counting is under way in ireland's general election. an exit poll suggests a tight race between the three main parties. support has collapsed for the green party. and cate blancett talks to the bbc about her �*deep concerns�* on the use of ai and its role in the film industry. we start in syria where the biggest offensive by islamist rebels in years has taken government forces by surprise. it comes eight years after the rebels were forced out of aleppo at the height of the civil war. rebel fighters, who control much of the northern city of aleppo, are now reported to be sweeping south towards another major population centre: hama. it lies south of idlib

province which is now fully in rebel hands. this was the scene today in aleppo, where there are reports of queues of cars clogging the roads out of the city as some civilians flee. this video — apparently filmed from a vehicle — shows armed men at aleppo�*s airport, though it has not been independently verified by the bbc. the islamist rebels have also been celebrating outside the city's ancient citadel. they're said to have met little resistance, though the syrian military says dozens of its soldiers have been killed or injured. the army says its troops have temporarily withdrawn from aleppo "to prepare a counteroffensive". earlier warplanes belonging to russia — an ally of syria's president bashar al—assad — bombed rebel positions in the city centre. a reminder of the recent history of aleppo: the city was the scene of one of the bloodiest sieges of syria's civil war — which first broke out in 2011.

our correspondent, barbara plett usher, is monitoring developments from neighbouring lebanon. a stunning victory for the rebels. even they overcome with its swiftness and success. just three days after launching a surprise offensive from their stronghold in north—west syria. this is the most serious challenge to president assad in years. a carefully planned attack. they stormed back into aleppo for the first time since assad's army forced them out at the height of the war, this time meeting almost no resistance. translation: after hard worki and patience from the fighters, the city of aleppo has been completely liberated, thank god. and by god's will, we will reach horns and damascus, too. this is a joint force of rebel groups, led by the islamist hayat tahrir al —sham, or hts. it used to be linked to al-qaeda but cut ties from the group years ago. hts is listed as a terrorist organisation by the us and others.

it controls most of the north—western province of idlib, the last remaining opposition stronghold after more than a decade of civil war. that war began in 2011, triggered by popular protests against assad's rule. russia intervened in 2015, turning the tide against the advancing rebels. the battle for aleppo in 2016 was a crucial point. syrian and russian forces gained control after a gruelling siege. the war�*s mostly gone quiet since, with occasional eruptions. the last major one in 2020 when syria and its russian allies attacked idlib. now again, russian warplanes are bombing aleppo. the syrian army says it has made a tactical retreat to prepare a counteroffensive. the kremlin is assad's most important ally, but it is now also fighting a war in ukraine. iran and the lebanese hezbollah are also sending fighters to syria, but they have been

weakened by israeli attacks in the region. that is one reason the rebels were able to advance so quickly. reviving a simmering conflict at a time when the middle east is in turmoil. barbara plett usher, bbc news, beirut. as we heard from barbara there, the events in syria can be directly linked with israel's attacks on hezbollah in lebanon. the iran—backed militia group has had a strong presence in syria — notably aleppo — since the civil war there, backing president bashar al—assad's regime. but with its focus on the war with israel, hezbollah has weakened inside syria and the rebels have taken advantage of this. here's bbc arabic�*s mahmoud ali hamad. you can hardly look at what is happening in aleppo without linking it with what is happening in lebanon. you can argue that the priority for hezbollah was what is happening in lebanon so,

aleppo was just something for them they would like not to engage in. so they have pulled out from the city. there is a common belief among syrians generally that the syrian regime on its own without iranian or russian help can't really keep control of the city, and this has transpired in the last 48 hours. a couple of lines and what is going on in syria. the iraqi prime minister says that syria is a security key. security in syria is the key to middle east stability. the syrian president has vowed to defeat the terrorists. however big their attack. a couple of reactions there and what is going on in aleppo. let's go to gaza now — where we're getting reports from medics

