has captured a former british soldier fighting for ukraine. a far—right pro—russia candidate takes a surprise lead in the first round of romania's presidential election. and a special report — the bbc speaks with backpackers in laos after six tourists die from suspected methanol poisoning. hello, i'm sally bundock. we start here in the uk where over 180 flood warnings are in place across the country. wales�* first minister, eluned morgan, has called the flooding caused by storm bert absolutely devastating. hundreds of homes remain underwater and many roads have been turned into rivers as a result of the torrential downpours, with some areas

seeing more than a month's rain in the past 48 hours. vincent mcaviney reports. pontypridd was only under a yellow weather warning, but over the weekend it was one of the parts of the uk where storm burt dumped more than 80% of november's expected rainfall in less than 48 hours, passing the record set by storm dennis in 2020. it's been more than enough for the river taff to burst its banks again, flooding up to 300 homes and commercial properties across this county. a major incident was declared in parts of south wales with standing water, fallen trees and landslides closing a number of roads. council leaders are alarmed they weren't given stronger warnings about bert. i am really surprised we did not have an amber last night. and when you consider the amount of rain that came

today and the flooding we've seen, i'm amazed there hasn't been a red warning either. so that is something certainly, as a local authority will be raising directly with the met office. the welsh first minister believes climate change means there are difficult choices to be made. climate change is going to impact on us, and there will come a point when 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're able to do that for the people impacted. in north wales, after a multi—agency search operation, the body of 75 year old brian perry was located in the area of gower road. mr perry had gone missing on saturday whilst walking his dog near the river conway. for this family living near wrexham, firefighters had to evacuate them from their home. the flood has just come down and there's a tree crashed through the wall of the house at the top side. it's devastating to see.

national resources wales, i hold you responsible. where the hell are you? come and do something about this. in the worcestershire town of tenbury wells, the speed at which floodwaters can advance was on full display. coupled with the melting snow, rising river levels have resulted in more than 100 flood warnings across the uk. in west yorkshire, ii—month—old baby luka had a narrow escape with his father after their vehicle started to become submerged. 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've climbed out of the driver's seat, ran round to his side, unstrapped him and got him out as quick as i could. and i'd say the water was about chest high, so i was holding him up as high as i could, running out of the water. as storm bert finally clears from the north east,

there's quieter weather to follow for many. for residents in affected communities, they are once again faced with the unenviable task of not only cleaning up, but also getting more funding to reinforce defences to stop it from happening again. vincent mcavennie, bbc news. for those of you watching here in the uk, for the detail on how this impacts you where you are, do check that website, bbc news online for local information but also bbc local radio and television. here, the foreign office is investigating reports that a former british soldier fighting for ukraine has been captured by russian forces in the kursk region. a video is circulating online which show a man dressed in military uniform. 0ur correspondent simon jones has more. that shows a man in military uniform. now, in the video, he identifies himself as james scott rhys anderson. he says he is 22 years old, and he says that he was part

of the british army for four years before being sacked. he then applied to join the international legion. now, that is part of the ukrainian army made up of foreigners. now, he said he travelled to poland to get himself to ukraine. now, tonight we have had a report from a news agency, russian news agency, saying what it calls a british mercenary has been captured in the kursk region. now, that is part of southern russia. there has been fierce fighting there after there was a surprise incursion into that region by ukrainian forces back in august. now, the foreign office have told us tonight that they are supporting the family of a british man following reports that he has been captured. the website of the foreign office warns against travel to ukraine for fighting, saying people have been captured in the past and when that happens it can be difficult for the foreign office to offer support. so, a worrying situation, but it could be even more complicated because this apparent capture happened on russian soil rather than in ukraine.

defence ministers from the uk and key eu countries are meeting in berlin, days after vladimir putin said russia had the right to target the military facilities of countries supplying weapons to ukraine. poland has always insisted ukraine has every right to use western—sent missiles against russia in self—defence. but the country hosts several us military facilities 7 including one that russian officials have identified as a possible target, if the war escalates. 0ur eastern europe correspondent sarah rainsford reports from warsaw. when vladimir putin threatens to escalate his war,

it's people in places like rajicova that might worry. because just beyond the wire in this tiny polish town is an american military base, one that russia has openly called a potential target. the site was opened officially this month, part of a us missile defence shield to protect the skies over europe. then, when russia fired a hypersonic weapon at ukraine, vladimir putin warned those who armed kyiv with missiles they could be next. so some here are nervous. it's all regina's family talk about. she says they feel the threat from russia is growing. joachim, though, says vladimir putin would never take on the us because then he and russia would be wiped off the earth. so you feel the history here in poland quite acutely? correct. and poland has suffered a lot from the soviet times and from russian imperialism. back in the capital,

this mp tells me her country understands the threat from russia better than others further west, and she believes standing up to putin is the only choice. what he's currently saying, you know, is not credible. i think that if we are, we were to appease him in any way, shape or form that would only strengthen the russian aggression. it's either ukraine that we support or we have russia behind our eastern borders. but poland believes moscow is already attacking here. when fire tore through this giant mall in warsaw, the prime minister said russia was likely to blame. linked to this and other incidents meant to destabilise as well as destroy. it's strange to think that this fire could be anything to do with russia, but that's what the authorities are investigating. and notjust here, but acts of arson and sabotage right across poland. that could be part of a hybrid war. when i asked people here about the risk of rocket strikes.

