in millitary equipment. hello, i'm catherine byaru hanga. we start in the us, where president biden has been criticised by leading republicans for pardoning his son, hunter, who was due to face sentencing this month on federal gun and tax convictions. the president gave him a full and unconditional pardon covering a decade, despite previously saying he would not interfere with thejustice department's decisions. i'm extremely proud of my son hunter. he has overcome an addiction. he is one of the brightest, most decent men i know, and i am satisfied that i'm not going to do anything, i said i'd abide by thejury decision, i will do that and i will not pardon him. in issuing the "full and unconditional pardon" for his son, joe biden

addressed why he had made the decision in a statement. he said that: "from the day i took office, "i said i would not interfere "with thejustice department's decision—making and i kept my "word, even as i have watched my son being selectively, "and unfairly, prosecuted." he went on to say that, "no reasonable person who looks at the facts of hunter's case can reach any other conclusion "than hunter was singled out only because he is my son — "and that is wrong." he also said "i hope americans will understand why "a father and a president would come to this decision." the president described the prosecution of his son 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. daniel lippman is politico's white house reporter — he explained why president

biden took this decision the white house and biden himself had been insistent for years that he would never intervene. but his kind of duties as a father has out—ridden that and he did not want his son to go to jail in these two cases, one a gun charge, one 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. they have previously said they would respect the jury's verdict and that this is not a kangaroo court, that they would, that the prosecutors, including david weiss, who was appointed by former president trump, they had to prove evidence.

and so you can say it's selective prosecution, but no—one is saying that hunter biden did not commit these crimes. and so what basically he's saying is he's echoing arguments that president trump has made, that the charges against trump and trump associates are politically motivated. and so both sides are kind of resorting to what they consider political lawfare against their opponents. and 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. and so, you know, in his statement, he said that he was wiping away any charges and any crimes that his son had done, you know, to december 1st. and so he could have committed a crime last week and it still would have been washed away. scott lucas is professor

of american politics at university college dublin. he gave me his view on the use of presidential pardons. i don't think it will have a big effect on the legacy but i think in terms of the immediate issues, as an analyst, i disagree with the intervention on legal grounds. i don't think you should ever step in over the course ofjustice. and i disagree with it politically because i think it will give donald trump leeway for far more serious abuses of the pardon power when he comes into office next month. and his previous abuses of that pardon power during his first term. but as a person, as a father of two adult children, i understand why biden did it, i understand why at the end of the day he felt he was protecting his son from basically years of harassment, including by the trumpists. a bad political

and legal action. but one that as a person i have some sympathy for. and what do you think this means for the americanjudicial system if you have both recent democrat and republican presidents saying that it has been politicised? this has gone on for decades. i can remember bill clinton pardoning one of his daughters over serious financial issues when he left office in 2001. i can certainly remember some controversy over george bush, george w bush's pardons. this has really been exacerbated by trump. the fact is that donald trump not only pardoned people who might have had some justification for having sentences commuted, he pardoned people who had committed serious financial crimes and he pardoned those people who were with him, alongside him, both in his cooperation with russia and in his attempt to overturn the 2020 election. and, in fact, i think we are going to see within a few weeks that trump will go as far as to pardon

people who were not only involved in that invasion of the capitol onjanuary 6th, 2021, but including some of those who planned that attempt. do you think there are examples of positive pardons, just briefly? absolutely. i think, for example, that you had sentences commuted by barack 0bama, for example, for non—violent offences, for drug possession in particular. i think barack 0bama's pardoning of chelsea manning, the whistle—blower who revealed the abuses of american power in iraq and afghanistan, that can be justified as well. so, yes, the pardon does have its place but not when it is distorted for personal reasons, not when it is distorted, especially the way trump has done it, to cover his own tracks and his own, let's say, chequered criminal president biden is on his way to angola on his first and only visit to africa as president. he'll highlight a us loan to build a railway

linking an angolan port to mineral—rich zones. here is our senior africa correspondent anne soy who's in nairobi. things have changed a great deal since 20 years ago when china came in a big way through its belt and road initiative, investing a lot in infrastructure development in railroad, ports, and now the us has justjoined that bandwagon, investing in the first infrastructure of its kind in the region, that will be the highlight of president biden�*s visit to angola. he chose angola because of this lobito corridor ambitious project which he will be highlighting during his visit there. we talk a lot about president trump, the incoming president trump, just

