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tv   Newsday  BBC News  November 25, 2024 2:00am-2:31am GMT

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and backpackers in laos avoid shots of alcohol — as authorities name more of the victims of suspected poisonings. in the uk — storm bert brings heavy snowfall, rain and strong winds — causing widespread disruption. welcome to newsday, i'm steve lai. the united arab emirates says it arrested three suspects in the killing of an israeli—moldovan rabbi. it comes hours after israel's government reported that the missing rabbi — was found dead. the government added that zvi kogan was last seen on thursday and described his death as an act of anti—semitic terrorism. rabbi kogan represented the ultra—orthodoxjewish group, chabad, in the uae.
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mr kogan managed a kosher grocery store in dubai — a popular destination for israelis since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in the 2020 abraham accords. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu told a regular cabinet meeting sunday that he was �*deeply shocked' by kogan�*s disappearance and death. he also vowed to hunt down the suspected killers. translation: the state of israel will act by all i means and bring justice to the murderers and their senders. none of them will be clean. i greatly appreciate the cooperation with the united arab emirates in the investigation of the murder. we will strengthen the ties between us precisely in the face of the attempts of the axis of evil to harm the peaceful relations between us. we will strengthen them and we will also work to expand stability in the region. our security correspondent frank gardner is injerusalem and sent this report. and it does appear that on thursday, he was either
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it is paying taken seriously here in israel. strong statements. most are investigating this along with the emirati authorities in the uk. the statement or saying no one will be spared and they will track down his alleged murderers and those who despise them to do this. it is being treated as an anti—semitic act because he was a rabbi, part treated as an anti—semitic act because he was a rabbi, part of an organisation which was essentially worldwide, not all of its members are israeli but they promote jewish of its members are israeli but they promotejewish interests and way of life. he was managing a kosher supermarket in the emirates. and it does appear that on thursday, he was either abducted or lured away in some way and his car was found about an hour—and—a—half drive's away from where he was. so, this is quite a shocking incident for israelis
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who are in the gulf — because remember, since 2020, there's been full diplomatic relations established under the abraham accords, between israel and the uae and bahrain, and there's been a huge tourist industry — somewhat dampened down, in fact, considerably dampened down by the war in gaza, which has put off a lot of israelis from visiting there. but still, there are full relations, and so there is a joint investigation taking place. the unconfirmed reports appearing in israeli media say that the perpetrators of this murder are three uzbek nationals who were possibly being directed by iran and have since fled to turkey. there is a track record here of israel tracking down it considers to have killed israeli citizens abroad, so i think that is probably a threat to be taken. seriously when they say no—one will be spared who has been involved in this.
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meanwhile, the israeli military says about 250 rockets were fired by hezbollah across the border from lebanon on sunday in one of the heaviest bombardments since fighting intensified two months ago. lebanese state media also reported several israeli air strikes on beirut�*s southern suburbs. here is a look at some of those strikes. they came moments after the israeli military announced new evacuation orders to flee the area. officials say in—person classes are suspended until the end of december. earlier, the lebanese army reported that at least one soldier was killed and 18 others were injured after an israeli attack targeted an army centre in southern lebanon. israel has since apologised. this escalation comes after eu foreign policy chief josep borrell stressed the urgency of a ceasefire between israel and hezbollah on sunday as he visited a hospital in beirut. there have also been a number of reports in us media sugesting that israel and lebanon are on the cusp of a ceasefire deal
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to end the fighting. authorities in laos released the names of three more tourists who died of suspected methanol poisoning. the lao government has confirmed that an american victim, 57—year—old james louis hutson, was found dead in his hostel bedroom on the morning of november 13th. two danish women in their early 20s — anne—sofie orkild coyman and freja vennervald sorensen — were also found unconscious at the same hostel in the riverside town of vang vieng. doctors say they died of sudden heart failure. in total six tourists, including briton simone white, have died from the suspected poisonings. our asia correspondent rupert wingfield—hayes has been to vang vieng to meet tourists, from where he sent this report.
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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. out 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
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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. obviously, 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.
