hello. i'm sally bundock. a very warm welcome to the programme. we start in the us where president biden has pardoned his son, hunter, despite previously saying he would not give him clemency. hunter biden was convicted earlier this year of illegally buying a gun and lying about his drug use, as well as tax evasion. the president described the prosecution as unfair, and a result of pressure from his political opponents. hunter biden said mistakes he made in his darkest days of addiction had been exploited to humiliate his family. donald trump has called the pardon an abuse and a miscarriage ofjustice. to discuss this more, i'm joined by daniel lippman, a white house reporter

for politico. hello to you. first of all, tell us more about this major u—turn on the part of the president. u-turn on the part of the president-— u-turn on the part of the resident. ~ ., , ., president. the white house and biden himself _ president. the white house and biden himself had _ president. the white house and biden himself had been - biden himself had been insistent for years that he would never intervene, but his duties as a father have out written that and he did not want his son to go to jail. in these two cases, one a gun jarred on the other a tax evasion charge, and so i think that it will be interesting to see the reaction from republicans and democrats. he is a lame duck president and so he was going to have to do this one way or another in the eyes of family members, but this is shocking news in washington at the end of his term.— the end of his term. what do ou the end of his term. what do you think _ the end of his term. what do you think about _ the end of his term. what do you think about his _ the end of his term. what do | you think about his argument that he felt he didn't have a choice, because of the

prosecution was unfair? well, they have _ prosecution was unfair? well, they have previously - prosecution was unfair? well, they have previously said - prosecution was unfair? well, j they have previously said they would respect the jury's verdict, that this is not a kangaroo court, that the prosecutors, including david weiss, who was appointed by president... former president from, they had to prove evidence, and so you can say it is selective prosecution, but no—one is saying that hunter biden did not commit these crimes. so what basically he is saying is he is echoing arguments that president trump has made that the charges against trump and trump associates are politically motivated. so both sides are kind of resorting to what they consider political lawfare against their opponents. so i think that biden, he did not want to face the next few years having his son languish in prison when he had the ultimate power to make those charges go away. so in his statement, he

said that he was wiping away any charges, any crimes that his son had done to the first of december, so he could have committed a crime last week and he still would have been washed away. he still would have been washed awa . ~ u, he still would have been washed awa . ~ u, ., ., away. when it came to the tax char: es away. when it came to the tax charges earlier _ away. when it came to the tax charges earlier this _ away. when it came to the tax charges earlier this year, - charges earlier this year, hunter biden did actually plead guilty to those, didn't he? and he was due to be sentenced quite soon, wasn't he? he was, and so peeple _ quite soon, wasn't he? he was, and so people were _ quite soon, wasn't he? he was, and so people were expecting l and so people were expecting that this might happen on january 20 right before biden would leave office, but he wanted to do that before his sentencing, he did not want to look like he was disregarding that sentence. and i think what essentially the timing of this is that it is done after the election, so if this had been done before the election, and this would have been a major campaign issue and harris, menominee, would have had distance herself from president

biden on this, but now he is a lame—duck president so he is free of the political consequences and i think they are betting that in two years with the mid—term elections and four years with the next presidential election that this will be an issue that will care about, that americans will vote on issues like the economy and foreign policy on immigration, not on height —— hunter biden, that will be a long—ago criminal case. that will be a long-ago criminal case.- that will be a long-ago criminal case. daniel, we appreciate _ criminal case. daniel, we appreciate your - criminal case. daniel, we appreciate your reaction l criminal case. daniel, we. appreciate your reaction to criminal case. daniel, we - appreciate your reaction to all of this. white house reporter or politico. just to say that the bbc live pages up and running on this story. the headlines asjoe biden it was full and unconditional pardon for some hunter biden. the surprise move as you can imagine, lots of reaction pouring in, and you can read through that on the bbc live page. meanwhile, president biden is heading to angola on his first and only visit to africa as president. he's expected to highlight a us loan to help build

a new 1,300—kilometre railway. it will connect the angolan port of lobito to zambia's copperbelt and the democratic republic of congo's cobalt mines. the project is seen as a direct challenge to china's dominance in the region's mining and infrastructure sectors. anti—government protesters in georgia have been clashing for a fourth night with riot police. the unrest was triggered by the prime minister's announcement that he would suspend the country's bid tojoin the eu. but on sunday, he rowed back on those comments. steve rosenberg reports from the capital, tbilisi. fireworks explode in tbilisi, now every night is fireworks night. a fourth night of protests outside parliament, while inside, police try to keep protesters at bay. a brolly helps at moments like these.