looking back at his first term in office, what could african leaders, what could africans expect from a fresh trump presidency? when it comes to trump policy, lots of it is unpredictable, isn't it? we are waiting to see any articulation from his government, but looking at his first term, his office unveiled what they called at the us africa policy, which was mainly countering china, it was strongly worded, but on the ground very little was seen as a result of that, and when you look at the transition from president biden to president trump, perhaps there is a confluence here with this investment in the lobito corridor because it connects the heart of africa reaching critical minteral resources such as cobalt and lithium at this corridor will be able to transport those to the atlantic and to europe and america, and perhaps there is a confluence there in terms of policy as well as

these pictures have come in from our —— to our newsroom presidentjoe biden, he has beenin presidentjoe biden, he has been in the country of cape verde, meeting a president there, and we expect him to arrive in angola in about four hours�* type. the chief focus therefore president biden is ensuring america�*s relations with countries in the region. america part of cape verde on countering drug—trafficking coming in from latin america and heading to united states. you can see him there boarding the plane. he will then head to angola, which was much more aligned to the soviet union, but the president making the point that they have good

relations with united states. we will have more on that visit from anne soy and other correspondences in the region. syria�*s president, bashar al—assad, has welcomed support from iran and russia in the fight against the surprise rebel offensive in the north of the country. the rebels have taken control of syria�*s second—largest city, aleppo. the national army says it�*s preparing a counter—offensive. 0ur correspondent lina sinjab has been watching the latest government and russian—backed air strikes are still continuing in aleppo and in the north in rebel—controlled idlib, leaving many civilian casualties. 0vernight, the number of civilian casualties was nearly 25 people who have been killed in air strikes. residents inside aleppo that we have spoken to said they have faced no harm or threat from the rebels but are worried about

the air strikes because the government are conducting air strikes against where rebels are available. but it is basically mainly civilians who are there. this is coming at a time where there is diplomacy going on behind the scenes. president assad is leaning on the support from russia and iran and vowing to defeat what he describes as "terrorists". and the iranian foreign minister arrives in turkey and is probably meeting with his turkish counterpart as we are speaking at the moment. lina, just tell us more about those diplomatic efforts. of course, there are still those ongoing syria talks as well. tell us about the scope for negotiations at the moment. well, basically, this whole move is seen as backed by turkey, who has been inviting assad for years to talk to find solutions for the refugees, to secure the borders, to address the kurdish presence

on the border with turkey, something turkey has been very worried about. but assad has been ignoring all these calls. it seems the table has changed and assad is trying to find a way to talk to the turks while actually pounding civilians with air strikes, trying to deter the rebels. but apparently also this kind of operation is to force assad into talks and bring assad back to peace, a road he ignored for years, but also to limit iran�*s presence and influence inside syria. lina sinjab in beirut there. ismail alabdullah is a volunteer with the white helmets, a syrian—led humanitarian group — he told me what he�*s witnessed on the ground. i have been in aleppo city for 2h hours and now i am in the north countryside of idlib.

just as we are talking now, the assad regime and russia committed a horrible massacre in one of the idb camps in the north of idlib killing seven civilians and injuring ten others, including children. another air strike hit idlib city and there is a massacre also, more than five people were killed, including children and injuring many people and destruction. they destroyed many civilian buildings. in aleppo city, the same strategy, the same thing, they targeted yesterday the university hospital in aleppo and now they targeted a neighbourhood. we are hearing from our warning system that they will attack aleppo right now and attack idlib and they are once again attacking the residential areas in north—west syria.

yesterday there were 2a or 25 civilians killed, including ten children and injuring more than 125. the same strategy, the same thing, the civilians paying the price of the fight. people are fleeing to survive from this horrible circumstance. the air strikes only target the civilians in idlib city and in aleppo city. many casualties killed yesterday in aleppo. and the day before yesterday in one of the areas that were crowded with people in aleppo, more than 15 people in one strike were killed. 0ur teams are now in aleppo city, operating in aleppo city, trying to open the roads, trying to help people to evacuate from aleppo city. 0n the other hand,

in the countryside of aleppo and idlib, ourteams are there to remove ordinance and open the road. sorry to interrupt you. we have limited time with you. we are seeing images of bombed—out buildings. tell us how easy it is to rescue people from these buildings and do you have the resources you need at the moment? to be honest, what is happening is beyond our capacity because now with new areas that we have access to, and the assad regime and russia bombing everywhere, bombing everywhere, notjust in one place, idlib city under attack. every second there is a warning that a neighbourhood in aleppo or idlib will be targeted, and the countryside around aleppo and idlib. the horrible images coming from everywhere.

