hello, i'm carl nasman. welcome to the programme. the pro—western president of georgia has told the bbc she'll stay in her post amid a crisis over the government's decision to suspend accession talks with the european union. salome zourabichvili's term is due to end in two weeks�* time but she says she will not stand down because the current parliament is what she calls "illegitimate". the ruling georgia dream party announced on thursday that it will put talks with the eu on hold until 2028. a quick warning — these pictures coming up may have some flashing images. this is the scene now live in tbilisi. we have a few different views of the streets there and the protests still going on. it is sam now in tbilisi in georgia. 5am now in tbilisi in georgia. a much smaller crowd now than

earlier when we saw thousands of demonstrators out on the streets near the parliament building for a third night running. earlier, police used water cannon and tear gas against demonstrators. police say 107 people have been arrested. our russia editor steve rosenberg sent this report from tbilisi, and a warning — it contains distressing images. as night fell in tbilisi, they were building barricades using anything they could find. people here are angry that the ruling party have suspended georgia's bid tojoin the european union. they believe that russia is pulling the strings. i am protesting here against our government, who is pro—russian, and they don't want to have any relationship to europe or usa. and i am here for my freedom, for my future. suddenly, fireworks, aimed right at the parliament building.

we could see a room inside ablaze and figures who climbed up to the windows looking, perhaps, for a way in. most of the protesters i've spoken to here say they won't give up. they will keep coming out onto the streets until they can secure georgia's future in europe. the authorities are clearly under pressure but so far, there is no sign of any u—turn by the government. it seems determined to crack down. defiance on the streets, and from one of the government's fiercest critics — georgia's pro—eu president. her role is largely ceremonial and her term due to end in december but today, she refused to step down, dubbing the government illegitimate. do you fear for your safety? i mean, do you think you could be arrested?

i think that i'm defended by the people that are out there on the streets, so i don't think so. i think that today, the ruling party is very isolated, and it will be more and more so. in recent days, some protesters have been beaten by police. georgian journalist guram rogava was live on tv when this happened. hello. guram told me he'd been hit so hard, he blacked out. translation: | think our i citizens are now 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're speaking about what's really going on? if we want to live in a country like this, so be it. georgia's government blames what it calls violent protests on european politicians and local agents. on the streets, they say they're fighting for georgia's future. and the battles are daily now. police have once again used

water cannon and tear gas to disperse the protesters. steve rosenberg, bbc news, tbilisi. tengiz thaladze is a senior fellow at european centre for international political economy and a former presidential foreign relations adviser. he joined me from tbilisi to discuss the situation. thank you forjoining us. georgia's president saying today that the country's parliament and prime minister are not legitimate. she says she won't be stepping down until there are new parliamentary elections. what do you make of the way that georgia's president is approaching this? she is ceremonial because we have a parliament in this country. but she is the head of state and, of course, in such a critical situation, her attitude means a lot and today, she is the only elected high—level official in the country

because the legitimacy of the election are under question and also, the new president — because this amendment into power after those elections, a new president will be elected by the special coalition with parliaments as part of it. so, consequently, the president's logic if the parliament is legitimate, they can't elect it — neither president nor nominated approved government and so on and so on. so, this is quite a strong political message, as you mentioned, but also along this, the president has quite intense conversations and communications with the civil society of georgia, with political parties, and i do believe that she got support from the society. we are seeing protesters for another night here

in tblisi also spurring in other cities across the country. already the word maidan has been thrown around here, referring to what happened in ukraine a few years ago. where do you think this ends? could we see some sort of mass movement in georgia to overthrow what many there see as a government that came with some serious irregularities during the election? yes, of course. the election was the trigger of the process, but i would say that the main detonator was the statement of the georgian dream inaudible just two days ago. _ about special european integration process, and you are absolutely right, talking about manifestations not only in the capital of georgia, but in the other big cities. and i would say that this is once again proving how strong its commitment of georgia nation is with european integration. and this is written

in our constitution. so where this process will lead, this is the main question today when asking about that. i would say that this will strengthen georgian democracy in georgia and georgian statehood and get georgia back as soon as possible on the euro—atla ntic path and restoration of strategy in partnership with the european union and with the united states. you mentioned that statements coming today from the us state department, condemning violence against protesters and, as you said, suspending its strategic partnership. what do you make of the role of the international community here? would you like to see countries doing more? yes. this is extremely important and the statements now from the international community that though they don't recognise the elections and are questioning the legitimacy of the elections, they still support and will support democracy in georgia.

and georgian society. that means a lot. today, the united states is considering in its senate and congress two very important bills. so it is very important to see actions supporting georgian democracy, notjust statements. and i do believe that with supportive international —— with support of international community, democracy will prevail and democracy will win. syria's president bashar al—assad is facing his biggest crisis in years as rebel groups take control of much of the country's second largest city, aleppo. islamist forces are on their fourth day of a lightning offensive through several towns and villages. they are now sweeping south towards syria's fourth biggest city, hama, on the road to the capital damascus. rebels celebrated in the streets of aleppo. you can see some you can see some of you can see some of this footage here. they reportedly met little resistance, though the army

says dozens of its soldiers have been killed or injured. president assad — who hasn't been seen in public since the offensive began — has promised to defeat the opposition fighters, describing them as terrorists. he said he would do so with help from his allies, which include russia, iran and hezbollah. the london—based syrian observatory for human rights says more than 300 people, including at least 20 civilians, have been killed since wednesday. turkey, which backs the rebels, has been discussing the crisis with moscow. our correspondent barbara plett usher is monitoring developments from neighbouring lebanon. chanting. 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 northwest 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 workj 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 northwestern 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's made a tactical retreat to prepare a counteroffensive. the kremlin is assad's most important ally but it's now also fighting a war in ukraine. iran and the lebanese hezbollah are also sending fighters to syria, but they've been weakened by israeli attacks in the region — that's 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. let's speak to andrew tabler, senior fellow at the washington institute for near east policy and former director of syria national security council at the white house. what do you make of what we are seeing in terms of this advance by the rebel group? has it been

more successful than you would have imagined? film. more successful than you would have imagined?— have imagined? 0h, far more successful, _ have imagined? 0h, far more successful, conquering - have imagined? 0h, far more successful, conquering more| successful, conquering more territory in aleppo province and now into hama province than we've seen in years. also reports of, you know, potential effects in different parts of the country, it's still early daysin the country, it's still early days in the offensive and we are waiting on the counteroffensive by the regime and its associates.— and its associates. you heard a bit in the _ and its associates. you heard a bit in the piece _ and its associates. you heard a bit in the piece there _ and its associates. you heard a bit in the piece there about - bit in the piece there about the timing of all of this. a much do you think is offensive has to do with the weakening of hezbollah and the weakening of iran, obviously two strong backings of syria? i iran, obviously two strong backings of syria?- iran, obviously two strong backings of syria? i think it has a tremendous - backings of syria? i think it has a tremendous amount | backings of syria? i think it i has a tremendous amount to backings of syria? i think it - has a tremendous amount to do with the collapse of the lines but the regime itself is being increasingly weakened as well over time as asaad refuses to negotiate in good faith with not only the rebels under the un security council resolution 2254 but what turkey and other

countries who are operating inside of syria and seek a settlement of the war that would allow for refugees to return from neighbouring countries to syria. we return from neighbouring countries to syria. we have not heard much _ countries to syria. we have not heard much from _ countries to syria. we have not heard much from the _ countries to syria. we have not heard much from the white - heard much from the white house, we have not heard much from the us on this. are you surprised by that? the from the us on this. are you surprised by that?— from the us on this. are you surprised by that? the irc 'ust ut out a surprised by that? the irc 'ust put out a statement, �* surprised by that? the irc 'ust put out a statement, they h surprised by that? the ircjust put out a statement, they did l put out a statement, they did say outright they don't support hts but because it is a terrorist organisation or an affiliate, but it does place blame squarely on assad for not negotiating sooner and this has been going back to the beginning of the war without some concessions from assad they would not be a good ending to this conflict. just they would not be a good ending to this conflict.— to this conflict. just to go back to iran _ to this conflict. just to go back to iran for _ to this conflict. just to go back to iran for a - to this conflict. just to go j back to iran for a second, we've seen really an almost unthinkable, at least a few years ago, defeat, if you want to call it that, for hezbollah, one of its main paramilitary groups there. iran, seemingly

