and dozens injured. there's a lot of damage on the building here this gives you a picture of the power and the scale of the attack that happened here. several amber weather warnings are now in place across the uk as storm bert brings high winds, rain and snow. 60,000 homes in the republic of ireland are without power as the storm struck overnight. hello, this is bbc news. we start in lebanon, where israel has carried out a powerful air strike on central beirut overnight. lebanese media says an eight—storey residential building collapsed after being hit by several missiles.

search and rescue efforts are under way. eyewitnesses say the explosions shook the city. israel's latest attack comes despite renewed efforts for a ceasefire. since the escalation of the conflict in september, israeli air strikes have killed several top hezbollah leaders in beirut. earlier, i spoke to our middle east correspondent hugo bachega who was at the scene of the strike and had this update. this is the site of this massive israeli attack that happened overnight and hours later, there's still a massive operation here to remove the rubble. a search effort is also under way. just moments ago, we saw a second body being removed from under the rubble. and this is a densely populated part of beirut, the bastar district here in central beirut. and as you can see, there is a lot of damage in nearby buildings, which gives us a sense of the scale of the attack that happened here. this attack happened at around

4:00 in the morning, and it was felt and heard all across the city. it's not the first time that this part of beirut has come under attack. and there is a huge crater over there where this attack happened. several explosions were heard as a result of this attack that happened here in central beirut. and this happens as we've seen more efforts for a cease fire here in this conflict. we saw a us envoy come here to beirut, had talks with a senior lebanese officials to try to reach a deal to end this conflict between israel and hezbollah, but a massive attack here that happened with no warning. and again, the indications here, the scale of this attack suggests that a senior hezbollah figure was the target. we haven't had any reaction from hezbollah yet. there hasn't been any kind of comment by the israeli military. but again, a massive attack hitting central beirut.

and hugo, how does this attack fit into the picture of what we've seen in terms of the conflict over the past few weeks there in lebanon? yeah, we've seen that there has been an escalation in this israeli campaign against hezbollah, not only here in beirut. we've seen that the southern suburbs of the city, a place where hezbollah is based. it has been repeatedly attacked in the last week or so, but also attacks in the south of the country where the israeli military is also carrying out a ground invasion. it has been advancing in the south and also attacks in the bekaa valley. so these are areas where hezbollah has a very strong presence. and this escalation happens as, again, we've seen these efforts by international mediators, the americans in particular, trying to reach a ceasefire here in this conflict. amos hochstein was here this past week. he had discussions with senior lebanese officials. he reported progress in those discussions. he then went to israel to have discussions with israeli

officials, including the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. we haven't had any reaction following those talks. there were some, you know, differences between the lebanese demands and also the israeli demands. and, you know, those talks trying to reach a deal in these negotiations. and the indications that hezbollah was willing to accept a deal and these attacks have continued. this is part of a strategy that the israelis have described as negotiations of the fire. and they say that these attacks are going to continue despite these negotiations for a cease fire. storm bert looks set to bring heavy snowfall across scotland and parts of northern and central england. weather warnings for heavy rain and high winds are also in place across the uk, including most of northern ireland, wales and cornwall. a crash has closed the m71;

motorway in south lanarkshire, where weather conditions are said to be very poor. 60,000 homes in the republic of ireland are without power after the storm struck overnight. northern ireland has been under a similar alert since midnight, as storm bert makes its way across the uk. we just want to show you these live pictures from lyme regis in the west of england. these are pictures from the you can see the power of those waves there on your screens. for a few moments the camera has been shaking because of the winds there. the west of england is said to be the worst affected part of the country when it comes to rain and wind. of course we have had reports of snow fall much further north

in scotland and the north—east of england as well. we will bring you much more on those developments as we get them and the impact of storm bert. this is an area part of the country affected. this is the a66, behind me. not close today, which is surprising to national highways who said this road should officially be closed. we have had the snow ploughs and graters. trying to get people moving. we were told that we could expect up to 30

centimetres of snow in this part of the world as part of that amber web weather warning. it's not quite got that extreme. i've done an unscientific test with a tape measure and its around ten centimetres. we are told about that disruption that is being caused in other places in the uk. harrogate currently has no buses because of how slippery it is there. and anyone wanting to travel north of preston on the railways, and also issues on the trans— pennine routes north of carlisle. yorkshire police telling us they are dealing with eight crashes due to the snow and a warning against all but essential travel. they say only go out if you absolutely have to do, because of how treacherous the