around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

they include... a masterchef worker in 2005

who says wallace said sexually explicit things on set. kirsty wark, who says wallace used sexualised language on celebrity masterchef in 2011. two workers on impossible celebrities in 2018 who raised a formal complaint about wallace�*s behaviour. a worker on big weekends in 2019, who says wallace asked her the logistics of how she had sex as a lesbian. two workers on eat well for less in 2019, who say wallace came out topless in front of them. a worker on masterchef in 2019 who says wallace stared at her chest and asked for a massage. we�*ve heard allegations right up to 2022, and more claims have since emerged, including from the presenter kirstie allsopp, who said he made inappropriate remarks. gregg, who i�*d never met before, was there with his partner. i think she was a new partner at the time. and i�*d been chatting to her and she left the room, and he made a reference to something they did in bed.

but then he came out this morning and said this thing about middle—aged, middle—class women. that is unacceptable. gregg wallace remains one of the most recognisable faces on tv, and for now, he is still on our screens, with the remaining episodes of this season�*s masterchef still due to go out. noor nanji, bbc news. his accusers said that the comment showed he had not learned the lesson whilst another said that he would not be that he was the victim of cape verde. he be that he was the victim of cape verde-— cape verde. he has posted sunportive _ cape verde. he has posted supportive messages - cape verde. he has posted supportive messages from | cape verde. he has posted - supportive messages from people who have — supportive messages from people who have worked with him in the

past, _ who have worked with him in the past, and — who have worked with him in the past, and wallace's lawyers have — past, and wallace's lawyers have in _ past, and wallace's lawyers have in an official statement said — have in an official statement said that _ have in an official statement said that gregg wallace strongly denies that he engages in sexually harassing behaviour but all — in sexually harassing behaviour but all of — in sexually harassing behaviour but all of this does put more pressure _ but all of this does put more pressure on the bbc. 0ver but all of this does put more pressure on the bbc. over the weekend — pressure on the bbc. over the weekend it was reported that in 2017 _ weekend it was reported that in 2017 an— weekend it was reported that in 2017 an allegation was made not 'ust 2017 an allegation was made not just to _ 2017 an allegation was made not just to the production company who make masterchef about gregg wallace's allergy behaviour but that allegation was also passed to the — that allegation was also passed to the bbc, and then, on top of that, _ to the bbc, and then, on top of that, that — to the bbc, and then, on top of that, that investigation is looking _ that, that investigation is looking at masterchef and its spin — looking at masterchef and its spin offs. the continued investigation into gregg wallace has identified complaints about his behaviour on programmes that were not masterchef, made to the bbc and other— masterchef, made to the bbc and other broadcasters, so people are keen — other broadcasters, so people are keen to see what kind of action— are keen to see what kind of action has— are keen to see what kind of action has been taken to look at those _ action has been taken to look at those. gregg wallace is a household name in the uk. he has been — household name in the uk. he has been for the last two decades. people are very keen to see — decades. people are very keen to see that the investigation into— to see that the investigation

into his _ to see that the investigation into his alleged behaviour, which _ into his alleged behaviour, which he _ into his alleged behaviour, which he denies, but the investigation, that it is both proper— investigation, that it is both proper and fair. the german chancellor, 0laf scholz, is making an unexpected visit to the ukrainian capital, kyiv. mr scholz said he wanted to use this opportunity to express solidarity with ukraine and promise extra military aid worth more than 630 million euros. germany is currently the biggest european supplier of defence equipment to kyiv. 0ur diplomatic correspondent paul adams is in kyiv. we will not know until later in the day what this package is, i think it is unlikely that it includes any reference to the taurus long—range missile. ukraine has been asking germany for that missile for a long time, and it may be hoped that after britain and the united states and france all gave the go—ahead for ukraine to use their long—range missiles, the

atacm, but chancellor scholz regards that as an escalation and so far we have seen no indication is willing to budge on it. . . ., indication is willing to budge on it. . . ., indication is willing to budge onit. . . ., ., indication is willing to budge onit. ., ., ., ., indication is willing to budge onit. . . ., ., indication is willing to budge onit. ., ., ., ., on it. chancellor scholz had a -hone on it. chancellor scholz had a phone call— on it. chancellor scholz had a -hone on it. chancellor scholz had a phone call— on it. chancellor scholz had a phone call with _ on it. chancellor scholz had a phone call with the _ on it. chancellor scholz had a phone call with the russian l phone call with the russian president vladimir putin last on it. chancellor scholz had a phone call with _ on it. chancellor scholz had a phone call with the _ on it. chancellor scholz had a phone call with the russian l phone call with the russian president vladimir putin last month and ukraine has spoken month and ukraine has spoken out against that, but also, out against that, but also, crucially, the possibility of crucially, the possibility of talks between russia and talks between russia and ukraine going forward. it is ukraine going forward. it is better to say that chancellor better to say that chancellor scholz has a mixed reputation scholz has a mixed reputation here in ukraine. has here in ukraine. has scholz has a mixed reputation scholz has a mixed reputation here in ukraine.— here in ukraine.— here in ukraine. as you here in ukraine. as you mentioned, _ mentioned, _ here in ukraine. as you mentioned, it - here in ukraine. as you here in ukraine. as you mentioned, it - here in ukraine. as you mentioned, it is - here in ukraine. as you mentioned, it is by - here in ukraine. as you mentioned, it is by farl here in ukraine. as you i mentioned, it is - here in ukraine. as you mentioned, it is by - here in ukraine. as you mentioned, it is by farl here in ukraine. as you i mentioned, it is by far the largest provider of european mentioned, it is by far the largest provider of european military assistance to ukraine, military assistance to ukraine, outstripping all of its outstripping all of its partners by a very substantial, partners by a very substantial, something in the region of 17 something in the region of 17 billion euros so far, and its billion euros so far, and its additional package that he is additional package that he is bringing with him today. but, bringing with him today. but,