so the police right now are firing streams of water from inside the parliament, and going the other way, fireworks hurled by the protesters. it is the most surreal stand—off. the crowds are huge. so is the disappointment that the government here has frozen accession talks with the eu. but people are still hoping. every single day, there is more and more people coming. and it gives me hope that this government will finally go away. no sign of that. earlier, the head of the government praised the police and condemned the protests. many of the protesters have said to me that by suspending until the end of 2028 georgia's bid tojoin the european union, you have stolen, your government has stolen their european dream, their european future. people feel betrayed. can you understand that?

the response is very clear. so, we have not suspended anything related to the european integration. it'sjust a lie. and there are the opposition leaders, there are the media outlets linked with the opposition, who are just lying to these people. but you suspended this until 2028. no, it's not true, it's not true. really? here's what he said three days ago. translation: today, we have decided not to put the issue i of opening negotiations with the european union on the agenda until the end of 2028. we also refuse any budgetary grants from the european union until the end of 2028. it was that announcement that sparked the protests and violence. here, a makeshift firework gun fires at police, while police officers have been accused of assaulting protesters. you must have seen the videos of the brutal way

in which the police have treated some of the protesters in the last few days. what is your reaction to that? an investigation will happen against this kind of incidents, but also, in this case, it's important to have a clear position with regard to the violence from both sides. the protesters accuse the government of selling out to russia, which the authorities deny. neither side shows any sign of backing down. steve rosenberg, bbc news, tbilisi. now, the latest on what is happening in syria. president bashar al—assad has welcomed support from iran and russia in the fight against the surprise rebel offensive in northern syria. the rebels have taken control of the country's second city, aleppo. the syrian army says it's preparing a counteroffensive. to warn you, this report from barbara plett usher contains images of children in distress.

screaming they are alive. rescued from the wreckage moments after the bombs struck. footage posted by the syrian civil defence group, the white helmets, shows the aftermath of an attack on the rebel stronghold of idlib, southwest of aleppo. the regime is fighting back. thousands of people have been displaced, fleeing aleppo and areas around idlib. their lives suddenly upended by this escalation in syria's civil war. translation: we are i following the battle news and god willing the regime will fall. we count night and day to return as the kids are tired and shocked. we left and came here in our clothes and nothing else. the speedy capture of aleppo took everyone by surprise. a devastating blow to the assad regime. the rebels continue their advance, but here, the city is coming

to terms with a new normal. some are fearful of the anti—government rebels, but so far, people continue with their daily lives. and for those driven out by previous battles, a chance to come home. translation: | returned to| aleppo after it was liberated, after we were driven out. i came back to experience this joy, to witness its greatness, its old neighbourhoods cleaned up after being desecrated by the assad regime and its collaborators. it isn't clear if the insurgents can hold on to the territory captured, but they have exposed the weakness of bashar al—assad's rule. this is the first sighting of him since the fall of aleppo, meeting iran's foreign minister — a crucial ally along with russia. both consumed by their own conflicts but trying to bring the situation back under control. the front lines of syria's civil war have been redrawn and no—one knows what comes next. barbara plett usher,

bbc news, beirut. with me is said shehata from bbc arabic. good morning. what is the latest? ., , , good morning. what is the latest? . , , ., latest? the latest is the two military grouns _ latest? the latest is the two military groups seize - latest? the latest is the two military groups seize control of the city on the north of syria, which is the countryside of aleppo, which was controlled ijy of aleppo, which was controlled by the kurdish before. 0n the other side, by the kurdish before. 0n the otherside, before, it was al-qaeda, but split from al-qaeda, but split from al-qaeda and to establish and is only state in syria, and the second biggest city in syria and idlib, under control of the regime. the advancement and reports coming that the military control or seized back some of the villages taken by

the rebel groups. there is a lot going on on the ground, and in addition, the russian air forces struck many bases in italy which is the stronghold of the opposition, some civilians were killed. it was a surprise because 50,000 people were displaced because of what is happening in the last three orfour days. what about diplomatic efforts to try and ease tensions? the call from the syrian that we should be respecting and implementing the security council's resolution which was issued in 2015, which led the way to a base map in syria in addition to that the foreign minister of iran was yesterday in damascus and is today in

ankara meet the officials in turkey in order to find a solution for that. also talks between saudi arabia and turkey because of the relationship between them and around and russia were determined to support them in order to get back the territories. but in the negotiation will hayes to datum help to ease tension because the differences between turkey and syria, refugees and migrants in turkey, and they are considered by turkey as terrorists and threaten national security so there a need for talks between syria and turkey held by around, saudi arabia, emirates and russia. in order to get over what is happening these days. all right. thank you very much. let's speak to dr simon frankel pratt, senior lecturer in political science at the university of melbourne. good to have you on bbc news.

