russian and syrian warplanes bomb rebel positions in northwest syria as rebel forces capture territory for the first time in years, in a major offensive. and notre dame re—opens its doors — france's president emmanuel macron will be given a televised tour ahead of the official opening on december 7th. hello and welcome to bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. we begin in the uk — mps at westminster are facing a momentous decision today as they prepare to vote on a bill which would allow assisted dying in england and wales. if passed, it would allow terminally ill adults to end their lives, if two doctors and a high courtjudge approve.

today's debate comes after weeks of intense discussion with strong opinions on both sides. our political correspondent, harry farley, has the details about what is being proposed. chanting near a decade on from mps last vote on assisted dying, today will be historic. whatever the result. the proposed changes are being made by this labour politician, kim leadbetter came top in a lottery of mps that get to suggest a new law that parliament debates. if it passes, it will apply to adults with a terminal illness with less than six months to live. they must be free from coercion and pressure. two doctors must sign off, and a judge must give final approval. the doctor can prepare the substance, but the

person must self—administer it. prominent figures have taken sides. former prime minister gordon brown said it would alter society's attitude to the elderly and disabled. david cameron has changed his mind. what i cannot accept is the status _ what i cannot accept is the status quo. i have heard many stories— status quo. i have heard many stories of— status quo. i have heard many stories of people coming up to me with — stories of people coming up to me with painful deaths, horrible deaths, people who have — horrible deaths, people who have taken days, hours, to die. and _ have taken days, hours, to die. and loved — have taken days, hours, to die. and loved ones who have got the trauma, — and loved ones who have got the trauma, not only of their loss, but of— trauma, not only of their loss, but of that— trauma, not only of their loss, but of that horrible death. and that is something that has to change _ that is something that has to chan . e. ~ , that is something that has to chance. ~ , ., that is something that has to chance. g . change. my father was technically _ change. my father was technically expected . change. my father was | technically expected to change. my father was - technically expected to die. he was in intensive care for over three months. he miraculously made it through because the doctors did everything they could to save him. and he lived for another 20 years. so, you know, that was an incredible blessing. he saw his grandchildren grow up. in my experience of life and some of

the other constituency have written to me, we can't predict with certainty when that moment is going to come. so i think we should be asking our medical profession and our doctors to focus on finding the cures, focus on finding the cures, focus on finding the cures, focus on keeping people alive, and not on allowing their patients to kill themselves. mps will begin debating just after 9:30 this morning. both sides acknowledge this is a major social change, and we can expect passionate arguments both for and against this law. the vote is expected around 2:30 this afternoon. but today is just the first stage. if it passes the bill will go through further scrutiny and many more hurdles in parliament before it could become law. russia's president valdimir putin has threatened to attack decision—making centres in the ukrainian capital, kyiv, using their new 0reshnik ballistic missile. these missiles were first used last thursday in a powerful attack on the ukrainian city of

dnipro. putin says the 0reshnik ballistic missile is of �*intermediate range'. this threat comes as russia increases attacks on ukraine's energy facilities. the most recent attacks left more than a million people without power. putin said this response is to the recent strikes on russian territory using british and american long range weapons. ukraine's president zelensky accused putin of attempting to derail any efforts by the us president—elect donald trump to end the war. let's speak to dr samir puri — a former ceasefire observer in ukraine and an associate fellow at chatham house. which is a think tank here in london, in the uk. hello, welcome to the programme. to

what extent do you view this as an escalation?— an escalation? well, thanks for havin: an escalation? well, thanks for having me- _ an escalation? well, thanks for having me. we're _ an escalation? well, thanks for having me. we're in _ an escalation? well, thanks for having me. we're in a - an escalation? well, thanks for having me. we're in a very - having me. we're in a very worrying escalatory cycle in the russian invasion of ukraine. 0ne the russian invasion of ukraine. one of the worst escalatory cycles of coming to three years of this conflict. 0bviously each side is saying the other one is taking the step that caused them to escalate, that's the nature of this spiral. the threat cannot be ignored because of the demonstration of the use of this 0reshnik missile in dnipro. russia has more of them it specifically said it will now threaten decision making centres in the capital, kyiv, now that needs to be taken quite seriously as something that could happen.— quite seriously as something that could happen. before we look at the — that could happen. before we look at the missile _ that could happen. before we look at the missile itself, - look at the missile itself, decision making centres — what are we talking about here? what would be the most strategic target for russia to target? right. that phrase is of course

putin's own phase. what we can take that to me would be ukrainian government ministries, sites that are symbolic with regards to the presidency, something that also happened in the last week is the us embassy in kyiv, for a while, closed down. the us embassy, the uk embassy, they're on different sides of they're on different sides of the town. since it's they're on different sides of the town. since its us and uk supplied missiles, the atacms and the storm shadows that ukraine has fired into russia, i think we should also take seriously the possibility of targeting of countries' embassies that are seen by putin and by the russian regime to be directly supporting ukrainian missile attacks into russia. �* , , ~ russia. and this 0reshnik missile - _ russia. and this 0reshnik missile - just _ russia. and this 0reshnik missile - just how - russia. and this 0reshnik i missile - just how dangerous russia. and this 0reshnik - missile - just how dangerous is missile — just how dangerous is it? when we compare it to the long—range missiles that were signed off by the united states and the uk?— and the uk? very dangerous, because this _ and the uk? very dangerous, because this is _ and the uk? very dangerous, because this is a _ and the uk? very dangerous, because this is a sort - and the uk? very dangerous,

