' the 'the next few years, to over the next few years, to tell the public what the key priorities are. in georgia, a third night of clashes with riot police as thousands protest against a decision on suspended eu membership talks. here in the uk — the masterchef presenter, greg wallace has responded on instagram to allegations made against him during his time on the tv show. in a post on instagram, he said the claims have come from a "handful of middle—class women of a certain age". the bbc is facing more questions about its handling of allegations against mr wallace, after emails emerged showing it was warned about him in 2017. mr wallace's lawyers have strongly denied he engages in sexually harassing behaviour. the bbc said it would "always listen if people want to make us aware

of something directly". here's our culture reporter, noor nanji. aasmah mir taking part in celebrity masterchef in 2017, but the broadcaster has now revealed she complained to the bbc about remarks allegedly made by the show�*s presenter, gregg wallace. in an email seen by the sunday times, a bbc executive, kate phillips, said that his behaviour on set was unacceptable and cannot continue. aasmah mir later sent an email that was copied to kate phillips, saying this must not happen again to another woman. but this week, a bbc news investigation has revealed a string of misconduct allegations against gregg wallace, some of which relate to events after aasmah mir�*s complaint. separately, the observer says a letter containing several claims of inappropriate behaviour by gregg wallace was sent to the bbc in 2022 but did not result in further investigation at the time.

on thursday, masterchef�*s production company banijay uk said mr wallace would step away from presenting the show while allegations of historical misconduct were investigated. last night, a cryptic post, as gregg wallace wrote on instagram: "we are all different." his lawyers say it's entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature, while the bbc says it has robust processes in place to deal with issues if they are raised. noor nanji, bbc news. well, in the last few hours gregg wallace has shared on instagram what he thinks about the the allegations allegations against him. i can see the complaints coming from a handful of middle—class women of a certain age just from celebrity masterchef. this isn't right.

in 20 years, over 20 years in television, can you imagine how many women, female contestants on masterchef, have made sexual remarks or sexual innuendo? can you imagine? with me is our culture correspondent, yasmin rufo. just talk us through a little bit more about what he has been sane in reaction to all of this. , , sane in reaction to all of this. , ., this. here saying this morning that it is a _ this. here saying this morning that it is a handful— this. here saying this morning that it is a handful of- that it is a handful of middle—class women of a certain age. the 13 people who have come forward to the bbc or the ones we have reported on, they are a range of ages. what he is saying there doesn't quite tally up with what we know. we have spoken to a range of people ranging from young to old, including somejunior old, including some junior female old, including somejunior female workers who have worked on the show. it is important to say that he denies all of these allegations come as you heard in the video, but his lawyers have also said he denies engaging in sexually harassing behaviour. gregg wallace is saying that it is 13

allegations and the bbc has reported on the 13 but the important thing to know is that the papers are reporting on different things as well this morning. yesterday in the sun they said that there were three women who have come forward to say wallace grope them and that is very different to the allegations we have got today. he is saying 13 but whether it could be more, that might be the case. , , , could be more, that might be the case-— the case. just pull people around the _ the case. just pull people around the world - the case. just pull people | around the world watching the case. just pull people - around the world watching him, he really is a big name here in the uk and it is a massively popular programme. talk us through the response that there has been to this.— has been to this. exactly that. he is a really _ has been to this. exactly that. he is a really big _ has been to this. exactly that. he is a really big deal. - has been to this. exactly that. he is a really big deal. this i he is a really big deal. this morning i think on the laura kuenssberg show someone said that he was going to a national treasure status almost. he has been doing masterchef for years, he has been doing other cookery shows. he's a big deal, everybody knows who he is set these allegations are come out, especially historic allegations, so they are not just ones that have come out in the last year or two, the allegations that have gone back about 1k years. so we're looking at some of the show is that he was doing in the early 20005.