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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. and there's everyone's i 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. in the uk... the welsh first minister has described the flooding in the aftermath of storm bert as "absolutely devastating." the storm left one man dead in wales — police say the body was recovered sunday afternoon. it comes as two areas
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in south—east wales are under severe flood warnings, meaning the conditions pose a " significant risk to life'. our correspondent danjohnson has been in southern wales where a river burst its banks — overwhelming homes and businesses. there are about 300 homes that have been flooded across south wales, in these valleys alongside the rivers that run down off the welsh mountains, and these in the main were people who had already been flooded four years ago during storm dennis. and they were not expecting it to be as bad this time. they say the warnings they received were not as severe as the flooding turned out to be, that it was not forecast and predicted accurately. flood prediction, a very inaccurate science, a difficult thing to get right, but frustration from people who live here now have water in their homes about how the warnings were issued over the last two days and about the level of preparation that was put into place to try to stop their homes flooding. there are flood defences here. it is somewhere that has flooded many times in the past. they were told the flood defences had been upgraded
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after what happened four years ago, so people living next to the river here woke up this morning to water through their homes, and they are only now really starting to clear up and counting the cost. we've got people turfing out their furniture, people pulling up carpets, ripping out all that sort of stuff, that miserable experience that anybody who has seen or been through flooding will recognise how devastating that is to see your home wiped out in that way. the river level here is now beginning to subside and it has finally stopped raining after more than two days of solid rain. just to paint a bit of a picture of the geography, we are in a narrow valley here that comes down off the welsh hills, where there was always lot of rain, and there is still an enormous amount of rainfall to come down these rivers, so although the worst of it does seem to be over, the authorities are saying they cannot breathe a complete sigh of relief yet. there is concern about coal tips potentially being unstable because of the amount of water that has gone through them, and we have seen landslides in different parts of wales that have affected roads
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and some properties too, so all sorts of difficult conditions for people to manage. they are gutted by what they have witnessed and they are disappointed with the lack of forecasting, warnings and preparation action from the authorities who they rely on, who told them this flood would not be as bad as what happened four years ago. perhaps not as many homes have been devastated this time around, but for those who have been flooded, it is just as devastating — in fact, even more so — to experience it once again. the worst of the rain is now moving toward england. there are over 100 flood warnings across the uk. extreme flooding has already caused road closures, disrupted transport and even collapsed a wall in tenbury wells just south of birmingham. a man was also rescued from his car in walsall as west midlands fire service warned people not to drive through flood water. 0ur correspondent phil mackie is england, following the path of the storm. everyone, get back! get back!
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it was like a muddy—brown tsunami. a torrent of water pouring into the centre of tenbury wells. move back, move back! everybody, move back! move, move, move! the town sits on the river teme, but this didn't come from the river. instead, it poured in from the brook which runs alongside the main shopping streets. this timelapse shows how the wall holding it back couldn't cope, after 2a hours of nearly relentless rain. this is where the wall was, where the water came through. it was so forceful, it literally shattered it. there are bricks strewn everywhere, and it sent a wave along this street and down into the centre of tenbury wells, and inside many of these businesses, there are people now trying to clean up. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other
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stories making news in the uk. senior faith leaders representing christians, muslims, jews, hindus and sikhs have warned vulnerable people could be left feeling they have a �*duty to die' — if this week's vote on allowing assisted dying in england and wales is passed. 29 religious leaders signed the letter published in a sunday newspaper. parliament will debate on friday, with mps given a free vote. the work and pensions secretary says young people who refuse to work will face having their benefits cut. liz kendall says the government will offer the opportunity to earn or learn, under new proposals to be unveiled on tuesday. official figures published earlier this week show nearly a million young people were out of education, employment or training between july and september. presenter and broadcaster lauren laverne says she has been given the "all clear" after treatment for cancer. she'll be back to work on the one show on tuesday. the presenter, who also hosts radio 4's desert island discs, and bbc radio 6 music's breakfast show, revealed her diagnosis in august.
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you're live with bbc news. a senior uk minister is set to warn that russia is prepared to carry out cyber attacks on the uk and other allies, in hopes of weakening support for ukraine. chancellor of the duchy of lancaster pat mcfadden — whose role includes responsibility for national security — is due to tell members at a nato meeting on monday the kremlin could be targeting british businesses and leave millions without power. suzanne spaulding was formerly a top cyber security expert in the us government — she explains what these attacks might look like. the objective that putin hopes to achieve is to sap both political and societal will to continue support for ukraine. this is a crucial time he believes to gain maximum advantage and weaken as much as possible ukraine's efforts.