conditions are. were also hearing about power cuts as well. talks about communities being cut off, drivers stranded. but also the possibility of power cuts, we are also hearing about that happening. teams out and about on the ground trying to restore some kind of normality. we are seeing those pictures from other parts of the country in the region affected by this weather warning, showing the disruption that is caused. what happens this afternoon as temperatures warm up and these blizzard conditions stop, well, hopefully it will enable people to get out and about the temperatures will improve dramatically. we are starting to see... the

amber warning for snow and ice is in place untilfive amber warning for snow and ice is in place until five o'clock this afternoon. and that covers parts of the highlands, angus and aberdeenshire. there has been significant snowfall in the central and southern scotland. there is an amber warning in place there as well. that is until midday and that covers east ayrshire, south lanarkshire, dumfries and galloway and the borders. there was a crash on the main road south, earlier this morning, apparently the weather conditions were very poor, but that has now been cleared up. of course we are expecting disruption on the roads, police advise people to really think about whether travel is really necessary on the roads. we've had some rail disruption in the past week and we accept some more of that today. depending on how the weather pans out. and on the ferries, people

going to the islands, watch out for disruption on those. when watching the shops open here now, people starting to clear the pathway. the snow is starting to lie a little bit. people starting to... people starting to wake up and looking at a wintry scene. it's a good area for tourism so i'm sure that this will be something that this will be something that will please people that are here on their holidays. of course always comes the warning to take extra care. i have a fact for you, the uk's lowest temperature was recorded at two o'clock in the morning in a village in the highlands. that was minus 12.2 degrees. you can see what we are expecting across the day. we are expecting it to get worse up here before it gets better.

there are more weather way and warnings, yellow one so not quite so severe for wind and rain so really rotten stuff. let's take a look at storm bert. well, it's this area of low pressure you can see working in across the uk. and the met office have actually issued amber weather alerts for this, because as the rain you can see on the radar picture is bumping into the cold air. we see this zone of snow, the white you can see there on the radar picture. and in terms of the amounts of snow, well across the high ground of northern england, we're looking at some of the higher hills, seeing 20 even 30cm of snow. a similar thing for southern scotland with those amber weather warnings. those top level warnings are in force until the middle part of the day and then further northwards in northern scotland, we also have amber weather warnings for snow, so these amber weather warnings are the most serious warnings that we have in force

from storm bert. that amber weather warning for snow in scotland is valid until 5:00 this evening. now, it's notjust across the high ground that we're seeing the snowfall. the snow is coming down to low levels and it is already having impacts like this picture shows the scene, very snowy scene in harrogate in north yorkshire. and i've been looking at some of the roads in this kind of part of the world. and the mm looks like it's really struggling at the moment. so we're talking about one of the biggest roads across north east england that's almost grinding to a halt right now with the heavy snow coming down. and there is more of that to come through this afternoon or through the rest of this morning. so we are going to see further impacts to transport there and also across into scotland. the a7�*s really struggling too. so as far as the snowfall goes, that's going to be with us for some time yet. but it's not the only hazard because across western areas of the country, we've already seen gusts of wind reaching 67 miles an hour for the isles of scilly and also at berry head in devon. those winds are going to strengthen a little bit further, so some

of the strongest gusts will work well into the 70s of miles an hour. meanwhile, the winds will become really strong across most of the uk, reaching gale force. those kind of winds are going to be strong enough to bring down some tree branches, so we could see some localised disruption just about anywhere. and then the final ingredient of this quite severe spell of weather is the rainfall. we're looking at huge amounts of rain, especially for wales and south west england, where over the high ground we could see as much as 150mm of rain, so that rain's incessant, it's building up hour by hour by hour, and so we'll see the effects later today and into tomorrow, with likelihood of seeing some pretty nasty flooding across this part of the world. and so, chris, what's the official advice for people who are waking up to weather like this? you know, iwould definitely say check on the weather conditions if you are planning on going on a journey, bear in mind that already some roads shut the high level routes. the a66 is shut at the moment the woodhead pass that goes between sheffield and manchester. you're not going

on that this morning. that's closed and at lower level routes, i mentioned the a1, m that's really struggling. i would not be going on that this morning. i would leave it to later on this afternoon, when the snow will probably turn back to rain and will probably start to see something of an improvement in the weather conditions across north east england. but for now, there's transport disruption around. and because the snow is coming down in big, wet, chunky flakes, that snow is going to be really good at sticking to power cables and sticking to tree branches, which could collapse under the weight. so we're quite likely to see some power cuts today as well from this severe weather. negotiations have been taken place throught the night at the cop29 climate conference in azerbaijain, with no sign of a breakthrough. countries can't agree how much richer nations should pay developing countries to tackle global warming. reports say the eu, the us and other wealthy nations have now raised their offer to nearly £2110 billion.

