describe positive talks on illegal migration days after the president—elect threatened tariffs. the scene in beirut this morning as the israel—hezbollah ceasefire appears to be holding. this is alive. —— live. and could this thanksgiving mark a turning point for the film industry? experts predict record movie attendance as wicked and gladiator ii draw audiences back to the big screen. hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. australia's social media ban for children under the age

of 16 is closer to becoming law. on wednesday, the house of representatives passed the bill and today, in parliament's final session, it's been up to the senate to finalize the world—first law. the bill makes platforms including tiktok, facebook, snapchat, instagram, and x liable for fines of up to us$33 million forfailing to prevent young children from having accounts. the platforms would have one year to work out how to implement the age restrictions before the penalties are enforced. so this is the scene at the seneddin so this is the scene at the senedd in canberra where this bill is being discussed. and, as we said, anytime now, they are ahead of us, of course, we will find out whether it is, in

fact, going to become a world first. al corresponded in sydney is phil mercer. just tell us a little bit more about the reaction that has been in australia to this story. just after four _ australia to this story. just after four o'clock _ australia to this story. just after four o'clock in - australia to this story. just after four o'clock in the - after four o'clock in the afternoon here in eastern parts of australia and the government, the left—leaning government in canberra is eager, very eagerfor government in canberra is eager, very eager for this legislation and other reforms to go through today before parliament wraps up for the year. so the government in australia is promising pioneering legislation with the aim of reducing the harm that it believes that social media is inflicting on children. the government wants to bring in the span for anyone under the age of 16 to preclude them from having an account, as you say, on tiktok, facebook, instagram,

and snapchat. many teenagers and snapchat. many teenagers and young people in this country already have accounts on those platforms if they are under 16 they will have to give them up, so there will be a loss of division there. but earlier this week there was quite a comprehensive poll suggesting 77% of australians supported this ban. so, in the community there seems to be broad support, but among experts there is division about how the band will actually work and whether the technology will exist to actually enforce it. and it is all about enforcement, isn't it? how have the social media platform owners reacted to all of this, because so many countries are looking to make the steps as australia has, including the uk. so, from the side of the social media firms what kind of reaction has there been to that, particularly when it

comes to the question of enforcement.— comes to the question of enforcement. ~ j ., enforcement. well, they're not too happy. _ enforcement. well, they're not too happy. as— enforcement. well, they're not too happy. as you'd _ enforcement. well, they're not too happy, as you'd imagine. l too happy, as you'd imagine. some of these platforms insist they are working or have worked on child friendly versions of their platforms. we did hear from google and is mentor who wanted the legislation being debated in the australian senedd, which is the upper chamber of federal parliament, to be delayed until the end of age verification trials, that is expected to be some time next year —— matt darr. tiktok said the bill currently under consideration needed far more community and corporate consultation and elon musk�*s x said the whole reform process threatens the human rights of children. so, safe to say there has been an enormous amount of pushback from platforms that would be covered by the ban, but if and when it goes through, and we expect it will, though social media platforms

could be fined an awful lot of money if further down the track they don't abide by the new regulations.— they don't abide by the new regulations. there have been some very — regulations. there have been some very high _ regulations. there have been some very high profile - regulations. there have been some very high profile cases| some very high profile cases involving social media and, tragically, the deaths of teenagers, certainly here in the uk. what has been the social media story that in australia? has there been anything in particular that has triggered this reaction by the government?— triggered this reaction by the government? well, when you seak to government? well, when you speak to the _ government? well, when you speak to the australian - government? well, when you speak to the australian prime i speak to the australian prime minister, anthony albanese, or you hear him refer to this matter he says he has spoken to thousands of parents and grandparents who are worried sick about what happens or what could potentially happen to their children online. there is enormous concerns in the corridors of power in canberra, the australian capital, that cyber bullying, the exposure to violence and pornographic contents is causing what some experts say is an epidemic of

mental illness among australian children. however, you speak to teenagers and young people in this country and many of them say that these social networks are just that — they bring them together and they are a very important part of their lives and their daily life, so it is and their daily life, so it is a huge debate in this country and, of course, it is a massive debate well beyond these shores as well. ~ . ., ~ as well. 0k, phil mercer, thank ou ve as well. 0k, phil mercer, thank you very much _ as well. 0k, phil mercer, thank you very much for _ as well. 0k, phil mercer, thank you very much for that. - new research in the uk from the online regulator ofcom suggests a fifth of children here aged between eight and 15 have lied about their age in order to get a social media account. the figure is unchanged for the last two years, despite technology companies introducing new restrictions. the regulator has warned social media companies they will be punished if they fail to take significant extra steps to address the problem of children pretending to be adults online. the online safety act comes into force next year, giving ofcom new powers to make

sure social media platforms keep children safe online. we'll have more in business in about 20 minutes. all reaction to that. here in the uk, the metropolitan police say they are investigating at least five people suspected of assisting the late billionaire and former owner of harrods mohamed al fayed in committing sexual offences. police launched a new investigation after 90 victims came forward following a bbc documentary that revealed the extent of mr al fayed's predatory behaviour. the current owners of harrods said they "wholeheartedly" supported the police investigation, and urged people to engage with it. our correspondent ellie price has more.

