day as police confirm they've recovered a body in wales. heavy rains and strong winds have caused severe flooding in south wales and weather warnings are in place across the country. with most votes counted in romania's presidential election, a radical nationalist candidate with no political party of his own has taken a narrow lead. calin georgescu adopted a pro—russia stance during the campaign. he's likely to face the current prime minister in a run—off vote. the foreign office is investigating reports that a former british soldier fighting for ukraine has been captured by russian forces in the kursk region. the foreign office says it was supporting his family. the authorities in the united arab emirates say they've arrested three suspects in connection with the killing of an israeli—moldovan rabbi. iran has denied allegations in israeli media that it was involved. more now on storm bert.

the first minister of wales, eluned morgan, has described the impact of the storm on her country as "absolutely devastating". it's been a really difficult weekend, and i would like to thank the emergency services for all of the support they're giving to people affected. i think this is the second time many of those have suffered as a result of the storm. as a result of the storm. there has been huge investment there has been huge investment since the last storm hit, since the last storm hit, so we've managed to protect so we've managed to protect lots more properties than last lots more properties than last time, but obviously this time, but obviously this is absolutely devastating just is absolutely devastating just before christmas for those before christmas for those who have been impacted. who have been impacted. and will there be the emergency and will there be the emergency funding available as there funding available as there was after storm dennis in these was after storm dennis in these communities to help communities to help people recover? that although it was a storm people recover? already those discussions have already those discussions have started and, of course, started and, of course, we will do everything we need we will do everything we need to do to put measures in place to do to put measures in place to support people who have to support people who have undergone this really, undergone this really, really difficult situation really difficult situation at a difficult time of year. at a difficult time of year. some people have said some people have said there just wasn't enough there just wasn't enough

warning over this weekend, warning over this weekend, that although it was a storm and there were warnings on saturday, they found that this morning had took them by surprise, the speed at which the water started rising. we certainly knew storm bert was coming, so there was an amount of preparation, but when you get the kind of enormity of rain we've had over the past few days, and it's still coming down, then we have got to recognise that it's going to be difficult.

to recog obviously t�*s to recog obviously concern that natural resources wales�*s funding has been under pressure and andrew morgan, the leader of rhondda cynon taf council said that a lot of work has been done on the streams but tackling and preventing flooding from the big rivers like the taf in the rhondda, that's going to take substantial investment. where will that money come from? we ut will that money come from? - put hundreds of millions of pounds into flood defences over the past few years and that's helping to protect around —— 250,000 homes already in wales. climate change is clearly going to impact on us and there will come a point where it will be too difficult for us to protect every home in the country but clearly we want to put the support in place if we are able to do that for the people impacted. is to do that for the people impacted-— to do that for the people imacted. _ . , impacted. is wales a resilient country? _ impacted. is wales a resilient country? we've _ impacted. is wales a resilient

country? we've had _ impacted. is wales a resilient country? we've had the - impacted. is wales a resilient country? we've had the covidj country? we've had the covid pandemic and there is an ongoing inquiry there, we've had these storms, how protected are we as a public here in wales? ~ ., , ., wales? we do prepare for the situations _ wales? we do prepare for the situations and _ wales? we do prepare for the situations and we _ wales? we do prepare for the situations and we already - wales? we do prepare for the situations and we already had | wales? we do prepare for the. situations and we already had a cabinet meeting ready for tomorrow to discuss making sure that we are prepared for every eventuality. we know when it is coming but clearly climate change is making a difference and the severity and frequency of these weather events is something we all have to be aware of. natural resources wales, the environmental regulator responsible for managing wales' natural resources has faced criticism from some people in flood—affected areas. head of operations northwest at natural resources wales sian williams, has this response. what we have seen here is a combination. there was a yellow weather warning for rain and for wind over the past couple

of days and into last week as well, obviously we had the different kinds of severe weather with the snow and then the storm. what we saw over the weekend, yesterday, north wales was really badly affected. today, unfortunately, south wales has been severely affected. we've seen a number of properties are flooded, a number of warnings that we've got has been a significant number. we still got several warnings out across the whole of wales. . warnings out across the whole of wales-_ warnings out across the whole of wales. . my .,, of wales. some are saying those warninus of wales. some are saying those warnings were — of wales. some are saying those warnings were too _ of wales. some are saying those warnings were too late, - of wales. some are saying those warnings were too late, some i warnings were too late, some are saying the warning came through at 7:40am but the river had already flooded by that point. i had already flooded by that oint. ~' .,, ., , , point. i think obviously with any event — point. i think obviously with any event like _ point. i think obviously with any event like this - point. i think obviously with any event like this it's - any event like this it's important for the priority in the immediate today has been dealing with the impact and responding to the events as they have happened. we have heard similar stories today, people saying they didn't receive the warnings early