that's 300 billion us dollars. our climate editorjustin rowlatt is in baku. he gave me the latest on the deal. well, we were told 6am this morning — that's 2am uk time — it is now after one in the afternoon. so, this has been going on a long time. what we hear is that the offer from richer countries has actually been raised now to $300 billion. i know it sounds like an incredibly large amount of money, but the problem is we've got a clause in the text saying that developing... effectively, saying developing countries need $1.3 trillion a year in order to transition to renewable energy and adapt their countries to make them more resilient to climate change, the very next clause says, or it will say, if i'm right, about the 300 billion that richer countries are going to payjust 300 billion, so a tiny fraction of the total. and that's the problem. negotiators are trying

to bridge that gap. there's another issue here, which is that a group of of of fossil fuel rich countries led by saudi arabia have chucked into the pot the idea that they don't want to see the language that was adopted back in dubai last year at the cop conference last year, then it was agreed that the world would transition away from fossil fuels. i know it's amazing, after 28, it was the 28th iteration of these talks that that was finally recognised that fossil fuels were key to this. anyway, they want to roll back from that. so that's what's in play. the negotiating rooms... we're in actually the olympic stadium i know it doesn't look like that. it's been made over into a conference centre there, up on the second floor, shuttling between different rooms, trying to find a compromise. and, you know, obviously, the fact that, you know, nothing's happening here tells you that they haven't yet got there. now, there is kind of goodwill here that people would like to see a deal, i think it's fair to say, but they are clearly not managing to find one quite yet, which is a bit worrying for the whole cop process. indeed, justin. and of course, a lot of international attention has been focussed on the

incoming trump administration. the expectation is that he might pull the us out of the paris agreement. is that factoring into any of the negotiations happening there? yeah, i think it is. and i think in a way, you know, they're probably the developed countries are probably using the kind of threat of donald trump coming in who's been very clear he doesn't like this un climate process. he wants to pull, as you say, out of the paris agreement. agreement made back in 2015, where all the countries of the world would work together to tackle climate change, the payoff being $100 billion for developing countries. and the issue here in baku, they said then that's just a down payment. ten years time we're going to pay you some more cash. now, nine years later from 2015, and we're here in baku and that's what's under discussion. that cash from paris, he said he's going to pull out. but if you think about it, the developed countries are probably saying, listen, you can talk to us here with america in the room, come to a deal, or if you want, you can push it down the road to next year, and then america won't be part of the deal and you might find

it even harder to raise cash. so they're probably whilst obviously he throws a shadow over this conference, he's also being used perhaps as a negotiating tactic by some of the teams. but you know, even if they are threatening donald trump, it isn't working quite yet because we haven't got that deal. elisa morgera is the un special rapporteur on climate change and human rights and she shared her insight on why the cop29 negotiations overran. climate negotiations often overrun _ climate negotiations often overrun but i think this is a particularly remarkable delay. we saw — particularly remarkable delay. we saw this delay coming almost from _ we saw this delay coming almost from day— we saw this delay coming almost from day one of this particular climate — from day one of this particular climate meeting. it is difficult to understand what the reasons were. but i think there's— the reasons were. but i think there's been an ongoing deterioration of the quality of the process over the years and this might _ the process over the years and this might be the culmination of it — this might be the culmination of it we _ this might be the culmination of it. we don't have the right voices— of it. we don't have the right voices in— of it. we don't have the right voices in the room. we don't have — voices in the room. we don't have the _ voices in the room. we don't have the voices of scientists, the vvices— have the voices of scientists, the voices of people who have been — the voices of people who have

been negatively affected by climate change. and on the other— climate change. and on the other hand we have an overrepresentation of corporate lobbyists as part of national delegations. and apparently they— delegations. and apparently they outnumber all the representatives of national governments of the states where most _ governments of the states where most affected by climate change. the conditions for meaningful decision—making are not there — meaningful decision—making are not there. and most of the negotiations are very much behind _ negotiations are very much behind closed doors. this is very— behind closed doors. this is very much— behind closed doors. this is very much a general trend of these — very much a general trend of these meetings but most participants and observers have think— participants and observers have think that — participants and observers have think that this have been much more _ think that this have been much more of— think that this have been much more of a _ think that this have been much more of a close process than it has ever— more of a close process than it has ever been more of a close process than it has ever bee— has ever been you are particular— has ever been you are particular focus - has ever been you are particular focus on - has ever been you are| particular focus on the has ever been you are - particular focus on the gender action plan. it doesn't receive much coverage what is it and what are you hoping for? the render what are you hoping for? the gender action _ what are you hoping for? the gender action plan is one of the parts _ gender action plan is one of the parts of the paris agreement that recognises the diverse — agreement that recognises the diverse parts of society that faces — diverse parts of society that faces the diverse and