on the ground of an israeli airstrike on a multi—storey house in the north of the territory. dozens are reported killed — we'll bring you more on that attack as we get it. it comes as the humanitarian organisation world central kitchen says it is pausing its operations in gaza after a deadly israeli air strike hit a vehicle carrying its staff. images from the southern city of khan younis show the wreckage of a vehicle with its roof blown open. three people are reported to have been killed. the israeli army has confirmed it was targeting a car, saying it was carrying a person involved in the october seventh attacks. world central kitchen says it has no knowledge that any individual in the vehicle had alleged ties to the hamas attacks. seven members of its staff were killed in idf strikes on their convoy in gaza in april, in what the israeli military described as a "grave mistake". for more on that, here is our correspondent in jerusalem, nick beake. they said they are shocked and heartbroken by what happened. they haven't confirmed

how many of their staff were killed today. the reports from khan younis in the south of the gaza strip are that three of their workers were killed earlier today, and certainly there's been a lot of footage that has there are grieving relatives and some families coming to the mortuary to see their loved ones in body bags. and one of those body bags had a t—shirt with the name of the charity emblazoned on it. as you were saying, the idf, israel defense forces, is saying that they did carry out this drone strike, that it targeted a specific car that it had been monitoring it, it had been watching it, and then the drone was called into action. the reason they say that is because one of the men inside, the israelis claim, took part in the hamas attacks on october the 7th. they say that is why they carried it out. they named the kibbutz in which he was alleged to have acted. the israelis haven't put forward any evidence for this but that is

what they are saying tonight. on another story related to gaza. there has been another hostage video released by hamas. what can you tell us about what is in that? that's right, this was released in the last hour or so. just looking at the some of the details of it now. it relates to a 20—year—old. he is an american israeli hostage. he was taken after the hamas attacks 1a months ago. and within this video he is extremely distressed. the way it's been edited — it has been dispersed with episodes of him being extremely upset. in it he appeals to the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to do more to secure his release. and then he speaks in english, he switches from hebrew, and he directly addresses president—elect trump, saying that he needs to use all his power to bring about some sort of deal and ensure that the hostages are released. tonight a group that represents quite a lot of the hostages

family saying that once again they are shocked by this. and they say that as it stands, the lives of their loved ones are hanging by a thread. they are urging the israeli government once again, to do all that they can to try and secure the release of their loved ones. demonstrators are back on the streets for a third day in georgia, in protest against the ruling party's decision to put the european union accession process on hold. these are the live pictures from tbilisi. so many people out on the streets very angry that the government is doing this. they very much would like a closening of ties with the european union. the president supports them, the current president supports them that the prime minister of the ruling georgian dream party, which was elected again last

month, very much does not want that process to continue. critics say he wants to bring georgia back into russia's orbit, or more into russia's orbit. but the president says that she will not stand down as she is supposed to do when a successor is chosen because she does not believe in the legitimacy of this current government because there are so many allegations of vote rigging in last month's election. last night there were 100 arrests made of these protesters for disobeying police officers and, in quotes, petty hooliganism, according to georgia's interior minister. there were also accusations of the beating up ofjournalists, who say they were beaten by police in the previous night's protest. it is a pretty tense situation on the ground into pc. protest is very much coming out on the streets to go back

to the state of not talking towards accession with the eu. the prime minister of georgia said that the country would not allow a revolution to take place. translation: in the last four years alone we have seen two| attempts from overseas to stage and finance a revolution. but both failed. today the opposition�*s strength is even further reduced. as a result the third attempt at a revolution will fail too. in georgia there will be no maidan. you know what maidan has brought ukraine. steve rosenberg is in georgia, and reports from the capital tbilisi. and a warning, that steve's report contains pictures that some viewers may find disturbing. they are determined to be heard. this happens every day now into tbilisi. protesters attacking the protective wall outside parliament.