that he was doing in the early 2000s. today i think your questions about what the bbc knew and when they knew it. we know that in 2017 they were warned after a radio host aasmah mir complained about him making inappropriate comments. the observer today said that they have seen the letter that they have seen the letter that the bbc was warned in 2022 about these allegations and they did nothing about it so i think there are definitely questions about what the bbc knew and when. this morning hugh fill any witting stoll, chef, has been speaking to victoria derbyshire about the way that gregg wallace has been handling himself. i don't know him well, i have met him a couple of times, he is very likeable, professional screen presence. i have a very talented chef on masterchef right at the moment and she is doing incredibly well and have been really enjoying watching her and enjoying gregg wallace's presenting. i think it is likely that gregg wallace has what we might call a bawdy sense of humour. clearly, that has offended people. i think one of the issues is that down

the years people have not felt able to tell him when he might want to rein it in a bit and clearly he has crossed some lines. in terms of how he's going about defending himself, i understand the instinct when you feel you are backed into a corner but i don't think it is smart to come out talking like that when at the moment he should probably be listening. i think that is an important point pick—up on. some people are defending him saying he is are defending him saying he is a bit lavish, he makes these remarks. someone wrote in the telegraph last week saying that he knows wallace well and he loves to make jokes, he knows wallace well and he loves to makejokes, some plain silly, some outrageous. some people are saying is this just he makes jokes and some people are saying is this just he makesjokes and some people feel offended by that. obviously, we know there are some more allegations coming out so that might not be the case but i think what hugh foley witting soul says is important to note because some people think maybe it is just him being humorous. iwould say as well be posted on instagram again this morning about half an hour ago to say no one he

has ever worked with has complained, which obviously given that we have heard from some former staff, we know that is not the case.— is not the case. thank very much. is not the case. thank very much- -- _ is not the case. thank very much. -- thank— is not the case. thank very much. -- thank you - is not the case. thank very much. -- thank you very . is not the case. thank very - much. -- thank you very much. syria's president, bashar al—assad, has vowed to defeat islamist rebels who've captured the second city of aleppo and are moving towards the capital, damascus. it's the largest offensive against the syrian government in years — and has led to it to withdraw its troops from the city. the islamist rebels have since made further advances on their fourth day of their lightening offensive and are now sweeping south towards syria's fourth biggest city, hama. rebels celebrated in the streets of aleppo. president bashar al—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 — russia and iran. greg mckenzie has this report. smouldering buildings in syria's second—largest city aleppo tells of an unpredictable new chapter.

the city, once a symbol of resilience, is now reeling from a fresh wave of destruction, 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 at the height of the war in 2011. this time, meeting almost no resistance. translation: i am the son of aleppo. i i returned to my city and my land and my home by the will of god, and we will not give up a single inch of the lands of syria.

the rebel group hayat tahrir al—sham or 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 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, reviving 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 integrity in places of all territories and their backers. greg mckenzie, bbc news. our correspondent in beirut, lina sinjab explains the signifigance of this challenge. it's the first blow to assad's power or, you know, after decades of battling the opposition, supported by both, you know, russia providing the air force and iran providing militias on the ground, pushing the opposition out and controlling big swathes of lost lands to the opposition. so this is the first time in years that we see the opposition advancing

and capturing a big city. it's the second largest city of syria. it's the industrialist capital. and it's also taking the government by surprise, at a time where both its allies are busy. russia is busy in ukraine, and hezbollah and iran are, you know, weakened by israeli attacks both in syria and lebanon. so it's definitely changing the dynamics on the ground. and, you know, there are lots of diplomatic movements to discuss the situation and find a way to stabilise it. and just talk us through the international reaction to this, in particular from the us and also turkey's role. yeah, this is very important. i mean, we've seen announcements coming from the united states national security advisor today, blaming the fall of aleppo to assad, relying both on iran and russia. but also saying that assad

for years ignored peace, a road map that has been presented by the un in 2015 and ignored it, did not adhere to it. turkey also is, you know, believed to be supporting this operation because they have been also calling on assad for talks for years, and he has been ignoring. so it seems that there are joint powers today to bring assad back to the negotiation table to find a solution for syria, but also, most importantly, to deter iran from using the void of iran's presence and hezbollah's presence in lebanon and using syria as a new battlefield against israel. so this is also a message to the iranians and to bashar al—assad, not to, you know, take advantage of any void in the region and deter iran from, you know, further control of syrian land.