disproportionate impact. women, chiidreh_ disproportionate impact. women, children and non—binary people face different reasons, they face — face different reasons, they face violence, situations of human _ face violence, situations of human trafficking and modern forms— human trafficking and modern forms of— human trafficking and modern forms of slavery. and so recognising the different human rights _ recognising the different human rights holders are more negatively affected by climate change — negatively affected by climate change is essential, both because we need more protection and we _ because we need more protection and we also need to recognise that their— and we also need to recognise that their voices and experiences are essential to understand where and why climate _ understand where and why climate solutions are not working. unfortunately there has been no reinforcing of the gender— has been no reinforcing of the gender action plan and no recognition of human rights language and standards that can support— language and standards that can support the value and enhance protection of women and girls and gender—nonconforming and gender— nonconforming persons _ and gender— nonconforming persons under the and gender—nonconforming persons under the regime. and gender-nonconforming persons under the regime. there have been _

persons under the regime. there have been real _ persons under the regime. there have been real questions - persons under the regime. there have been real questions as - persons under the regime. there have been real questions as to i have been real questions as to how relevant these summits are, because it's so hard to reach consensus. what are your views on that? i consensus. what are your views on that? ~' ., ., on that? i think multilateral processes — on that? i think multilateral processes are _ on that? i think multilateral processes are essential - on that? i think multilateral| processes are essential with on that? i think multilateral. processes are essential with so many— processes are essential with so many countries coming from different— many countries coming from different places in terms of their— different places in terms of their capacities and the responsibilities. it is a crucial— responsibilities. it is a crucial process. reaching consensus means we have a new basis _ consensus means we have a new basis for— consensus means we have a new basis for international cooperation and we need international cooperation. climate _ international cooperation. climate change is not only a global— climate change is not only a global problem, but it means the solutions that we need in developing countries as opposed to developed countries matter for all— to developed countries matter for all of— to developed countries matter for all of us. the question of the finance for instance, it's not — the finance for instance, it's notjust— the finance for instance, it's notjust about the finance for instance, it's not just about what developing countries need to respond to climate — countries need to respond to climate change that they have mostly— climate change that they have mostly not caused, it's about how — mostly not caused, it's about how everyone on this planet need — how everyone on this planet need for— how everyone on this planet need for every country to be able — need for every country to be able to— need for every country to be able to respond to climate change _ able to respond to climate change in the best possible wav —

change in the best possible wa . ., change in the best possible wa , ., ., , change in the best possible wa , ., , , . ., way. that was the special rapporteur _ way. that was the special rapporteur on _ way. that was the special rapporteur on climate - way. that was the special - rapporteur on climate change and human rights. the australian government has told the bbc that a dual—national is in a stable condition, after the apparent methanol poisoning incident in laos. the laos government says it's �*profoundly saddened' by the deaths of six foreign tourists, suspected of having suffered methanol poisoning in the town of vang vieng. 28—year—old simone white from kent and two friends from australia, holly bowles and bianca jones, have been confirmed among the dead. our correspondent nick marsh has more. it is a rite of passage for thousands of young people. an adventure far from home in one of the most beautiful and welcoming parts of the world. but the past few days have revealed and uglier and more dangerous side to southeast asia. so far, six people from four different countries have lost their lives to methanol poisoning, likely from cheap illegally brewed alcohol made by unscrupulous bootleggers. on thursday officials confirmed

that simone white, 28—year—old lawyer from southeast london died in louth. , laos. herfamily pay tribute to her wonderful energy and spark for life. she has been taken from us too soon, they said. she will be sorely missed by her brother, grandmother and entire family. yesterday it was confirmed that australian holly bowles and her best friend bianca jones, both 19 from melbourne had also died from methanol poisoning. they were staying at this hostel in vang vieng. the owner admitted giving out up to 100 free vodka shots to guests, but insists the alcohol came from a reputable source. he has been taken in for questioning by local police. news spread quickly along the backpacker trail and visitors to vang vieng are already changing their plans. on the way i was asked where i was staying and she told

me what had happened. i cancelled straightaway and managed to get to another hostel. in a statement today, the laos government said it was profoundly saddened over the loss of lives of foreign was tourists and promised to bring the perpetrator