because this is a sort of - because this is a sort of weapon of intermediate range that would be part of a possible hypothetical horroring nuclear war. possible hypothetical horroring nuclearwar. it's possible hypothetical horroring nuclear war. it's not as long range as an intercontinental ballistic missile, that of course as the name suggests can be — you imagine all those cold war dystopian stories, fired between the us and the ussr as we see the fiction, but this intermediate range has enormous range, it's very hard to intercept because of the altitude it flies at. it's not in same as the cruise missiles that don't go quite as high in the atmosphere, very hard to defend against. 0ne the atmosphere, very hard to defend against. one final point, it has a multi—independent re—entry vehicle war head, so six separate bomblets descend as we saw from the footage on the attack in dnipro. we need to see if it's an empty threat or not. ~ ., ., , not. wondering what happens next? there's _ not. wondering what happens next? there's a _ not. wondering what happens next? there's a lot _ not. wondering what happens next? there's a lot of - not. wondering what happens next? there's a lot of key - next? there's a lot of key points along this timeline, one

of those injanuary, once donald trump is back in the white house. i'm also seeing via the reuters news agency reports the russian defence minister, he has been visiting north korea. what do you make of that? and could these collaborations with russia continue into next year? really important _ continue into next year? really important points _ continue into next year? really important points you _ continue into next year? really important points you raise. - continue into next year? really important points you raise. i i important points you raise. i will take them in turn. in terms ofjanuary 20, will take them in turn. in terms of january 20, we know of course the inauguration of donald trump. we know that trump has appointed retired us general keith kellogg as the special envoy. he wrote a peace plan on this conflict. we would assume that the trump administration would remove the privileges that zelensky�*s military have had using these us supplied missiles. that's an assumption. so there's a countdown in terms of escalations until that possible de—escalation point. in terms

of russian and north korean co—operation, i think we can expect this to persist even if there's an abatement in the fighting. they have signed a defence treaty. and their interdependence in terms of weapons supplies, the north koreans will probably get higher technology rocket expertise from the russians, the russians are getting copious amounts of art —— artillery shells and ammunition. ., ~ , ., , artillery shells and ammunition. ., ~ , . ammunition. thank you very much indeed. let's get some of the day's other news now. thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of georgia, hours after the government said it was shelving plans to move towards joining the european union. in the capital, tblisi, riot police have used pepper spray and water cannon to try to disperse the crowd. romania's constitutional court has ordered a recount of votes from sunday's first

round of the presidential election. the surprise victory of calin georgescu — whom critics accuse of being pro—russian — has caused political turmoil. romanian officials have also asked the european union to investigate tiktok accounts that promoted the videos from his campaign. the world health organization has urged countries to improve vigilance for bird flu to help prevent its spread to humans. it said much better surveillance of wild and farmed birds is needed, alongside the monitoring of other animals susceptible to infection. bird flu has led to the culling of tens of millions of birds and mammals in recent decades. voters go to the polls in ireland today to choose representatives to serve as tds in the dail, the lower house of ireland's parliament.

the next dail, which will be the 34th — will have 174 tds — up from 160 in 2020. friday's vote comes after a 3—week election campaign. russian and syrian warplanes have bombed rebel positions in northwest syria in an attempt to push back their 2—day offensive near the turkish border. monitors are reporting that islamist fighters have cut the crucial damascus—aleppo highway — and are controlling its junction with another road running parallel to the turkish border. with me is our said shehata from bbc arabic. it's interesting, isn't it, because many people are saying why syria, and why now? there's two main reasons— why syria, and why now? there's two main reasons for— why syria, and why now? there's two main reasons for why - why syria, and why now? there's two main reasons for why it's - two main reasons for why it's happening now. because it's the

first time to happen since 2020 after the ceasefire agreement between turkiye and russia. to hold the offensive and the fighting between the syrian government and the rebel groups. especially in idlib north, west of syria. why it's happening now, the rebel groups, especially the islamist military group, say the syrian armying —— army is shelling and bombing and targeting several places in the stronghood of the rebel groups. they want to do that in order to stop any more strikes from the syrian army and the support of the syrian army, like russia and iranian, and hezbollah personnel who are helping the syrian regime. but the other reason for that is

the other reason for that is the strikes — since last october, which israel didn't 0ctober, which israel didn't admit, but the syrian army said it only several occasions, they targeted several places linked to iran, linked to hezbollah, linked to other groups supporting the bashar al—asad regime. it's a good time for the rebel groups to make advances, to control more territory. in this case it can have a say when there's a kind of negotiation with the government or any future settlement in this area because there's a lot of fighting. and on the other hand, for the syrian regime, for the last four years, they stayed in idlib, north—west, a stronghood —— stronghold for them, but they're a target. is -- stronghold for them, but they're a target.— they're a target. is this likely to _ they're a target. is this likely to continue? - they're a target. is this likely to continue? ori they're a target. is this | likely to continue? or is they're a target. is this i likely to continue? or is - likely to continue? or is — could this just be scene as a flare—up? how long, how far, how protracted could this become? it how protracted could this become?— how protracted could this become? , , ., ., become? it depends on one

thin , become? it depends on one thin, if become? it depends on one thing, if russia _ become? it depends on one thing, if russia and - become? it depends on one thing, if russia and turkiye| thing, if russia and turkiye came together and stopped it, i think that would be the end of it. but if it's not, this will be the problem. russia, even they're overwhelmed by what happened in ukraine, but is still — their interest, and they have like an air base in syria, and they think being there is important for them on a political level. so they're still supporting syria. and turkiye have presence in idlib and with these groups in north—west syria. so, the problem is — these are two main players having a say. if they came together and say stop, i think it will be stopped. if not, i think unfortunately there will be escalation. because it's a good opportunity for the rebel groups to make advances after they control several towns and villages and they're a few kilometres from aleppo. they're a few kilometres from ale 0. ., ~ they're