enough. that is something we will look at along with all of the other factors. the weather forecast that we had, the modelling that was in place, what was predicted against what actually happened, it's really important that we take time after this event has passed now to learn and pull all of those pieces of information together, to pull all of those pieces of the jigsaw together and start to understand exactly what happened. are there things that didn't go as well that could have been done? and are there things that could be done better next time?- better next time? some residents _ better next time? some residents have - better next time? some residents have said, - better next time? some - residents have said, frankly, everything you have just said should have been done after four years ago. one resident said they had been in touch and said they had been in touch and said they had been in touch and said the flooding is taking place, a resident of pontypridd, taking place in exactly the same place, he should have learned after last time. ., , should have learned after last time. . , ., time. there are things that have been _ time. there are things that have been improved - time. there are things that have been improved upon. time. there are things that i have been improved upon and these are things we need to look at again to see, where

defences overwhelmed? are there things that didn't work as well as they could have? are there places where there were no defences in place that flooded? 0bviously defences in place that flooded? obviously in severe weather, we cannot protect against absolutely everything and that is something that we need to think about as well. how do we adapt? how do we mitigate against these kind of risks as we go into the future? we need to think how we do things differently.— differently. people will appreciate _ differently. people will appreciate that - differently. people will appreciate that and - differently. people willl appreciate that and that differently. people will- appreciate that and that not every place can be protected but when things have gone wrong in exactly the same place, is it a case of your organisation just hasn't listened what it doesn't have the finances or the resources to have actually made the resources that they need to, those areas actually need? ~ ., need to, those areas actually need? ~ . ., , need to, those areas actually need? . ., , need? we are always listening, learnin: need? we are always listening, learning and — need? we are always listening, learning and trying _ need? we are always listening, learning and trying to _ need? we are always listening, learning and trying to work - need? we are always listening, learning and trying to work as l learning and trying to work as best we can with communities that are affected. unfortunately, and i cannot respond to specifics of this

case until we have learned exactly what happened and analysed all of the information, but in general, we don't have a bottomless pit of money to be spent on reducing flood risk and for certain, we cannot combat every single flood risk that is in place, so we need to prioritise that whenever we spend our money, we need to prioritise the place that has the highest number of properties, highest flood risk and that is where the money is spent but obviously we need to look at the specifics of this case, learn exactly what happened. are there things that didn't go as they should have done? and how do we learn from that? the father of an ii—month child has spoken to the bbc about rescuing his son from a sinking car during storm bert flooding. andre randles had been driving in todmorden, west yorkshire when his car was engulfed by water after hitting a dip in the road.

thanks to some quick thinking, he was able to pull his baby son to safety as water poured in through the car window. there was a big dip in the road and as soon as i've gone over the dip, i was straight into the water. my car started floating for a good minute, 30 seconds to a minute. whilst we were floating, i quickly rang emergency services. whilst i was on the phone to the emergency services, water started rising into the car so i thought, "i need to get me and my son out of here." so i was thinking, "i'm going to have to smash a window." everything was just coming to my head, like, how to get us out, but ijust tried my electric windows and thankfully they worked, and thankfully he was in the passenger seat and not the back because if he were in the back, his window wouldn't have come down as much

as it does in the passenger seat. so i've climbed out of the driver's seat, ran around to his side, unstrapped him, got him out as quickly as i could. the water was chest high. i was holding him up, trying to get somewhere safe. there was a house nearby. the people welcomed us in and gave me some spare clothes and looked after my son while i was on the phone to the police. he was thankfully asleep. when andre was getting him out of the car, that's when he woke up because he doesn't sleep through anything! but he is absolutely fine, he's as beautiful and happy as he can be, as you can tell because he's waving at everyone, but it could have been a completely different outcome.

we could not have been sitting here today with both of them, so i'm very grateful to andre and proud of him, how fast thinking he was because if that was me in that situation, you don't know until you're in a situation like that, but i personally don't think i could have reacted as quickly as he did. you can keep up—to—date with storm bert developments on the website. young british backpackers in laos have spoken of their fears after six tourists died from suspected methanol poisoning in the town of vang vieng. three of them, including briton simone white, died last week. the lao government has now confirmed that three others, an american man and two danish women, died the previous week. all were staying at the same hostel. 0ur asia correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes has been to vang vieng to meet tourists, from where he sent this report.

it's late afternoon in vang vieng, and the nam song river is bustling with tourists and watercraft of every description. for many young backpackers, the preferred form of transport is innertubes. 0ut here, you can get a real sense of why so many young travellers are drawn to vang vieng. it's got this beautiful river. it's surrounded by stunning limestone mountains. you can go kayaking, you can go hot—air ballooning, paragliding. it's an incredibly relaxed place, with very few rules. each year, hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists come to enjoy this place, including briton simone white and australians holly bowles and bianca jones. their deaths — along with three others — from methanol poisoning, have sent a shockwave through the backpacking scene here. young women, in particular, like these from hertfordshire who've just arrived from neighbouring vietnam. in vietnam, you know, you get free drinks, particularly if you're playing games in the evening, and we've