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that means weakening support for ukraine from the allies. so that was the reason they are concerned about the attacks on critical infrastructure that civilians depend upon and cited specifically as attacks on the electric grid. it is a reminder of how important it is to make sure that our critical infrastructure is resilient, that our plans in place to be able to operate even if a cyber attack is successful, to respond effectively to recover effectively. the national grid has a reputation for having a relatively high level of resilience. that doesn't mean power won't go out but what we have seen, even in ukraine, russia has a hard time causing a sustained power outage through cyber means only. that is a result of resilience within ukraine, resilience is really the important
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emphasis here for all critical infrastructure owners and operators and individuals to be prepared for example for electrical outage for some period of time. uruguay�*s current president luis lacalle pou says he congratulated leftist candidate yamandu 0rsi as president—elect — following sunday's second round of voting in the country's presidential elections. uruguay state media projected mr 0rsi's win after a tight race against alvaro delgado, the incumbent party's candidate — who has admitted defeat. mr 0rsi's coalition — the broad front — governed for 15 years until losing power in 2019. polls are closed in the romanian presidential election with exit polls suggesting a run—off will be needed. in the hotly—contested race, far—right nationalist calin georgescu currently holds a narrow lead over the country's current prime minister — marcel ciolacu. as neither candidate appears to have secured 50% of the vote, a second run—off is expected to take
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place on december 8th. it comes during a tumultuous time amid rising inflation and the ongoing war in neighbouring ukraine. with calin georgescu holding a slight lead — i spoke to nick thorpe, our east and central europe correspondent, about what made him a successful candidate. mr georgescu, he is 62 years old. he does have a certain amount of experience in the united nations, for example, he is an expert on sustainable development. his radicalism has come from, and his standing up for romanian patriotism, this has come in a series of interviews in the past weeks and months, but really the key to his success has been his very adept, aggressive, some people would say, use of tiktok. this was basically flooded with his name, even the campaign rallies, the campaign messages of all his rivals were flooded on tiktok by his own messages. he's called the tiktok
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champion, really, in romania, because he has managed to crack the algorithm in a way to make himself very popular, not only in romania but also within the diaspora. so, a very modern figure, albeit with some messages from the far right. perhaps his most controversial statements have been to call heroes of the romanian iron guard — this was the neo—nazi party which ran romania during the second world war, for most of the second world war, to call them heroes. he is under criminal prosecution for those remarks. i should add, though, i think another factor in his success, doing so well in this election has been, i suppose, the effect of donald trump's victory, another antiestablishment figure, ithink, giving strength to a figure in this case, mr georgescu, really making him more electable than he would have been had donald trump not won in the united states.
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after days of talks and 30 extra hours of bitter wrangling, the cop 29 climate conference finally agreed a deal in the early hours of sunday morning in baku. the world's richest nations pledged more than $300 billion a year by 2035 — to help poorer nations deal with climate change and develop without needing to rely on fossilfuels. but despite the amount being three times the current existing pledge, some developing nations criticised the deal as insufficient. here's our climate editorjustin rowlatt. it was in the early hours of this morning when the key text was agreed. applause to huge applause from the room. but some delegates from developing countries were angry. and just listen to how that went down in the room.
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i regret to say that this document is nothing more than an optical illusion. this, in our opinion, will not address the enormity of the challenge we all face. therefore, we oppose the adoption of this document. the developing countries saying that it's taking the lead with $300 billion til 2035 is a joke, and is not something we should take lightly. at the same time there was an effort by a group of fossil fuel rich countries, led by saudi arabia, to water down a promise made at last year's cop conference to transition away from fossil fuels. the final deal here includes both 300 billion a year commitment to helping developing countries tackle climate change and that strong language on cutting emissions. i am very pleased that we have got this deal through. it's the right thing for britain, it's the right thing for speeding up the clean
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energy transition, which is good for britain in that it will help protect us against climate change, and that's the right thing to do. and it will also help generate jobs and growth for people in britain. it's an 11th—hour deal. some people are saying this deal isn't generous enough, that developed nations are dodging the debt they owe the developing world. others are saying it shows that, despite the divisions, despite donald trump threatening to pull america out of the process, the world can come together in this cooperative un effort to tackle the existential threat of climate change. justin rowlatt, bbc news, baku. talks are due to start in south korea aimed at curbing pollution from plastics. around 19 million tonnes of plastics enter the environment each year, impacting the environment and the health of both animals and humans. and the amount of plastics produced globally is projected
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to more than double by 2040. negotiators at the un summit in busan are hoping to sign a global plastics treaty that can tackle the problem. erik lindberg is the wwf�*s global plastics policy lead, and joins me from busan. thank you for speaking to me about this today. how big a problem assistant why do you think a plastics treaty is going to help solve the? plastic pollution is an enormous problem. it is a global crisis with devastating impact on nature and livelihoods and human health. a plastics treaty here can actually save lives, solve this problem by establishing legally binding global rules such as eliminating the most problematic and unnecessary types of plastics and creating new products design requirements that will create a circular economy for plastics.
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you have been closely involved in these negotiations but some of the biggest polluters from russia to saudi arabia and even the incoming us trump administration and supportive of the broader messages, any chance of winning them over? i think there is a large chance of getting a treaty at this meeting. we know what kind of treaty we need. there's a majority of countries pushing for a strong agreement and i think they have the public behind them and industry behind them and i also have science behind them. it is really a question, will these progressive countries, will this progressive majority be able to push through and to make that deal that the world needs? it is definitely possible and at the same time we know a strong treaty among the majority of countries will actually be more effective than actually be more effective than
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a week and voluntary treaty evenif a week and voluntary treaty even if the latter is supported by all. i even if the latter is supported b all. , ., ., by all. i understand the global roduct by all. i understand the global product design _ by all. i understand the global product design requirements l by all. i understand the global. product design requirements are also top destruction, i cannot realistically move the needle? a lot. we need to tackle plastics across the value chain. it is not possible to clean up this problem or solve this problem only with waste management. we need to go up to the design phase and production phase, to which type of plastic products we actually put on the market, what kind of chemical sorrento is and how they are designed so they can be reused and recycled. we designed so they can be reused and recycled-— and recycled. we have seen financing — and recycled. we have seen financing being _ and recycled. we have seen financing being contentious| financing being contentious topic at cop 29, do you see it being a similar issue? definitely, financing is important. it is crucial how developing countries will be able to implement this treaty. we see promising signs here at
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the start of the negotiations about financing and i hope it is possible to find a deal that is possible to find a deal that is strong both on the obligations and measures and on the financial package for implementation.- the financial package for implementation. that's all for now — stay with bbc news. hello there. plenty of heavy rain through the day on sunday from storm bert and some strong, gusty winds too — this time, strongest across the southern half of the uk. here are some of the highest wind gusts here.
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gusts of wind in yeovilton in somerset of 76 miles an hour, and that is the strongest gust recorded at this site for 3h years. and some curiously mild air too — 19 celsius in santon downham in suffolk. but of course, of most concern has been just how much rainfall we've been seeing — parts of south—eastern wales, of course, seeing some severe flooding. there are plenty of flood warnings in force across the uk and that number could well rise as, of course, all of that rainfall just continues to feed into the rivers. and here's the area of low pressure associated with storm bert. it's gradually pulling its way further northwards and eastwards, still a tight squeeze on the isobars, the centre of the storm still over the north of scotland. as we head through the rest of the night and into tomorrow morning, still gales here. still a few more showers affecting some of these flood—affected areas across south—eastern wales, but it's turned a lot drier now with that band of rain across south—east england, and that will clear as we head through the morning. now, in terms of showers, the worst of them will tend to be across north—west scotland, gradually pushing further eastwards, more organised rain here.
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also for northern ireland and for north—west england, there'll be further showers too. the winds are strong in the north, lighter in the south. towards south—eastern wales, there will be some showers on and off through the day. they'll all be blowing further eastwards on still quite a brisk westerly wind, but some dry spells in between. drier for eastern england and it's feeling cooler across the board. as we head into tuesday, it is a cooler—feeling day. there could even be a bit of fog around to start off the day in parts of the midlands and wales, perhaps. the storm has now drifted off to the north and the east. still windy with some cloud and some showers across the far north of scotland. some of those showers possibly wintry in nature, but lots of dry weather around and feeling cooler too — temperatures between 6—9 celsius for most of us. now, this area of low pressure needs a bit of watching as we head through wednesday. there could be some rain and some strong gusty winds for parts of east anglia, perhaps, as we head through the day on wednesday. it's a quieter day on thursday. again, there will be some frost for some as we head
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through the middle of the week as temperatures tend to dip. here's the outlook for our capital cities, so a quieter week of weather ahead with some sunshine and feeling cooler.
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legal challenges for indian tycoon gautam adani are mounting in the united states. we'll have all the details.
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plus... what lies ahead for artificial intelligence industry, with the incoming administration of president—elect donald trump? hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. let's begin with our top story — the bribing allegations facing adani group in the united states.according to reports, the us securities and exchange commission has issued summons for indian tycoon gautam adani and his nephew sagar adani.they are accused of engaging in hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes, this comes on top of criminal charges brought last week by federal prosecutors against mr adani. professor nirmalya kumar from the singapore management university says there is little chance mr adani will be extradited to the united states. india has an extradition treaty with the us but i suspect this government in india is going to be very reluctant to hand over adani to them so i think in the
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short run, i don't see how they

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