infection this summer. and that sinking feeling — the crater in merthyr tydfil that's being blamed on storm bert. it was very scary. very scary. you could hear rumbling, you could hear it collapsing. and coming up in sport on bbc news. the start of a new era at leicester city, we hear from the club's new manager ruud van nistlerooy ahead of his first game in charge. good evening. the tv presenter gregg wallace has apologised for claiming complaints about his behaviour came from "a handful of middle—class women of a certain age", and says he is now going to take some time out. it comes after days of allegations about inappropriate comments and behaviour over a period of many years.

tonight's episode of masterchef will be broadcast as planned. the bbc says it's life changing for the chefs who take part as contestants and is about more than one person. here's noor nanji. i want to apologise for any offence that i caused with my post yesterday and any upset i may have caused to a lot of people. and any upset i may have caused to a lot of maple-— lot of people. gregg wallace saying sor after lot of people. gregg wallace saying sorry after a — lot of people. gregg wallace saying sorry after a video _ lot of people. gregg wallace saying sorry after a video that _ lot of people. gregg wallace saying sorry after a video that got - lot of people. gregg wallace saying sorry after a video that got britain | sorry after a video that got britain talking. he said he wasn't in a good headspace when he posted it and has been under a huge amount of stress. it is obvious to me i need to take some time out now while this investigation is under way. i hope you understand, and i do hope that you understand, and i do hope that you will accept this apology. it is all a very different _ you will accept this apology. it is all a very different tone from his comments on social media yesterday. then gregg wallace claimed that the allegations against him had come from a... . ., .

from a... handful of middle-class women of — from a... handful of middle-class women of a _ from a... handful of middle-class women of a certain _ from a... handful of middle-class women of a certain age. - from a... handful of middle-class women of a certain age. that - from a... handful of middle-class. women of a certain age. that video sarked women of a certain age. that video sparked an — women of a certain age. that video sparked an immediate _ women of a certain age. that video sparked an immediate backlash, i women of a certain age. that video l sparked an immediate backlash, with even a downing street spokesperson describing the comments as inappropriate and misogynistic. others were more positive. you can onl take others were more positive. you can only take people — others were more positive. you can only take people how _ others were more positive. you can only take people how you _ others were more positive. you can only take people how you find - others were more positive. you can | only take people how you find them. he was— only take people how you find them. he was great with me, really supportive, and i found the whole masterchef experience a positive one _ masterchef experience a positive one. ,, , , one. the shepherd centre seen here internet's episode, _ one. the shepherd centre seen here internet's episode, which _ one. the shepherd centre seen here internet's episode, which has - one. the shepherd centre seen here internet's episode, which has been l internet's episode, which has been confirmed it will ahead despite calls for it to be paused, has been under pressure ever since the bbc revealed a string of allegations against him, but she denies. —— the masterchef presenter. our investigation heard from 13 people across a range of ages, over a 17 year period. allegations we heard include gregg wallace taking his top off in front of a female worker, staring at a worker's chest and asking her for massages, and asking a junior female

colleague the logistics of how she has sex as a lesbian. we don't often see... he stepped back from — we don't often see... he stepped back from masterchef _ we don't often see... he stepped back from masterchef last - we don't often see... he stepped back from masterchef last week | we don't often see... he stepped - back from masterchef last week after we put the allegations to him. today there are calls for the bbc to consider pausing the series. it is not my decision _ consider pausing the series. it 3 not my decision what the bbc does without scheduling, but i do feel that while this is all in the news, it is on every front page, top of every bulletin, may be out of respect for those victims, it could be paused this week while the investigation is ongoing. but for now the bbc _ investigation is ongoing. but for now the bbc has _ investigation is ongoing. but for now the bbc has confirmed - investigation is ongoing. but for now the bbc has confirmed that i investigation is ongoing. but for i now the bbc has confirmed that all filmed episodes of masterchef will be broadcast, including the christmas special. a source said that masterchef was life changing for the chefs that take part comedy show was about more than one individual. noor nanji, bbc news. our media editor katie razzall is here — how damaging is this for the bbc? it is not great for the bbc, another scandal about its talent, hot on the heels of others, including the bbc