mohamed al fayed died last year. he neverfaced any criminal charges. now, more than five people who may have assisted or facilitated than five people who may have assisted orfacilitated him are being investigated by the met police. shall being investigated by the met police. �* , ., ., police. al fayed is no longer alive to face _ police. al fayed is no longer alive to face prosecution, i police. al fayed is no longer| alive to face prosecution, we are determined to bring anyone who is suspected to have played a part in his offending to justice. as a result of inquiries so far we have now launched an investigation into a number of people associated with armoured al fayed. this investigation will look at what role those individuals may have played in facilitating or enabling his offending and what opportunities they had to protect for them is from his horrendous abuse. our priority is to providejustice, answers, and support those affected by these awful crimes. i and support those affected by these awful crimes.— and support those affected by these awful crimes. i went back to harrods _ these awful crimes. i went back to harrods about _ these awful crimes. i went back to harrods about a _ these awful crimes. i went back to harrods about a year- these awful crimes. i went back to harrods about a year ago - these awful crimes. i went back| to harrods about a year ago and i knew_ to harrods about a year ago and i knew if— to harrods about a year ago and i knew if i— to harrods about a year ago and i knew if i could walk—through and come _ i knew if i could walk—through and come out the other side i'd be in _ and come out the other side i'd be in a — and come out the other side i'd be in a good place to be talking _ be in a good place to be talking to you.—

talking to you. the bbc documentary, - talking to you. the bbc documentary, which . talking to you. the bbc - documentary, which uncovered allegations of rape and the gumma was released two months ago. since then, more than 90 women have come forward to the police. the timescale for the claims of abuse is between 1977 and 2014. the youngest victim a 13—year—old. the met police isn'tjust 13—year—old. the met police isn't just looking 13—year—old. the met police isn'tjust looking at new isn't just looking at new allegations, isn'tjust looking at new allegations, but also looking back at old ones were no charges were brought against armoured al fayed. the force as it has already looked at 50,000 pages of evidence from those previous investigations and it has launched a review about what was missed and why. 21 alleged victim's had already contacted the met in the years before the documentary. earlier this month the force referred itself to the independent office of police conduct about two cases investigated in 2008 and 2013. again, no charges were brought. harrods new owners have been investigating since last year whether any current members of the were involved. it has declined to

give details of whether any action has been taken against any individual or when that review might be completed but it said it wholeheartedly supported the met police's investigation and had an open, direct, and ongoing line of communication with the met for the benefit of the survivors. ellie price, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news now. a major new study says air pollution caused by fires has killed about 1.5 million people annually in recent years. it indicates that particulate matter produced by wildfires and controlled burns, such as those on farms, overwhelmingly affects low and middle—income countries. scientists warn that the problem will worsen as climate change makes wildfires more common. the new prime minister of mauritius says he needs more time to study a deal his predecessor agreed with britain that would hand sovereignty of the chagos islands to mauritius. under the agreement, the uk would relinquish sovereignty over the archipelago, but maintain a 99—year lease over the island of diego garcia.

us officials say china has freed three americans in a prisoner swap. they were the last prisoners in china classified by the state department as having been wrongfully detained. reports say a number of chinese nationals in us custody are being released in return. sean �*diddy�* combs has been denied bailfor the third time by a judge in new york city. two judges previously denied mr combs's release from custody, primarily due to concerns about potential witness tampering. he was charged with racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and has entered a plea of �*not guilty�* and denied more than two dozen sexual assault accusations. mexico's president claudia sheinbaum says she's had an excellent conversation

with donald trump just days after the us president—elect threatened to impose tariffs on mexico unless it stopped migrants and drugs crossing the border. trump said the mexican leader agreed to stop migration into the us, "effectively closing the southern border". ms sheinbaum said that while she reassured him no migrant caravans will be reaching the border between their countries, she reiterated that mexico's position was not to close borders, but to build bridges between governments and peoples. meanwhile, several of donald trump's cabinet nominees have received bomb threats in what appears to be a hoax. the fbi says there were �*swatting' incidents, where scam calls are made to attract a police response. among those targeted include elise stefanik, who trump named to be the us ambassador to the united nations. the nominee for commerce secretary, howard lutnick,

lee zeldin, trump's pick to become administrator of the environmental protection agency. lori chavez—deremer, the nominee for labour secretary, and even matt gaetz, who recently dropped out of the running to become us attorney general, was also targeted. a spokesperson for the president—elect and his team said they would not be deterred by intimidation or violence. for more, let's speak to former republican strategist and commentator rina shah. hello, welcome to the programme. let's start office with our conversation that was held between ms sheinbaum and mr trump. what you make of that, that these conversations are already being held and that mexico seems to be trying to

work with mr trump. proponents of president-elect _ work with mr trump. proponents of president-elect from - work with mr trump. proponents of president-elect from a - of president—elect from a saying that this proactive approach of his two months even prior to taking the oath of office to re—enter the white house shows that he is committed to, essentially, carrying out his greatest campaign promise, which is to secure the southern border. in essence, they believe he had no choice but to respond just in the past couple of days on twitter, again, now known as x, the president of mexico has come out in saying that "america, you are the problem, you are the reason for the drugs and the guns" and, in essence, essentially throwing the ball back in our court. it is important to know that president biden is very much still in office and at the helm here and i want to highlight a note especially the illegal migration has been down during this past four years of abide in's term, but trump began taking this sort of issue and grabbing the bill horns, it seems, seems to be a step in the right direction for many

who have been very disappointed and feel very let down by the biden—harris administration —— bull by the horns. biden-harris administration -- bull by the horns.— bull by the horns. controlling borders, controlling - bull by the horns. controlling | borders, controlling migration costs money. he was expected to pick up the tab?— pick up the tab? well, trump is famously known _ pick up the tab? well, trump is famously known as _ pick up the tab? well, trump is famously known as saying - pick up the tab? well, trump is famously known as saying that l famously known as saying that other countries will pick up the tab, that putting america first means that we do that, that he is able to negotiate, essentially, deals that put the ball back in the course of other countries. it is important to note here that trump has talked about terrace, and uses this as a negotiating tactic, let's not forget whatever % of the amount he is talking about putting on goods from our southern neighbour, mexico, as well as our northern, canada. it seems like positive progress between him and president sheinbaum, maybe he will pull back on 1524 00: