live from london, this is bbc news. the syrian army says dozens of its soldiers have been killed in the rebel offensive that captured the city of aleppo. in georgia, 3 third night of clashes with riot police occurs as thousands descend to protest a decision on suspended eu membership talks. belgium becomes the first country in europe to give the same labour rights to sex workers as those in any otherjob. hello, i'm lauren taylor. the syrian army says dozens of its soldiers have been killed by rebel forces who have captured the country's second largest city, aleppo. it's the largest offensive against the syrian government in years and has led it to withdraw its troops from the city.

the islamist rebels have since made further advances the islamist rebels have since ma a furtheradvances the islamist rebels have since ma a series r advances the islamist rebels have since ma a series of dvances the islamist rebels have since ma a series of russian following a series of russian air strikes. the escalation comes as syrian forces withdrew their troops from the city. that retreat in response to a surprise offensive launched by rebel fractions five days ago.

this is the most serious challenge yet to president bashar al—assad in years. it was a carefully planned attack. the rebels stormed back into aleppo for the first time since assad's army forced them out of the height of the army in 2011. this time, meeting almost no resistance. translation: i am the son of— resistance. translation: i am the son of aleppo. _ resistance. translation: i am the son of aleppo. i _ resistance. translation: i —n the son of aleppo. i returned to my city and by land and my home by the will of god, and we will not give up a single image of the lands of syria. the rebel grow) _ of the lands of syria. the rebel group head - of the lands of syria. the rebel group head tahrir al—sham or hts, is listed as a terrorist organisation by the us and others stop it controls most of the north—western province of idlib, the last remaining opposition stronghold after more than a decade of civil war. the war began in

2011, triggered by pro—democracy 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. 2020, the last major offensive, 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. that is one reason the rebels were able to advance so quickly, providing a simmering conflict at a time when the middle east is in turmoil. as for the president, it's not clear where he is. speaking yesterday from an undisclosed location, he vowed to defend

syria's stability and territorial stability in places of all territory and its backers. greg mckenzie, bbc news. with me is mohamed taha from bbc arabic. thanks for coming in. it seems like the rebels are continuing their advance. what is the latest on the ground? it looks like that _ latest on the ground? it looks like that. if— latest on the ground? it looks like that. if that _ latest on the ground? it looks like that. if that they - latest on the ground? it looks like that. if that they are - like that. if that they are kind of in full control of aleppo, they say they are controlling the airport and the outskirts of the city. aleppo is 70 kilometres on the northeast of idlib, their stronghold, and they are saying now they are advancing towards hama which is 100 kilometres southwest of idlib and it is on the way to damascus, the capital damascus, but the army troops are saying they are still in hama and they didn't leave the city, so there are contradicting reports about the

situation of their advance itself. ~ ., situation of their advance itself. ~ . ., itself. meanwhile, there have been air strikes _ itself. meanwhile, there have been air strikes from - itself. meanwhile, there have been air strikes from russian | been air strikes from russian and syrian forces. what has that effect been on the area? it was in the last few hours, there was strikes, russian strikes and strikes from the government troops from against these places in aleppo and also parts of idlib and the areas that these opposition are saying they are trying to control. there is that amount of counter resistance from the russian forces and from the syrian forces but this did not apparently prevent the opposition from advancing and from getting more land and, you know, the situation in syria is getting really escalating day

by day. in getting really escalating day b da . . getting really escalating day b da . , ., getting really escalating day b da. , getting really escalating day bda. ., by day. in terms of people on the ground. _ by day. in terms of people on the ground, are _ by day. in terms of people on the ground, are they - by day. in terms of people on| the ground, are they leaving? contradicting pictures are coming. some people are leaving the area of fighting, trying to find safe places, and other people are returning back to see their homes because, of course, when the syrian government forced —— controlled some of these areas five years ago, some people did not like to be in that situation, especially the people who have links with the opposition, the left, so these people are returning back, the people who are allies to the opposition. but the people of course who are allied to the government troops, the syrian government, are leaving. so there is a movement in and out from the city. movement in and out from the ci . ., . , ., city. how much is the regime at risk here? _ city. how much is the regime at risk here? it's _ city. how much is the regime at risk here? it's a _ city. how much is the regime at risk here? it's a difficult - risk here? it's a difficult question _ risk here? it's a difficult question to _ risk here? it's a difficult question to answer. - risk here? it's a difficult i question to answer. there risk here? it's a difficult - question to answer. there is an amount of risk because these troops are advancing self, as i said. —— south. there was

always a risk during more than this one decade—long fight between the opposition and the syrian government will stop the risk was minimised by the astana treaty that was also mediated by iran and turkey, that there would be areas without fighting. these areas were four areas in the south, in the middle and in the north. now, the fighting is back. there is kind of risk on both parties but the situation, the scene is different now as the main allies of the syrian government, which is russia. russia is busy with the fighting with ukraine. that was not the case five years ago. and hezbollah and iran are very busy with fighting with israel, and that wasn't the case five years ago. and that wasn't the case five years age-— and that wasn't the case five years ago. mass protests are continuing in georgia for a third consecutive night. riot police used tear gas and water cannon in the centre

of tbilisi, where demonstrators have set up barricades. police say 107 people have been arrested. the unrest was triggered by the government's decision to delay moves to join the european union. the pro—western president of georgia has told the bbc she'll stay in her post. 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. 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 now, she's refusing 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. now let's turn to lebanon, where tens of thousands of people attended a vigil last night in beirut to remember the late hezbollah leader hassan nasrallah — the first public ceremony to mark his killing in an israeli air strike two months ago. across lebanon, people are still going back to their homes as a ceasefire holds. in the south, amid widespread destruction, hezbollah supporters remain defiant and say they've been victorious in the war, as our middle east correspondent hugo bachega reports. as they return home, they also bury their dead. fighters

celebrated here as heroes of the resistance. killed, they say, in a war to protect their land. this is more than a funeral. this is a show of strength and support for hezbollah. and whoever thinks they will go away, well, from what seeing here, this is unlikely to happen. hezbollah has been weakened by israel. some say humiliated. but it hasn't been destroyed. in lebanon, it is more a militia, it is also a powerful political and social group. it it is also a powerful political and social group.— it is also a powerful political and social group. it is full of urief, and social group. it is full of grief. full — and social group. it is full of grief, full of _ and social group. it is full of grief, full of happiness - and social group. it is full of grief, full of happiness at i and social group. it is full of| grief, full of happiness at the same time because we came to our land and we won. we are very proud here. very proud. i lost my brother—in—law. but we are very proud in ourfamily.

if there is defiance, there is also desolation. street after street we see almost nothing has been left untouched by the war. we find kampl, only 18, searching through the rubble with his bare hands. trying to save whatever he can find. shell save whatever he can find. all m save whatever he can find. fill my memories i hear. my house of my memories i hear. my house of my grandpa. all of it is going. we're not having anything right now. it's no problem. we do it again. no problem. inaudible. yes, and amazing. _ again. no problem. inaudible. yes, and amazing. no - again. no problem. inaudible. yes, and amazing. no problem. at all times, we had to travel guided by hezbollah minders — a

sign they are still very much in control here. it's no surprise that hezbollah is claiming victory. but is this really a victory? hugo bachega, bbc news, southern lebanon. counting will resume this morning in ireland's parliamentary election. during the first day of counting, 36 of the 174 seats in the dail — or lower house — were decided. the first preference votes have so far given the fine gael party of the prime minister simon harris ten seats, with his fianna fail coalition partners and the main opposition sinn fein eight seats each. sinn fein thinks it's in the running to win the most seats in the irish parliament for the first time. but even then, its pathway to power wouldn't be clear. the party leader, nonetheless, believes there is a mandate to change the government.

i think for every party, there is no slam dunk, there are no obvious avenues. i just think when 60% of the population, of the electorate that came out to vote — voted for parties and candidates that were not from the outgoing government, there's something in that, right? there's something democratically clear. sinn fein is already the largest party in northern ireland. if mary lou mcdonald does lead a left—wing coalition into power in dublin, she'll push hard for a referendum on irish unity. cheers. but the centrist parties who led the last irish government have ruled out sharing power with sinn fein. the current prime minister, known as the taoiseach, is sounding hopeful of a return. i signed up to campaign in an election to put my party in government and to play a positive role in our country for the next number of years so, of course, we'll act responsibly in the days ahead. cheering and applause.

the other main coalition party during the last five years is also raising the prospect of another term. there will be sufficient safe seats, it seems to me, that aligns with the core principles that i articulated at the outset of this campaign and throughout the campaign around the pro—enterprise economy, around a positively pro—european union position. the final results won't be known for at least a day yet. the counting staff are calculating winners and losers through a complex system of proportional representation. a very small number of votes could make a big difference as to who's the frontrunner to lead ireland. it's a pivotal political weekend for this country. at the midpoint, the outlook is unpredictable. chris page, bbc news, dublin. us president—elect donald trump has picked a former aide, kash patel, to lead the federal bureau of investigation — an agency patel has often criticised. a former us defense department chief of staff in the first trump administration, patel has been a steadfast

supporter of the incoming republican president. for patel to take the job, the current fbi director christopher wray would need to resign or be fired — although trump did not call on him to do so in his post. for more on this, i'm joined now by stephanie lai, who's national politics reporter at bloomberg news. thanks for being with us. tell us more about this latest peak in the transition.— in the transition. certainly. the peak — in the transition. certainly. the peak of _ in the transition. certainly. the peak of patel- in the transition. certainly. the peak of patel for - in the transition. certainly. the peak of patel for fbi . the peak of patel for fbi director seems to fit the mould of many of trump's appointments so far. as sources have been telling me, they are looking for disruptors for this next administration, to follow through with the campaign promises to radically change what we see happening in washington, dc. patel�*s appointment wasn't quite surprising to me and others close to trump's orbit as many of his allies have been advocating for patel to take the reins of the fbi. as we know, he has been critical of the agency and it is likely

that we might see some of his influence playing out in the next couple of weeks as we look into what that might look like going forward into the next administration.— going forward into the next administration. tell us about the speed — administration. tell us about the speed of— administration. tell us about the speed of these _ administration. tell us about the speed of these transition picks and how the second trump administration looks compared with the first.— with the first. well, a lot of sources have _ with the first. well, a lot of sources have been - with the first. well, a lot of sources have been telling l with the first. well, a lot of i sources have been telling me that when we look at what has been happening and the pace a bit in this current transition, it is significantly faster than the previous one. now, much of that can be attributed to the fact that trump has already learned who are the main players in each of these spaces. he has already developed a team that is closely watching and closely in tune with washington, dc, so it's not entirely surprising that they have been moving at a rapid pace, you know, and some people have been saying they are trying to wrap it up in the last month or in this month and so, what we have been seeing seems to match that. we've already seen all the cabinet

level positions appointees being named and now we are waiting on some of the lower—level assistant roles to really start trickling out. ihtnd really start trickling out. and he has been _ really start trickling out. and he has been making announcements on policy already, even though he is not yet already, even though