listening to the latest developments, give us your take on why this has erupted now. well, i think that this is a tipping point to the fact that there is a combination of factors and they all come together in just the right way is to lead to a major shifting circumstances. of course the other side regime in the north of syria was always a little less consolidated than in general it is clear the regime was militarily brittle and very hollow. the assad regime depended successfully on many years on foreign support, foreign pillars of support. talking about around directly and especially by way of its proxy, hezbollah, and by russia, which has significant military assets in the country. so i think that the massive implosion of hezbollah as a result of israel's is offensive and also the increasing depletion and destruction of russian resources as a result of the war in ukraine really left the other side regime,

standing alone —— assad. for them to mount isa by the offensive and retake territory. i think it is the culmination of domestic instabilities in the north of syria that were never fully resolved and the erosional collapse of supports that everyone relied on.- that everyone relied on. what do ou that everyone relied on. what do you think _ that everyone relied on. what do you think will _ that everyone relied on. what do you think will happen - that everyone relied on. what do you think will happen next? prediction is a very hard thing to do when situations change so dramatically and rapidly on the ground. i do think that other countries in the region are pretty nervous because it is really unclear how this is going to resolve, and nervous countries tend to do conservative things. for example, we may see some temporary agreements and understandings formed between iran and the gulf states to try to keep things relatively stable and remains a relatively conservative foreign—policy moves from the us and europe, trying to keep major escalations from spiralling out of control. i

escalations from spiralling out of control-— of control. i mean, president assad's regime, _ of control. i mean, president assad's regime, how- of control. i mean, president assad's regime, how fragile l of control. i mean, president| assad's regime, how fragile is it from your perspective? well, it from your perspective? well, it looks as _ it from your perspective? well, it looks as though _ it from your perspective? well, it looks as though assad's - it looks as though assad's troops were never really routed, they sort of collapsed and it seems they are regrouping already where they are poised to make a significant stand against opposition voices pushing cell. i think it is far too early to predict the fallen collapse of the assad regime in its entirety. it is hard to imagine them retaking aleppo but it is possible that the opposition pushed to the south doesn't go any further. pushed to the south doesn't go any further-— any further. 0k, thank you for our any further. 0k, thank you for your time- _ any further. 0k, thank you for your time. around _ any further. 0k, thank you for your time. around the - any further. 0k, thank you for your time. around the world l any further. 0k, thank you for i your time. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

the final seats in the irish general election are expected to be filled later today. only a small number of seats separate the three major parties with fianna fail

and fine gael best placed to form a coalition government. my colleague katrina perry has been following events in dublin for us. some of the seats are still outstanding, but it looks at this point like the two biggest outgoing government parties, fianna fail and fine gael, will buck the global trend for incumbent government parties and will actually be returned to power. not so the case for the junior government partner, the green party, which has been almost wiped out, keeping only one of its 12 seats. fianna fail will return to dail eireann, the highest part, the biggest party with the highest number of seats it looks at this point, and it will seek to build a coalition with fine gael. now, it's not going to make the numbers for a majority. they're going to need some support in that. and the big success stories of this weekend have been the smaller left—leaning parties — the social democrats and the labour party. fianna fail and fine gael may look to them to help them build a coalition, or indeed they may

look to the support of a number of independents. now, on the other hand, sinn fein also has had a successful weekend and the leader, mary lou mcdonald, has pledged herself to build a left coalition government. she'll also be courting those smaller parties and, indeed, the independents. however, the maths make it a much more difficult route to government for her than for fianna fail and fine gael. and the other point to note is there had been an expectation — perhaps there could have been a rise infar—right or anti—immigrant sentiment, but the candidates that ran on those platforms have had an unsuccessful time of things. now, the one thing all parties do agree on is that the next stage, the horse trading, the discussions to try and build a government — well, that's not going to happen any time soon, and it's unlikely that there will be a government in place this side of christmas. that was the latest on the irish general election. tomato puree, which is made using forced labour in china,

is probably being sold by some of britain's biggest supermarkets without the knowledge of customers a bbc investigation has found. chains including tesco, waitrose, asda and morrisons are supplied by a major italian food processor that's linked to coercive labour in xinjiang province. runa ko celina reports. tomato puree — a staple of our supermarket shop. but how is it produced and at what cost? the tomato fields of china's xinjiang region are so big they can be seen from space. but they hide a dark secret. the bbc spoke to more than a dozen people from xinjiang's muslim minorities who have endured or witnessed forced labour in the region's tomato industry. some, like mamajan, say they were tortured. translation: the first time,

we were told w