not being able to be involved here, at least so far with what is going on in syria. what do you make of iran and the way that its strategy has been playing out and potentially the weight wanted in the middle east? ., ., , weight wanted in the middle east? . . , , weight wanted in the middle east? . , ., _ east? iran has been seriously cut down _ east? iran has been seriously cut down to _ east? iran has been seriously cut down to size _ east? iran has been seriously cut down to size in _ east? iran has been seriously cut down to size in terms - east? iran has been seriously cut down to size in terms of l cut down to size in terms of its ability to prop up the axis of resistance. it doesn't mean it is gone, it doesn't mean it is not a going concern but it's not what it once was and this war that broke out after the hamas israel war in october 72023 has decimated iran and its capabilities to reach israel and the wider region. we are hearing about some russian strikes hitting aleppo and we know that russia is a backer of assad so how important still is the russian armed forces, its airforce the russian armed forces, its air force in the russian armed forces, its airforce in particular, in terms of how this new conflict might be playing out? russia's

air force might be playing out? russia's airforce in _ might be playing out? russia's air force in particular— might be playing out? russia's air force in particular is - airforce in particular is vitalfor the regime and its supporters to retake territory. they do it through saturation bombing and other types of assaults which, in reality, just end up killing many more civilians than they do armed groups and so, this is one of the major problems and criticism of the russia intervention throughout the war intervention throughout the war in support of assad. find intervention throughout the war in support of assad.— in support of assad. and you mentioned — in support of assad. and you mentioned civilians. - in support of assad. and you mentioned civilians. what i in support of assad. and you j mentioned civilians. what do you think this renewed fighting is going to mean for the humanitarian situation, for syrians themselves? it was already a pretty unstable situation there.— already a pretty unstable situation there. well, more humanitarian _ situation there. well, more humanitarian aid _ situation there. well, more humanitarian aid should - situation there. well, more humanitarian aid should be| humanitarian aid should be going into syria, regardless. but it is going to internally displaced persons and could potentially cause refugees to go outside of the country only told roar going into winter so there will be a lot of suffering for a lot of people who are going to deserve better

lives. �* ., , ., , lives. andrew tabler, always . reat lives. andrew tabler, always treat to lives. andrew tabler, always great to get _ lives. andrew tabler, always great to get your _ lives. andrew tabler, always great to get your insights. i great to get your insights. thank you. israel's former defence minister and chief of staff of the israel defense forces, moshe ya'alon, has said his country is carrying out ethnic cleansing against arabs in northern gaza. mr ya'alon said benjamin netanyahu's far—right—backed government is leading israel towards destruction. mr ya'alon, a right—wing politician, is a noted critic of prime minister netanyahu. israel, which has forced hundreds of thousands of palestinians from northern gaza while pummelling the area with air strikes, denies ethnic cleansing. this comes amid reports of an israeli air strike on a multi—storey house in the north of gaza, killing and injuring dozens of people. earlier, humanitarian organisation world central kitchen said it is pausing operations in gaza after a deadly israeli air strike on one of its vehicles. images from the southern city of khan younis show the wreckage of a vehicle with its roof blown open. at least 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 7 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". and in the last couple of hours, the international aid agency save the children says a staff member has also been killed in an israeli air strike in khan younis on saturday. the organisation said it was devastated and outraged and demanded an investigation. 0ur correspondent nick beake has more from jerusalem. the charity world central kitchen said it is heartbroken by what has happened today. it is not confirmed how many of its employees were killed but certainly, there was video earlier today out of the city of khan younis and it showed three body bags on one of them, somebody had raped a t—shirt bearing the name and the emblem of the charity. —— draped. the