the risk of rocket strikes, this lady laughs. but putin isn't the only one who has missiles. but russia's murkier hybrid attacks on poland have already escalated. sarah rainsford, bbc news, warsaw. a far—right, pro—russia candidate has taken an unexpected lead in the first round of romania's presidential election. calin georgescu has no political party, and is known as the tiktok candidate after he used the social media platform to galvanise his support by calling for an end to aid for ukraine. he has also sounded a sceptical note on romania's nato membership. georgescu's will face the pro—europe prime minister and leader of the social democrats, marcel ciolacu, in the second round of voting in two weeks�* time. 0ur central europe correspondent, nick thorpe is in budapest —

he explained more about what do we know about calin georgescu. it is a surprise. mr georgescu, he's 62 years old. he does have a certain amount of experience in the united nations. for example, he's 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 able, 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 seems to... he's called the tiktok

champion, really, in romania because he's 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, and he's under facing actually criminal prosecution for those remarks. i should add, though, i think that another factor in his success doing so well in this election has been that, i suppose, the effect of donald trump's victory. so another anti—establishment figure, i think, 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. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

this is bbc news. young 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, who died the previous week, were all 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. 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. the white house have condemned the killing of the israeli—moldovan rabbi, zvi cogan in the united arab emirates. the body of rabbi cogan, an envoy of the ultra—orthodox jewish group chabad lubavitch, was located after he had been missing in dubai since thursday. authorities in the uae say three men have been detained in connection with his killing.

zvi cogan had previously served in the israeli army. the centre—left candidate, yamandu 0rsi has won uruguay�*s presidential election after the ruling party's candidate, alvaro delgado conceded before the count finished. mr 0rsi's campaign had been boosted by the support of the former uruguayan president, jose mujica. he led the first round in october but fell short of a majority. unlike the stark left—right divides seen in other south american elections, uruguay�*s political landscape features considerable overlap between conservative and liberal coalitions. the nato cyber defence conference kicks off in london later today, with warnings of an escalation in cyber threats from adversaries like russia. the british government is to set up a new artificial intelligence research laboratory to help protect

the uk and nato allies against the growing threat. in his speech to the conference, the cabinet office minister, pat mcfadden, will accuse moscow of waging a hidden cyber war with western allies. let's speak to jacquelyn schneider, a fellow at the hoover institution and director of the hoover wargaming and crisis simulation initiative. good to have you on the programme. interesting that he should say they are waging a hit in the cyber war with western allies, the comments from the cabinet office minister that is expected later. is it a hidden cyber war? it is something we have been talking openly about for years, isn't it?— years, isn't it? yes, a lot of what we — years, isn't it? yes, a lot of what we are _ years, isn't it? yes, a lot of what we are seeing - years, isn't it? yes, a lot of what we are seeing occur. years, isn't it? yes, a lot of what we are seeing occur is| years, isn't it? yes, a lot of. what we are seeing occur is an extension of what has been occurring over the last decade, except that we are seeing an increase in the audacity of russian attacks. and a

proliferation of russian cyber actors so it is notjust folks that are officially sanctioned by the government, the gr you, the svr, but also these activists and organisations like the people cyber army in russia. so it is the confluence, the rise in all of that type of activity.- that type of activity. this ear, that type of activity. this year. at _ that type of activity. this year, at the _ that type of activity. this year, at the beginning i that type of activity. this year, at the beginning ofj that type of activity. this year, at the beginning of the year, at the beginning of the year, it was highlighted that this year would be historic because they would be more general elections globally than any other year, notably in the united states recently, the uk and many other countries around the world, and there was a huge concern about the cyber threat as far as that was all concerned. what is your take on that? i concerned. what is your take on that? 4' ., that? i think in general the world and _ that? i think in general the world and definitely - that? i think in general the world and definitely the - that? i think in general the - world and definitely the united states is much more aware of the overt kind of propaganda and information operations coming from russia. and i think at least in the united states