just never thought about it. you just presume that what they're giving you is safe. so, like, we've had free shots. we've had buckets before. but moving on, i think we're just not going to take the risk at all. no, it's not worth it. it's definitely not worth it. 0bviously, before this happened, you wouldn't think about it. but now it has, like, it's really impacted how we view drinking culture, going forwards. this is the guest house where all of the victims had stayed. an american man was found dead in his room here, and two danish women who also died were found unconscious on the same day. as night falls, the young travellers would normally be heading out to party. this is a weekend night in peak tourist season, and you get a real sense here ofjust how much these poisonings, or news of them, is hurting business here, because so many of the places i've walked past here tonight are pretty empty. and we also understand police have told bars that they have to close at midnight, instead of going on to how they used to be, 3am. not everyone is deterred.

we met ned from somerset and his friend, jack, both recent university graduates. it seems like everyone's - still here having a good time. but there's definitelyj like a mood in the air that people are being a lot more cautious. i and everyone's all- saying the same thing, which is, you know, don't drink the spirits. - i've been here for, like, a week now. the people here are absolutely lovely. they are some of the nicest people i've spoken to. there's never a purpose of them out to get you. nevertheless, six people died here, and parents with children out on the backpacker trail are now frantically messaging them, telling them not to come here. rupert wingfield—hayes, bbc news, in vang vieng. with most votes counted in romania's presidential election, a radical nationalist candidate with no political party of his own has taken a narrow lead. let's speak to our centrtal europe correspondent,

nick thorpe who is in budapest. this is a really remarkable result. it's not a full result yet but he is certainly in the lead, so calin georgescu, he has come from pretty much nowhere. he is known as the tiktok candidate. he is 62, an expert from the un, but with radical nationalist views. for example, he has praised romania's wartime leaders at a time when romania was an ally of nazi germany. he effectively appeared in this race, there was another nationalist who seems to be better placed but now calin georgescu has taken over. with most of the vote counted, he has even overtaken

the current prime minister, marcel ciolacu, who is a social democrat, and now it looks like marcel ciolacu and calin georgescu will go through to the run—off on december the 8th. studio: how much of a surprise with that be? it’s studio: how much of a surprise with that be?— with that be? it's an enormous surprise. _ with that be? it's an enormous surprise, really. _ with that be? it's an enormous surprise, really. everyone - with that be? it's an enormous| surprise, really. everyone knew george simian, the much better—known right—wing figure in romanian politics. calin georgescu was in the party with him but he was actually kicked out because he had too radical views. he was kicked out and has now come back and pretty much emerged in the first place in this election, narrowly ahead of the social democrat. what that means for the second

round is really that apart from knowing that these two men have gone through to that, will the other nationalists now gather around calin georgescu in the second round or because of the personal animosity between the two nationalists, will george simion, who hasn't made it through to the second round, tell his supporters to vote for, effectively, a man he has described in the past almost as a devil incarnate, the social democrat, orwill a devil incarnate, the social democrat, or will there be a sort of union of nationalists in romania which would seem to give a strong chance for a very strong nationalist candidate, calin georgescu, to win in the second round? when voters in the irish republic to go the polls this week, one issue that's gained prominence is immigration. part of the reason is the number of asylum seekers

in ireland relying on the state for accommodation has more than quadrupled in three years — and many have been sent to rural communities. our special correspondent fergal keane reports. there's trouble in the heartlands. in there's trouble in the heartlands.— heartlands. in county tipperary. _ heartlands. in county tipperary, protest. heartlands. in county i tipperary, protest over immigration. last august, villagers tried to block asylum seekers from entering shelter in a local hotel that has been closed for almost a decade. they are still protesting here, saying they were not consulted about plans to house up to 277 asylum seekers. dublin, the local population —— doubling the local population. haifa local population -- doubling the local population. how can we not feel— the local population. how can we not feel fear _ the local population. how can we not feel fear and - the local population. how can we not feel fear and how - the local population. how can we not feel fear and how can | we not feel fear and how can our government ignore that? partly driven by fears of deportations in the uk, asylum applications in ireland have risen by nearly 300%, compare to the same period five years

ago. to the same period five years aro. �* ., , to the same period five years aro. ~ . , .., to the same period five years aro. ~ . , , ago. already, we can see where the cracks _ ago. already, we can see where the cracks are _ ago. already, we can see where the cracks are in _ ago. already, we can see where the cracks are in society, - ago. already, we can see where the cracks are in society, in - the cracks are in society, in our housing. hospitals, doctors, gps. in our housing. hospitals, doctors, gps.— doctors, gps. in this close-knit _ doctors, gps. in this i close-knit community, doctors, gps. in this - close-knit community, martin close—knit community, martin barry knows everybody. but his aduu barry knows everybody. but his adult son cannot afford to rent adult son cannot afford to rent a home here. ireland has a chronic housing shortage. migrants didn't cause that but they have become a lightning rod or they have become a lightning r