idf, israeli defense forces, saying they targeted the vehicle because inside was a man who they claimed took part in the hamas attacks of october the seventh but have not provided any evidence for that. also today, hamas has released another hostage video. in it, we see a 20—year—old even alexander who was an american israeli hostage, he is very distressed throughout and within it, it appears to ask mr netanyahu, the prime minister, to do more to secure the release and also he addresses donald trump directly, saying he needs to use all of his power to try to secure a deal —— edan alexander. it looks like he's reading from a script, certainly, for a large part of the video. tonight, the defence minister here in israel said this was psychological warfare. previously it has been described as psychological torture. the government says they are doing all they can to secure the release of the hostages. annika beck

reporting. —— nick beake. us president—elect donald trump says he will sack the director of the federal bureau of investigation and replace him with one of his most loyal staffers when he begins his term in january. in a post on social media, mr trump says he intends to fire the current fbi director, christopher wray, and nominate lawyer and former national security official kash patel as his replacement. mr patel has been a vociferous critic of the agency and the investigations it has held into mr trump's alleged links to russia, his handling of classified documents, and his attempts to overturn the result of the 2020 election. mr patel has also spoken about using the criminal justice system to punish members of the media and government who he alleges lied about mr trump and helped joe biden supposedly "rig" the 2020 election. while mr trump has announced many other nominations since the election, this one stands out because the director of the fbi does not normally change when a new president enters the white house. the position requires senate approval. votes cast in ireland's general election are being counted across the country.

figures from one exit poll suggest a dead heat between the three main parties. the left—wing opposition party sinn fein says it's hopeful of winning the most seats in the parliament in dublin for the first time. but fianna fail and fine gael — which led the outgoing coalition government — say they're also performing well in early tallies. it's still early in the process as only 31 of the 174 parliamentary seats have been filled so far. yes, it's up to 31 now. a final result isn't expected until at least the end of this weekend. 0ur chief presenter caitriona perry has the latest from dublin. the way the electoral system works in ireland, of course, candidates are ranked in order of preference in each constituency. —— of preference. —— in each constituency, there are three, four or five seats to be allocated, so counting can take some time — first preference, second preference are allocated. some constituencies have

actually finished counting for the night and will resume again tomorrow. but at this point in time, the three biggest parties fianna fail, fianna failand sinn fein, are all claiming that they can form some sort of coalition government. fianna fail and fine gael together. sinn fein itself. and each of those groupings looking to add some of the smaller parties come into government with them. the other party in government currently, the green party, looks like being wiped out entirely. it currently has 12 seats. it may end up with zero orjust one or two by the end of the count. the main parties themselves have all been re—elected. let's talk some more about what has happened so far. i'm joined by paul hosbridge, the deputy political editor of the irish examiner. what do you make of what we are seeing so far? it's hard to read a whole lot into it because we don't know yet. we know roughly what kind of vote share they will get, we know that fianna fail will

probably lead, fine gael second and sinn fein will come third after those large parties but what's interesting is that sinn fein will look back at this when they finished in first preferences in 2020 but they are the third of the three medium—sized parties because they did not run enough candidates, they only run about 40 and got 35 elected but this time i have run 71 and on down in vocea and the look so they will be open number so as you say they are saying that they can put together a coalition government, they look like they will end somewhere between kind of 35 or 40 seats and that will require a lot of manoeuvring between the left parties if you look at the likes of labour and the social democrats, they could come back with about 18 or19 could come back with about 18 or 19 between them. that you are still a long way short of the majority of 88. fianna fail and fine gael very explicit in the last couple of weeks of the campaign but they are not going to talk to sinn fein and they won't form a government with them so we then locked out, the only option is realistically a fianna fail sinn fein government if it is not going to be a repeat of fianna fail