for a number of budge for a number of reasons, the ukrainians regard chancellor scholz as a

bound to come up, as will the prospect of negotiations, because with donald trump arriving in the white house in january, there is a general expectation that we may be heading into a period of negotiations at some point next year. negotiations at some point next ear. ., negotiations at some point next ear, ., �* ., , negotiations at some point next ear. . �* . , , negotiations at some point next ear. . ~ . , , ., year. pauladams in kyiv. you are watching _ year. pauladams in kyiv. you are watching bbc _ year. pauladams in kyiv. you are watching bbc news. - year. pauladams in kyiv. you are watching bbc news. stay| are watching bbc news. stay with us. hello again. we�*ve had some rain, some showers around through this morning, but one thing that all of us will notice as we go through today is how much colder it�*s going to turn. we�*ve had a few rainbows spotted by our weather watchers this morning. that one was from york earlier on today. that�*s because we�*ve had some showers, as i said. it�*s the cold air that�*s moving southward at the moment across the uk. the arctic air is going to mean the temperatures taking a big drop compared to where they were yesterday and the weekend. you can see this band of rain during this afternoon across north wales into northern england,

eastern england. some sunny spells ahead of that and some sunshine coming out behind that, as well. we still have that northerly wind bringing in some showers, which could turn wintry over the higher ground of scotland. temperatures here four or five celsius. further south temperatures will drop away as the afternoon goes on, so about eight or nine degrees later on. tonight, the area of rain will continue to clear away and, with a rather brisk northerly wind, we will continue to see a few showers coming in around those north sea coasts, but for many of us, with clear skies, it�*s going to turn quite cold. there will be a frost around tonight, as well. temperatures could be as low as —6 or —7 degrees in northern areas of scotland. throughout tuesday, for most of us, a fine start to the day. we mightjust see one or two mist and fog patches, a bit of cloud. a few showers clinging to cumbria, into lancashire, as well, but for most a dry day with some sunshine. we�*ve got some rain that�*s going to spread its way into northern ireland, into western scotland. it�*s going to bump into the colder air so we could see

some snow on that leading edge. another chilly day for many of us with those highs about four to seven degrees. tuesday night, as that rain continues to move in, there will be a bit of snow across the higher ground of scotland, perhaps some fleeting snow across northern areas of england, as well. we could see about one to three centimetres of snow over the higher ground of northern scotland overnight into wednesday morning. that is something to keep an eye on. as we go through wednesday that weather system just fizzles away, really. into wednesday and thursday we�*ve got low pressure moving in, so a return to some milder conditions, but wetter and windier conditions for many of us on wednesday and thursday. we�*ll keep a close eye on that one. temperatures, though, about 11 or 12 celsius. it will turn colder again as we go into the weekend, as the weather quietens down from the wet and windy weather

a sudden shift for stellantis — the boss of one of the world�*s biggest car—makers abruptly resigns, sending shares in the company plummeting. budget crisis in france — the government faces the risk of collapse as it tries to get its widely opposed social security plans through parliament. sydney�*s live music sector in the dolldrums — we look what�*s being done to bring audiences back to struggling venues.

welcome to business today. shares in one the world�*s biggest car—maker, stellantis, have been plummeting following the abrupt resignation of the ceo carlos tava res. the company suffered a profit warning two months ago and has seen a sharp decline in market value this year — a drop of a0%. shares in stellantis, which owns the peugoet fiat and jeep brands, were down around 8% in paris this morning. last week, the firm also announced plans to close its vauxhall van making factory in luton, putting about 1,100 jobs at risk. the company will find a replacement chief executive in the first half of next year. let�*s get more on this with our business correspondent theo leggett. do we know why he has quit? we don't do we know why he has quit? - don't know the precise reasons, don�*t know the precise reasons, but problem have been starting

to engulf stellantis since the start of