i think hejust picked his first texan today, i think it was a bit of a surprise here that it took this long considering it is the most electoral vote rich republican state in the country, and he picked his first hud secretary, housing and urban development, which is viewed as a pretty low level position.— level position. you are talking about scott — level position. you are talking about scott turner, _ level position. you are talking about scott turner, and - level position. you are talking about scott turner, and his i about scott turner, and his background is in the nfl. will people think he has the expertise to run that department?- expertise to run that deartment? ., �* , department? that's right, well he uuit department? that's right, well he quit the _ department? that's right, well he quit the nfl— department? that's right, well he quit the nfl and _ department? that's right, well he quit the nfl and served - department? that's right, well he quit the nfl and served as| department? that's right, well| he quit the nfl and served as a state lawmaker in texas, working on federal policy and in kind of trump orbit. but he is very much indicative of a trend that's very identifiable with these cabinet picks, which is that trump is really prising loyalty above all else. he is

picking people from trump world, people that he knows are going to be on board and people that are going to fulfil his goals. that are going to fulfil his coals. ., ., , . ~ goals. you mentioned picking eo - le goals. you mentioned picking people who — goals. you mentioned picking people who are _ goals. you mentioned picking people who are loyal, - goals. you mentioned picking people who are loyal, i - goals. you mentioned picking i people who are loyal, i suppose some of them have been controversial. there has already been some fallout from one of his early picks, matt gaetz, who has pulled out of consideration as attorney general. are you expecting any other pics in the next couple of days? other pics in the next couple of da s? , , other pics in the next couple ofda s? , , ., of days? yes, his pick for defence _ of days? yes, his pick for defence secretary, - of days? yes, his pick for . defence secretary, hegseth, of days? yes, his pick for - defence secretary, hegseth, has some serious assault allegations. it is an open question what role the demise of matt gaetz will play. there are two ways of looking at it. senators have already shown they have a back bone, they are not going to rubberstamp all of trump's nominations, and they will go along with this one. another way of looking at it is they have a taste for it now, they have a taste for it now, they have a taste for it now, they have proved they are willing to stand up for him, so maybe they will do it again. how much will these people say policy? how much will it be a 2—way street and how much will

be having to implement what president trump wants? i think that's a great — president trump wants? i think that's a great question. - that's a great question. traditionally, conservatives in the us view the presidency as the us view the presidency as the unitary head of the executive that makes all of the decisions. i think trump, as somebody who comes from the business world and somebody who has such extraordinarily specific opinions on things, the fact that he is filling up all of his key advisor roles, his key cabinet positions, with people that have been in his orbit, people that are personally loyal to him, i think that this is going to be donald trump's vision for policy, ratherthan donald trump's vision for policy, rather than being shaped in other ways. in south—east asia, a sixth tourist has died in a suspected mass methanol poisoning in laos. 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 has also died. and simone white, a lawyer from the uk, died on thursday. they were 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, from where rupert wingfield—hayes 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. 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. anything about it. and what have your and what have your parents said to you? parents said to you? they're glad that i'm they're glad that i'm out of laos, but i'm out of laos, but i'm on my own in thailand on my own in thailand for about a month now, for about a month now, so i think they're a bit so i think they're a bit more apprehensive. more apprehensive. it worries my mum a little it worries my mum a little bit more, i reckon. bit more, i reckon. but, you know, i'm definitely but, you know, i'm definitely going to play it safe, going to play it safe, pace myself, try and have pace myself, try and have drinks with a bottle cap drinks with a bottle cap on them and stuff like that. on them and stuff like that. keep my wits keep my wits about me, i reckon. about me, i reckon.

more and more young more and more young people are travelling 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. the us defence secretary, lloyd austin, has said he expects thousands of north korean troops massed in russia's border region of kursk to enter combat against ukraine soon. around 10,000 north korea soldiers have been sent, it is widely believed, in exchange for russian oil and anti—air missiles. whether or not the north koreans have been actively engaged in combat, while we have not seen significant reporting of that to date, i said a while ago, a couple of days ago, that there are some 10,000 or so north korean soldiers in the kursk region, and they were being integrated into the russian formations.

