the syrian government. they're facing a rebel coalition, made up of several groups which appear to have come together to fight president assad's regime. barry marston from bbc monitoring is a specialist onjihadi groups and explained more about the group that seized aleppo. tahrir al—sham have been a fascinating group to follow because they started off as being part of the same ideological camp as islamic state and al-qaeda. but since they started consolidating their hold over idlib province, they've been going all out to rebrand themselves as a very different kind of entity that perhaps can be trusted to, to to hold territory and act as something of a normal

de facto government. and statements that i've been working on from the group over the last few days over the last few days now, it talks about now, it talks about protecting diplomats, protecting diplomats, it talks about respecting it talks about respecting people of all faiths people of all faiths within aleppo, within aleppo, different ethnicities, different ethnicities, not a word of religion. not a word of religion. i would hesitate to describe i would hesitate to describe the language as secularist, the language as secularist, but that's really the way that but that's really the way that they are trying to categorise they are trying to categorise themselves at a moment when themselves at a moment when the world's eyes are upon them. the world's eyes are upon them. and it's important, isn't it? and it's important, isn't it? because, i mean, that has been described branding of the military because, i mean, that has been described by some as rebranding, by some as rebranding, but i know that ordinary but i know that ordinary syrians have, in part, syrians have, in part, perhaps stuck perhaps stuck with assad through fear with assad through fear of the jihadists, haven't they? of the jihadists, haven't they? well, as well... well, as well... although tahrir al—sham although tahrir al—sham are leading this, there are leading this, there are a number of other are a number of other

entities in there with them. entities in there with them. and this rather vague and this rather vague branding of the military administration, it allows all these different groups to align themselves without having to categorise who they are and exactly what they stand for. so there are justified concerns over what happens next and who remains in the driving seat, and the degree to which the sort of islamist orjihadist fringe will be able to have an influence in... that takes me to what i wanted to ask you, which is what do you see as the major implications here? we're certainly seeing an entirely new phase of the conflict, and it's a case of whether it's now consolidating the territory or whether they continue to try to push on south. i follow the islamic state in syria. they are very bitter rivals of hts, but they are also looking at opportunities because they themselves have been expanding over the last 12 months, getting a lot bolder in their attacks. so instability means that hardline jihadists will definitely have an opportunity after a period when they had seemed

more on the back foot. lets go from syria to ukraine. the german chancellor, olaf scholz, is making an unexpected visit to the ukrainian capital, kyiv, today. mr scholz said he wanted to use this opportunity to express solidarity with ukraine and has promised kyiv a fresh package of military aid worth more than 630 million euros. germany is currently the biggest european supplier of defence equipment to ukraine. our world affairs correspondent paul adams is in ukraine and explained the significance of this visit. the chancellor has a somewhat mixed reputation here. everyone is acutely aware that germany is, as you said in your introduction, the largest european provider of military assistance by far, something in the region of 28 billion euros worth of military aid so far. and he was bringing a fresh package with him today. but on the other hand, there has been this

reluctance to provide long—range missiles, the taurus missile, which the ukrainians have been asking for for some time now. he was asked again about that today and he rather dodged the issue. president zelensky, for his part, said that was an issue that they were still discussing. he is also the chancellor, a fairly vocal opponent of the idea of ukrainejoining nato. and again, he slightly dodged that question during theirjoint news conference this afternoon. but of course, there was the issue of his phone call with president putin of russia last month, which mr. zelensky, president zelensky was very critical of, saying that it opened a pandora's box, inviting other leaders to have their own conversations with mr putin, something that the russian leader simply relished. that came up also today. president zelensky was fairly diplomatic, saying that the two men agreed on more than they disagreed.

and for his part, the chancellor said, look, i was very direct with the russian leader

she and her husband spent more than £50,000 of their life savings, to cover the shortfalls. betty was hounded out and forced to sell her business at a loss. nice to see you, nice to see you. i met her in london in october, as she visited the public inquiry. she said the post office stole her money and wanted it back. i'm still waiting. still waiting. betty has now had her offer, but it is for 29% of what she had claimed. how do you feel about this offer? totally disgusted. unacceptable. really, really. not what they should be doing. you talk about christmas and good will? where's the good will towards the people, the sub—postmasters here? there's none. we're having to go through all this palaver. what for? for nothing. we're just treated like dung. it took her legal team nearly three years to prepare betty?s

three years to prepare betty's claim, with multiple reports. welcome to the second panel... mps are looking at the issue of compensation from complaints about delays, complexity and bureaucracy. among the witnesses, the firm which assesses the claims in betty's scheme. we do try to maximise the offers, we do try to give the benefit of the doubt, and we assess that and we are looking at fairness across the board. that is not how betty sees it. they are simply adding insult to injury. for you and others, it's another year has passed. coming to a close. that's correct. so next year, when i'm 92, yeah? and i have to struggle to keep going. but she's not giving up on compensation. she's rejected her offer and taking it to an independent panel.