and fine gael.— to be a repeat of fianna fail and fine gael. and fianna fail have that _ and fine gael. and fianna fail have that they _ and fine gael. and fianna fail have that they will _ and fine gael. and fianna fail have that they will not - and fine gael. and fianna fail have that they will not go - and fine gael. and fianna fail have that they will not go into j have that they will not go into government with sinn fein anyway, they have said that as recently as today, so is the power going to rest with those smaller parties like the labour party, the social democrats? yeah, i think if you look at the way that the numbers may check out of the likes of fianna fail and fine gael, fianna fail and fine gael, fianna fail and fine gael, fianna fail are very confident that i somewhere about 45—56, fine gael accepting probably somewhere short of 35—37 and if you put them together you are up you put them together you are up around 80,82, you put them together you are up around 80, 82, you want your daugherty to be way above, you wanted to be as big as possible, 88 is the bare minimum, it is not really workable because you are going to lose a td overboard on some photo some point. if you've got labour, if they would come back with ten things you are at 92 and all of a sudden it's a bit more workable and you find some friendly independency maybe because your budgets and supported government about necessarily be government to government to get to 9697 and it becomes just government to get to 9697 and it becomesjust a government to get to 9697 and it becomes just a little bit more workable but again, you have to have those negotiations along with hudey in ireland

over the last five years as a rotating taoiseach's office wei fenghe gael and fianna fail split the prime minister public office so you have 2.5 years of micheal martin and 2.5 years of firstly of bike and then simon harrison will it be possible if fianna fail or tinsica issa haddad fine gael? i don't know if it is possible that we could of weeks and weeks of negotiations there. and 'ust briefl , negotiations there. and 'ust briefly. hi negotiations there. and 'ust briefly, is there i negotiations there. and 'ust briefly, is there a i negotiations there. and just briefly, is there a chance . negotiations there. and just l briefly, is there a chance that the negotiations won't result in a government that we may have to have another general election? mt; have to have another general election? ~ , ., have to have another general election?— election? my mental health ho es election? my mental health hepes not _ election? my mental health hopes not but _ election? my mental health hopes not but i _ election? my mental health hopes not but i think - election? my mental health hopes not but i think there | election? my mental health | hopes not but i think there is a possibility. 0nce hopes not but i think there is a possibility. once you get into the negotiations, i think things change, things can happen, the breakdown of cabinet seats will be important and the rotation of the taoiseach's offers the best case for fine gael and filipo would be closely, before or five or six seats apart because then you could negotiate what michael myles talked about with a party of steam but if not we could be back here in the next two or three months. more on the role bolts on our

website. before we go let's take you to croatia's capital, zagreb, where the main christmas lights have been turned on. the city's advent celebrations have become a major attraction around the region. we don't have pictures. you have to trust us, they are incredible. the city has been voted europe's best christmas market destination for three years in a row. stay with us here on bbc news. we will bring you those pictures later.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. > youtube? is that you? logan paul — youtuber, wrestler and entrepreneur. one of the most famous people in the world. logan paul has the ability to move markets with just his own propaganda. he is no stranger to criticism. did wejust find a dead person in the suicide forest? but his latest controversy could be his worst yet. cryptocurrency — a scam. the internet has been destroying logan. there might be influencers touting

crypto. be cautious. you can make a quarter of $1 billion. it does not work. the internet is divided. who is right? is logan an influencer who simply made mistakes? that is what i get for trusting the team i relied on. 0r someone using the power of his influence to intentionally mislead his own followers? we are here to hold logan paul responsible for his actions. i am not a bleep scammer. allegations against logan paul relating to cryptocurrency�*s have been building now for well over one year. i have been investigating these allegations for about seven months and the whole time trying to speak to logan paul but his team have refused for whatever reason, and now, after all that time, they finally agreed to do an interview so we are on the way to his boxing gym

in puerto rico. there is a strange atmosphere in the room and a suspicious amount of logan's own cameras pointed at us. all of a sudden, it becomes clear why. what's up, dude? how is it going. max? sorry, i am tired. how are you enjoying puerto rico? pretty good. the lookalike is clearly nervous. you look different. did you come all the way here to ask about how i look? is logan coming? i am right here.

you came all the way to puerto rico from england. this is your interview. what have you got?. these are serious questions. there are people who want answers. i am a serious person. let's get out of here. i am not doing this. matt, no. you came all the way to puerto rico for this interview. chanting so, rather than defend himself against the allegations we have been investigating, logan decided to troll us. minutes after leaving the gym, we receive a letter on behalf of logan paul, morning warning us against publishing allegations. but these allegations against him are not going away. in fact, they have been

building since 2021. september 1st, 2021.