we were also very concerned about russian activity that would have to do with the integrity of the voting system itself. because we were overtly concerned, as opposed to 2016, the united states was far more in front of those activities than they had been in the past. but there is no doubt that the russians are trying to influence the outcome of all of these elections, whether through information operations or through hacking into data and different types of information and leaking out information. so it is an extension of the same type of operations we have seen basically since 2016. what is the biggest _ basically since 2016. what is the biggest threat _ basically since 2016. what is the biggest threat when - basically since 2016. what is the biggest threat when it i the biggest threat when it comes to interference, you know, a cyber war as such? is it more about the infrastructure of the country and the taking down certain key aspects of the country? is that aspects of the country? is that

a bigger threat than, say, for example, tampering with an election? ., ~ ., example, tampering with an election?— example, tampering with an election? ., ~' ., ~ election? you know, i think the bi est election? you know, i think the biggest threat _ election? you know, i think the biggest threat that _ election? you know, i think the biggest threat that comes - election? you know, i think the biggest threat that comes from j biggest threat that comes from cyber is actually the way in which it degrades the trust we have in the digitally enabled infrastructure. that is the way we vote, the way we govern, the way we get missiles and equipment to ukraine, the way we do finance. i like to think of the threat as being more like termites, these kind of insidious but really existential threats to the foundations of digital infrastructure. and a lot less like one single attack that is going to be particularly dangerous.— going to be particularly dangerous. going to be particularly dancerous. ., ., dangerous. 0k, we will have to leave it there _ dangerous. 0k, we will have to leave it there but _ dangerous. 0k, we will have to leave it there but we _ dangerous. 0k, we will have to leave it there but we will - dangerous. 0k, we will have to leave it there but we will keep | leave it there but we will keep a very close eye on this summit taking place in london today. thank you, jacqueline schneider. negotiators from around the world have gathered in south korea this week in an attempt to secure the world's first treaty

to fight against plastic pollution. global plastic production has been increasing rapidly for decades. the united nations says around 20 million tonnes a year is ending up in our seas and oceans. 0ur environment correspondent jonah fisher has more. the war against plastic pollution is being fought one piece at a time on the beach in folkestone. i've come to meet a man who calls himself the coastline runner. luke. you must be absolutely freezing. yeah, i'm a bit cold and a bit parky, but needs must. and what are you doing here? i'm running the coast. i'm collecting plastic pollution. there's just so much of it on our beaches all around the world. luke has run up the east coast of england and into scotland, picking up rubbish along the way. so far, he says, he's gathered more than 700 kilos. how do you feel when you're picking up other people's litter?

i feel... i feel desperate. i feel a bit angry and that makes me run even further. and ijust feel we've got to start considering our environment rather than just treating it like a bottomless waste bin, because it's not. sadly, the amount being cleaned up is being dwarfed by the plastic that's getting into our seas. the united nations thinks it's about 20 million tonnes a year. that's the same as a rubbish truck emptying its load into the sea every minute of the day and night. and it's getting everywhere. in particular, the tiny microplastic particles which can come from, among other things, our clothes and car tyres. we find them from the highest mountains. some of our studies near the top of mount everest, right down to our deepest oceans.

we find them from the poles to the equator. we need to be concerned because it will be incredibly difficult to remove microplastics from the environment. 0nce they've entered the environment, they're going to stay there and they're going to persist. so what can be done? well, this week, negotiators from around the world are in south korea trying to agree on an international, legally—binding treaty to hopefully turn the tide on plastic pollution. the most obvious and yet hardest to agree solution is for the world to stop making so much plastic in the first place. if you look at a business as usual scenario, we're looking at millions and millions of extra tonnes of plastic waste entering the environment by by 2030. and so we really need action soon. there's an urgency to tackling plastic pollution. which do you think is more recyclable? his rubbish on display, luke calls in at a local primary school in folkestone

to meet a group of pupils called the eco guardians. so what would they say to those negotiating a plastics treaty? there's so much plastic in the ocean. one little bit of plastic. 0r like packages with polystyrene in them to just be like completely banned. try to reuse plastic bottles if we get them, but try not to use them as much. i want everyone to recycle and maybe like we can have like an art day where we make loads of like art designs out of like plastic. all great ideas. but are the world's grown—ups listening? jonah fisher, bbc news in folkestone. we'll have more on that story next. see you in a moment. 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. 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. 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

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.

uk businesses say they are scaling back on their plans for growth and will reduce

new hiring following the tax rises announced in the budget. stock markets in asia cheer trumps choice for treasury secretary while the dollar slides in value — scott bessent is seen as a "safe pair of hands" on wall street — we'll be getting an expert view. plastic pollution problem — last ditch talks to agree on a legally binding treaty to address plastic pollution has opened in south korea. we speak to one of the delegates. and turbulence ahead! uk airlines are up in arms over taxes added to the industry in the latest budget — heathrow says it may threaten its status as europes busiest airport. live from london this is business today. we start here in the uk where business leaders are warning they are cutting back on their plans for growth following the government's tax rising budget. ahead of their annual meeting the confederation

of british industry says almost half of those surveyed