the government says it recognises the suffering victims like betty have endured and is working tirelessly to provide them with full and fair redress. emma simpson, bbc news. oxford university press hasog announced its word of the year. you traditionally, the choice is a word or expression that reflects the mood, ethos, or preoccupations of the year. this year it is brain rot. its use has surged recently, particularly on tiktok. casper grathwohl is the president of oxford languages. he told me what brainrot means and the context. it is the deterioration of mental state due to bad

content. it is like mine this growing through social media sites like to attack. haw growing through social media sites like to attack.— sites like to attack. how do ou sites like to attack. how do you decide _ sites like to attack. how do you decide the _ sites like to attack. how do you decide the word - sites like to attack. how do you decide the word of- sites like to attack. how do | you decide the word of the? element we look at the you decide the word of the? element we look at the usage of the word and — element we look at the usage of the word and brain _ element we look at the usage of the word and brain rot _ element we look at the usage of the word and brain rot dabbled l the word and brain rot dabbled in usage. a lot of young people are referring to brain rot to describe the kind of language and content that they are also taking part in generating. young people. that would explain why i haven't actually heard of it. the prominence around social media... i was fascinated to read that it is not anywhere, is a? it fascinated to read that it is not anywhere, is a?- fascinated to read that it is not anywhere, is a? it is not. our first _ not anywhere, is a? it is not. our first recorded _ not anywhere, is a? it is not. our first recorded usage - not anywhere, is a? it is not. our first recorded usage of l not anywhere, is a? it is not. i our first recorded usage of the word is from henry david thoreau in was in 185a. he said while england endeavours to cure the potato rack, will not any endeavour to cure the brain

rot which prevail so much more widely and federally —— —— the potato rot. —— by the end fatally. potato rot. -- by the end fatall . ~ . potato rot. -- by the end fatally-— potato rot. -- by the end fatall . ~ . , . our fatally. what did it beat? our short list consisted _ fatally. what did it beat? our short list consisted of - fatally. what did it beat? our short list consisted of five - short list consisted of five other words that we were listening really closely. the remark was a word that spiked in august because of social media memes —— demure was a word... and hayat tahrir lure which was generated by social media use. another word is romanticy which blends romance and fantasy, a blending word, which has become a popular genre these days.— which has become a popular genre these days. there us. we are going _ genre these days. there us. we are going to _ genre these days. there us. we are going to take _ genre these days. there us. we are going to take a _ genre these days. there us. we are going to take a short - genre these days. there us. we are going to take a short breakl are going to take a short break and we will have the latest developments in masterchef

story, an update from bbc in the last hour or so. we are also looking at the middle east in the israel — hezbollah ceasefire. we are also in sedan. that is all after the weather. —— rios and sudan. —— weather. —— rios and sudan. —— we are also in sudan. hello. after some very mild weather over the weekend, things have been turning colder from the north. it's not going to be cold all the time this week, but there is quite a lot of chilly weather in the forecast. cold enough for some snow over higher ground and particularly later in the week, there will also be spells of wind and rain. now, the cold air is pushing its way down from the north behind this frontal system. the front bringing a zone of clouds and bits and pieces of showery rain southwards across england and wales through the rest of the day. a little bit of snow mixing in perhaps over higher ground on the back edge

of that weather system. certainly some snow in the showers in northern scotland, even to relatively low levels, and temperatures tending to drop away as the afternoon wears on. it's going to be quite breezy out there, as well. now, overnight, the winds will ease. the remains of that frontal system will clear and under clear skies, temperatures are going to drop away. we could see some patches of freezing fog, particularly up towards the north and the west. —7 in the highlands, but widely those temperatures close to around or below freezing. so a cold start to tuesday morning with some fog patches. they should slowly lift and clear. then actually not a bad day with spells of sunshine. some patchy rain approaching the southwest of england, some heavier rain into northern ireland and western scotland. that rain turning to snow over high ground here. it's going to be a cold day and as we go through tuesday evening, we will see some snow falling, especially over high ground in scotland. over the highest ground, maybe 5 to 8cm of snow. perhaps something wintry to slightly lower levels, but of snow also settling over the tops of the pennines, maybe even the mountains of north wales, and that area of rain and some hill snow petering out as it clears south eastwards into the start of wednesday. again, some early fog patches,

maybe a bit of ice as well, some spells of sunshine but cloud and rain pushing in to the west. and while it will be another cold day for many, it does turn a little bit milder in western areas as this weather system approaches. now, this will bring a dose of rain, some strong winds up towards the north, another frontal system bringing another dose of rain and some strong winds on thursday. this time a little bit further southwards, and it does turn a little bit colder again as we head towards the weekend with more wind and rain and maybe some snow over the hills.

live from london. this is bbc news the bbc confirms tonights masterchef will be shown tonight despite pressure to pause the programme. it's after allegations against its presenter — gregg wallace. pressure on the ceasefire between israel and hezbollah in lebanon — we'll have the latest from our correspondent injerusalem as the sudan conflict continues — the bbc hears of the horror and hunger in rare visit to the region of darfur — where the un says there's a crisis of protection for people. ethnic cleansing,

starvation, rape. it happened here two decades ago. it is happening again and getting worse. joe biden gives his son hunter — a presidential pardon — weeks before sentencing on gun and drug convictions — sparking a major backlash. millions of us use wearable technology to track exercise routines — but doctors say they are cautious about how useful this kind of data is. welcome to bbc news. the bbc has confirmed tonight's episode of masterchef will still be shown despite pressure to pull the programme from its schedules following multiple allegations against presenter gregg wallace.

a bbc source said: "masterchef is life changing for the chefs