the uk prime minister sir keir starmer is to set out his "plan for change" , explaining how the government intends to deliver on the promises labour made ahead of the election. in a speech later this week, the prime minister will announce a number of "milestones" to be achieved before the end of this parliament, which he says will drive "real improvements in the lives of working people." with me is our political correspondent harry farley. targets for net migration haven't worked very well before from the election we heard from labour about their five missions but they're quite sprawling. they can be a bit intangible, things like breaking down barriers and what the prime ministers shall do this week is put specific milestones and targets that the public can judge them by, milestones and targets that the public canjudge them by, i suppose, by the time of the next election. the deputy prime

minister... sorry, forgive me, pat mcfadden, the secretary of the duchy of lancaster was on that laura kuenssberg show this morning explain what they will be doing. targets in the country have worked well in the country, numerical ones. so you are not going to have one? you might remember david cameron pass target to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands. what has happened is it has gone up an awful lot in recent years. we do want to bring it down but the exact number that you need will always ebb and flow, depending on the needs of the economy. so you are not going to have a target? we are not going to have a numerical target for net migration. 0k. but we are going to make sure that we do more to train our own workforce. so no numerical target for migration, he did say they wanted to bring migration numbers down. we can expect targets on hospital waiting lists, also on house—building and also one early years education. the govan saying they want to increase the proportion particularly of four

and five—year—olds who are fully ready for the start of school. socially as well as educationally, they say. at the moment it is 60%, they want it to be 75%. a very specific target there but as pat mcfadden was saying not a numerical target net migration. we have also been hearing from the conservatives this morning. they describe as keir starmer�*s 17th relaunch. they say people will be rightly wondering why they have been short—changed by they have been short—changed by the party that offered them change. downing street for their part saying it is a refocusing, not a relaunch, of the government's priorities. but victoria atkins from the conservatives also spoke to the laura kuenssberg show. they're not setting _ laura kuenssberg show. they're not setting out _ laura kuenssberg show. they're not setting out plans _ laura kuenssberg show. they're not setting out plans for - not setting out plans for change. we know for example that government is opening up more _ that government is opening up more hotels across the country, we know — more hotels across the country, we know that they're focusing on the — we know that they're focusing on the process, which whilst that— on the process, which whilst that is— on the process, which whilst that is important, because it is, nonetheless it is also about— is, nonetheless it is also about how we deter people from coming — about how we deter people from coming here in the first place

if they're _ coming here in the first place if they're not coming through lawful— if they're not coming through lawful methods. and so i think these — lawful methods. and so i think these are _ lawful methods. and so i think these are some of the issues that— these are some of the issues that the _ these are some of the issues that the government is really going — that the government is really going to _ that the government is really going to have to face up to the coming — going to have to face up to the coming days with this speech. so victoria atkins they're saying that the governor needed action notjust priorities. i suppose one of the reflection is that by focusing on particular priorities, we can possibly expect some of the other priorities that the government has already announced to perhaps four by the wayside. i think there is an acknowledgement in government that the first few months have been difficult. we have the tensions over sue gray, who was of course dismissed as keir starmer�*s chief of staff at the end of the summer. questions over freebies and donations, protest following the budget as well as criticism over the winter fuel and of course this week the first cabinet resignation and keir starmer hoping this speech on thursday will be an opportunity to move on from that and go on to what he calls the next phase of his government.- the next phase of his government. ., ~ , ., , government. thank you very much. government. thank you very much- harry _ government. thank you very much. harry farley - government. thank you very much. harry farley they're i government. thank you very i much. harry farley they're our political correspondent.

mass protests have continued in georgia, against the government's decision to suspend talks onjoining the european union. riot police used tear gas and water cannon for a second consecutive night in the centre of tblisi, where demonstrators have set up barricades. 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 correspondent in tbilisi, says the protesters plan to remain on the streets. she gave us an update a short while ago: we are about one kilometre away from the parliament building which has been the focal point for clashes between the police and protesters overnight. this is the third night that the protests have continued. they were sparked by the

government's decision to put georgia's accession talks with europe on hold. and the protest has now moved to the europe on hold. and the protest