people are angry that the government has suspended georgia's bid tojoin the european union. and they believe that russia is pulling the strings. we want europe, we don't want russia. that's where our path is, ok? and you think your government is taking georgia towards russia 7 of course. the nation of georgia wants to be in the european union. it's unacceptable for us to stop the discussion of usjoining the eu. earlier this week, violent scenes. fireworks thrown at police. the security forces deploying water cannon and tear gas. a georgian journalist was live on tv when this happened. he told me he had been hit so hard, he blacked out. translation: ithink our citizens are now i being forced to think, do they want to live in a country where peaceful protest is being punished and where journalists are being attacked from behind when they are speaking about what is really going on? if we want to live in a country

like this, so be it. many of the protesters i have spoken to told me they won't give up — they intend to keep coming onto the streets until georgia's european future is secure. but from the authorities, no hint of a u—turn, no sign of an olive branch. instead, it's crack down over compromise. georgia's government accused european politicians and local agents of organising violent protest, but people here say they are fighting for georgia's future. steve rosenberg, bbc news, tbilisi. 0ur correspondent, rayhan demytrie has more from tbilisi. large crowds are back on the streets of tbilisi and many other cities across georgia, so protests have spread to other towns. but here in the capital, tbilisi, outside parliament,

which has been the focal point for mass demonstrations over the past two nights. so this is the third night. people are back in force and the riot police have also been deployed in large numbers. so has their special equipment such as water cannons. in the past hour or so, there have been more protests outside georgian public broadcaster building with protesters demanding airtime, claiming that georgian public broadcaster is not doing what it's supposed to do, that it is spreading lies. well, that airtime was granted and some of the protesters were speaking live on air and saying that they wanted to deliver the news of what truly has been happening in the capital, tbilisi, to the regions, because this is where the public broadcaster broadcasts.

also the latest development is a statement from the country's pro—western president, salome zurabishvili, whose presidential term is due to end in two weeks' time. she said that she won't be leaving her office because, as she said, the current parliament is illegitimate and therefore it cannot nominate a new president. so the current president, salome zurabishvili, and the country's opposition, so is protesters are demanding new elections, and they want to see this country turn back on its path to european integration. and that is because, as you say, you have a president who is pro—eu, pro—western, a governing georgian dream party, which critics say want to lead the country closer to russia. just to remind us what happened in the elections back in october that has led to these claims

that this governing party is not constitutional. well, back in october, when georgia held its parliamentary elections, there are a number of reports of widespread violations. there's a lot of evidence of manipulation that took place and which resulted in, in the figures, over 50% towards the governing georgian dream party, the opposition, and that there was a big discrepancy between exit polls, which kind of predicted a victory for opposition parties. and the reality what happened. so the opposition parties quickly rejected the results, and they called for an investigation into widespread allegations of vote rigging, vote buying, voter intimidation and many other facts which they said took place. the georgian dream

government refused to do so, and the latest was a resolution from the european parliament, also describing the october elections as being rigged and calling for an investigation and new elections. and this remains one of the main demands out in the streets here in tbilisi and in the rest of the country. now it's time for a look at today's sport. we've had five matches in the premier league today and arsenal won 5—2 at west ham to move up to second in the table. amazingly all the goals came in the first half — the gunners with five different goalscorers as well gabriel, leandro trossard, martin 0degaard and kai havertz putting them four up. two in two minutes from west ham inclduing a wonderful free kick from emerson made things interesting but only briefly.