based upon what they've been trained on and the way that they've been integrated into they've been integrated into the russian formations, ifully expect to see them engaged in combat soon. meanwhile, vladimir putin says russia has a stock of powerful new missiles that are ready to be used after moscow fired a new hypersonic missile, at targets in ukraine. russia's use of the oreshnik missile ended a week of escalation in the war that also saw ukraine fire american and british long—range missiles into russia for the first time. ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky, called for world leaders to give a serious response so that putin feels the real consequences of his actions.

putin feels the real consequence confused, ions. putin feels the real consequence confused, because here is quite confused, because when president putin came on with the announcement, there was a lot of fears here that there would be a massive escalation and missile attack. but we have not really seen that, but what is a very, very big concern here is the new use of these types of weapons. reports from ukrainian media suggest that the missile that was fired by russia, the so—called test missile, travelled about two kilometres a second and that its impact was equivalent to something like an asteroid. the other thing that is happening that is not being reported too much is the new types of drones that are being used, and when they come here and explode, they have tungsten ballbearings that have tungsten ballbearings that have massive destructive powers. and also, they have a lot of kinetic energy when they crash and cause a lot of destruction as well. is their concern _ destruction as well. is their concern that _ destruction as well. is their concern that the _ destruction as well. is their concern that the weapons l destruction as well. is their i concern that the weapons will be used again, that they will

be used again, that they will be further attacks using them? absolutely. ukraine is very much on edge at the moment, because no—one seems to know what is going to happen next. but i can tell you one thing, lauren. the weather is changing for the worse throughout ukraine. it's going to be barely above 0 c in the next few days, and the russians know exactly what they are doing. they are targeting where ukraine is most vulnerable, the very power stations that provide light and provide heating. so i think their long—range goal, and it is difficult to get into a messed up difficult to get into a messed up mind like prison's, is to cause a humanitarian crisis and trigger another wave of asylum seekers out of ukraine. find trigger another wave of asylum seekers out of ukraine. and how do ou seekers out of ukraine. and how do you exoect — seekers out of ukraine. and how do you expect the _ seekers out of ukraine. and how do you expect the new— seekers out of ukraine. and how do you expect the new trump i do you expect the new trump presidency to affect the course of the war?— of the war? well, we are actually _ of the war? well, we are actually seeing _ of the war? well, we are actually seeing a - of the war? well, we are actually seeing a lot - of the war? well, we are actually seeing a lot of. of the war? well, we are - actually seeing a lot of action right now from the biden administration ahead of the incoming trumpet restoration.

let's remember that mr trump said he would solve this crisis within 2a hours. well, he has been president—elect for some time and nothing has happened. in fact, it has got worse. having said that, a lot of us in this space feel that the aid thatis in this space feel that the aid that is coming in from the biden administration, including the permission to use those weapons deeper into russia, has been too little, too late. and in the course of the past weeks and months, the lack of action from the american side has in a way been escalatory because if your aggressor is very aggressive and you don't do much in return, which the us hasn't, he will become even more aggressive. i don't think... iand more aggressive. i don't think... i and others think this is unprecedented in modern warfare. hence the russians don't see many redlines, they cross them day after day, and thatis cross them day after day, and that is how we have landed in such a terrible situation. ukraine is very on edge right now. ~ ., ., ,, now. we heard from the us defence secretary _ now. we heard from the us defence secretary about -

now. we heard from the usj defence secretary about the presence of the north korean troops and what they might do next. how is that being viewed in ukraine? i next. how is that being viewed in ukraine?— in ukraine? i don't think --eole in ukraine? i don't think people here _ in ukraine? i don't think people here are - in ukraine? i don't think people here are taking l in ukraine? i don't think| people here are taking it in ukraine? i don't think - people here are taking it that seriously, but they are of course paying attention to what is happening in kursk. there is a feeling that the footprint of ukraine there will shrink very quickly, and ukraine is not doing very well on the front line. but in the wider picture, there is also concern line. but in