bukayo sa ka scored a penalty deep into first half stoppage time. 5—2, that's how it finished. arsenal are six points behind leaders liverpool. we've been so efficient in front of goal. we gave a free kick away. we had to manage the game. i think we did that really well. there were other big chances in general. the games were really tricky. and that was a big one. ruud van nistelrooy watched from the stands as his new side leicester lost 4—1 at brentford. they actually took the lead but were 3—1 down by halftime and kevin schade completed his hattrick in the second half. that moves the bees up to seventh, only three points off the top four. leicester remain one point above the relegation zone. van nistelrooy�*s first match in the dugout will be at home

to west ham on tuesday night. when the appointment came through, we exchanged a couple of texts. wished us good luck.. wished us good luck for the game. we will catch up tomorrow and get back to the training ground and the players report for them it can be a lonely place on the touchline. obviously i think everybody at the football club was excited when the announcement was made yesterday. hopefully that excitement and positivity continues. there was premier league history at molineux, but not for wolves. bournemouth�*s justin kluivert is the first player to score a hatrick of penalties. there were four goals in the first 18 minutes as the cherries eventually ran out 11—2 winners. not quite confident in the situation, probably the first two were clear, the third i think, i don't know if you should be the one foot above probably in that moment was difficult not to tell him

to shoot the penalty for them every time you take a penalty, it becomes more difficult becomes of the end it's information to the keeper and you have to try different things. daniel munoz scored a 94th minute equaliser for crystal palace at home to newcastle united. the eagles had been trailing from the 53rd minute when marc guehi scored an own goal but the 1—1 draw sees them climb out of the relegation zone on goal difference. newcastle remain in tenth. nottingham forest are up to sixth they edged past ipswich 1—nil at home. chris wood with the winner from the spot early in the second half. ipswich remain in the bottom three. the much anticipated friendly england lionesses and emma hayes 0lympic champions the usa finished goaless at wembley. both sides created a number of chances but failed to find a way through, but the crowd of 78,316 is a record for a women's international friendly. max verstappen has secured his

first pole position sincejune. george russell is down to second in qatar for sunday's race. lando norris and oscar piastri are on the second row. piastri are on the second row. piastri and doris finished first and second in the sprint race earlier to stretch mclaren lead in the constructors�* championship 30 points. in rugby union, ireland have finished their autumn international series with a win over australia in dublin, they came back from eight points down at half—time to win 22—19. gus mcarthy with the decisive try. cian healey came off the bench to win his 134 cap, an irish record. england�*s cricketers are closing in on victory in the first test against new zealand in christchurch. harry brook�*s 171 and ben stokes 80 helped england to a first innings lead and by the close on day three they had reduced new zealand to 15576 in their second innings — just a four run lead . play resumes in the next couple of hours and england should wrap up the win

barring some extaraordinary resistance from the kiwis. and in the last hour england�*s women have completed a 3—0 clean sweep against south africa in the twenty20 series. they won by a whopping nine wickets at centurion. i will be back later with another update. to ireland where the results are trickling in in the country�*s general election. sinn fein has said it�*s hopeful of winning the most seats in the parliament in dublin for the first time. but the parties which led the outgoing coalition government say they�*re both performing well in the early tallies. a final result isn�*t expected until the end of the weekend. let�*s speak to our chief presenter caitriona perry, who�*s in dublin for us. so far we have 11 of those seats filled. five have been filled by sinn fein candidates.

the process is a long, slow process here because of how the system works. candidates are ranked in order of preference and in constituencies there are three or four and in constituencies there are three orfour or and in constituencies there are three or four or five seats to fill so it does take quite a while to fill the seats. we heard from the sinn fein leader mary lou mcdonald and she intends trying to form a government that some of the smaller left—leaning parties. but the outgoing government parties are saying the same thing. we can hear now from simon harris. he is the leader of the fine gael party and he spoke a while ago about how many more hours there are still to go. i think we have a while to go yet — i think we have a while to go yet in — i think we have a while to go yet. in many ways it could be this_ yet. in many ways it could be this time _ yet. in many ways it could be this time tomorrow before we are getting a clearer picture. but what _ are getting a clearer picture. but what i do know is this. fine — but what i do know is this. fine gael_ but what i do know is this. fine gael was in a competitive position — fine gael was in a competitive position. we are on track to top — position. we are on track to top the _ position. we are on track to top the poll and at least ten constituencies. that is a significant increase was that we are — significant increase was that we are gaining seats where we haven't — we are gaining seats where we haven't had them in many a year. — haven't had them in many a year, including tipperary south

and waterford. we are adding second — and waterford. we are adding second seats in constituencies as welt — second seats in constituencies as well. this is going to be a tight— as well. this is going to be a tight election and i think we have — tight election and i think we have to _ tight election and i think we have to really see, right down to the — have to really see, right down to the riot _ have to really see, right down to the riot and transfers in the — to the riot and transfers in the hours _ to the riot and transfers in the hours and days ahead. the leader of fianna fail is confident his party will be the biggest after the counting is confident his party will be the biggest after the counting is done. it looked like we would done. it looked like we would certainly see the exit poll and certainly see the exit poll and thatis certainly see the exit poll and that is happening to us. and thatis certainly see the exit poll and that is happening to us. and also its very early days but we also its very early days but we do see a route to a very strong do see a route to a very strong finish in this election. i finish in this election. i predict we are into the early predict we are into the early hours of tomorrow morning. i hours of tomorrow morning. i think we could go to monday think we could go to monday before a lot of these final before a lot of these final seats in many constituencies seats in many constituencies would be decided. it�*s a bit would be decided. it�*s a bit too early yet to call the exact too early yet to call the exact type of government that will be type of government that will be

formed. not be the formed. not the same level of confidence from the third government party, the green party. they had 12 seats. they are on course to potentially lose all of those. not a good day for the party, is how the leader describe things to

we are keeping the strength of that southerly to south—westerly wind as we head through this evening and overnight. it will feel brisk at times through these irish sea coasts. bands of rain tracking eastwards, plenty of cloud around, some clearer spells developing across parts of western scotland into northern ireland, but temperatures do remain in double figures to start off the day tomorrow, so it�*s a mild start to the day for this time of year. and then into tomorrow morning itself, these bands of rain and showers keep tracking further eastwards. there will always be a lot of cloud across parts of east anglia for much of the day but some brighter skies developing for central western areas, another rash of showers, some of which could turn out to be heavy, across northern ireland, towards the far west and across western scotland later on through the day. but it does stay mild. temperatures again above the seasonal average. but just look at what happens on sunday night into monday.

so our fronts clear eastwards and then we start to draw down more of the northerly wind and that will push down colder air from the arctic and we are all into that colder air by the time we get to monday night and into tuesday so there will be a widespread frost as we start off tuesday morning. let�*s look at monday. you will notice the cold conditions out towards the north and the west. a few wintry showers across the higher ground of scotland in particular, as that front gradually tracks its way further southwards, bringing cloud and some outbreaks of rain with it, but it will brighten up behind the front and you notice a clear contrast between colder air in the north and still that milder air hanging on for a time further south. so, widespread frost as we start tuesday morning, then we look out towards the atlantic. this band of rain, as it bumps into the colderair across the higher ground of the north in particular, is likely to turn to snow. we�*re staying in that colder air on tuesday. it will turn milder again later on through the week. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, this is bbc news, the headlines... the headlines... chanting. chanting. syrian rebels celebrate syrian rebels celebrate after seizing control of much knowledge that any individual after seizing control of much of the city of aleppo. of the city of aleppo. syrian government forces say syrian government forces say they�*ve temporarily withdrawn they�*ve temporarily withdrawn to prepare a counter offensive. to prepare a counter offensive. it comes after the insurgents it comes after the insurgents continued their surprise continued their surprise four—day offensive, meeting four—day offensive, meeting very little resistance. very little resistance. world central kitchen says world central kitchen says it is pausing operations it is pausing operations in gaza after a vehicle in gaza after a vehicle carrying its colleagues was hit carrying its colleagues was hit

by an israeli airstrike. by an israeli airstrike. the charity says it has no the charity says it has no knowledge that any individual in the vehicle had alleged ties to the october seventh attacks. counting is under way in ireland�*s general election, with an exit poll suggesting a tight race between the three main parties.