news disgraced presenter hugh edwards. i would say this one is more complicated. gregg wallace has been employed by independent production companies which sell their shows to the bbc. more than 300 production companies may chose for the bbc in the last year. that accounted for about 50%, more than 50% of the bbc�*s tv hours. but when claims are made about star presenters on those shows, it is the bbc that it takes the hit. i think there is some frustration inside this building, inside the corporation about that. a bbc insider said to me, when it comes to gregg wallace, we have essentially been buying in a product, but then we are being held accountable for the actions of the staff in a different organisation. i suppose the things audiences do not make that distinction. also, we know that at least on two occasions, the bbc was made aware of complaints about gregg wallace's behaviour. we know he was spoken to about his unacceptable behaviour by a bbc boss in 2018. but six years on,

allegations about his conduct are mounting. the bbc has already engaged in a review about preventing power, abuses of power, the bbc chair set at the time when that was an ounce, there's a sense that powerful people get away with it. but that review will not take on what happens at production companies. it cannot. that is not the bbc�*s oversight. they are independent and responsible for their own codes, so it were not taken a situation like this. katie, thank you- _ us presidentjoe biden is facing sharp criticism from both republicans and democrats after issuing an official pardon for his son hunter who was facing a possible jail sentence. hunter biden was convicted of firearms offences and tax violations, the first child of a sitting president to be convicted of a crime. joe biden said although he believed in thejustice system, politics had infected the process and he said it had led to a miscarriage ofjustice. but president—elect donald trump has called the pardon itself an "abuse and miscarriage of justice". our north america editor sarah smith is in washington for us. sarah.

and herejoe and here joe biden and herejoe biden is getting heavily criticised from all sides for this decision to pardon his son. you have republicans screaming about hypocrisy because he had said in public at least ten times that he would not part and his son, hunter. then you have democrats who are also saying they think this is a mistake because they believe it will undermine trust in the legal system and that it sets a very bad precedent for the time when donald trump is about to take over in the white house. the one person it seems he does agree withjoe biden's decision is the first ladyjill biden who said today that she supports the pardon for their son hunter. as the biden family gathered to celebrate thanksgiving this past weekend, hunter biden was there right alongside his dad. and it was here the president decided to give his son the gift of a full and unconditional pardon despite his previous promises not to do so. i'm extremely proud of my son, hunter. he has overcome an addiction.

he has... he's one of the brightest, most decent men i know, and i am satisfied that i'm not going to do anything. i said, i abide by thejury decision and i will do that, and i will not pardon him. president biden wants americans to forgive that naked hypocrisy which could spare his son a prison sentence. the reaction, as swift as it is, predictable — righteous indignation from biden's opponents. first came the decision, now the outrage. president biden pardons his son. he lied to us repeatedly, sayingi that he wouldn't pardon hunter. i figured he would. and it's unfortunate that, you know, when you expect the worst, - you oftentimes get it. and he did pardon him _ because hunter biden was the bag man for the biden crime family. hunter biden's offences include failing to pay tax in los angeles from 2016—2019 and lying on a gun purchase form claiming he wasn't taking drugs when he was an addict. injune this year, he was convicted of illegally

purchasing and owning a gun. in september, he pleaded guilty to the tax offences in la. his pardon, though, covers any and everything he may have done from the start of 2014 until now. hunter biden has been extensively investigated by republicans in congress looking for corruption and hoping to tie it to his father. with a pardon that predates his controversial business dealings, he'll now be protected from further prosecutions. and they have taken the light of my dad's love... the light of my dad's love for me and presented it as darkness. joe biden says he believes hunter was the victim of politically motivated prosecutions that would never have come to court if he wasn't the president's son. sound familiar? yes, it's the same argument donald trump uses about all the cases against him on social media, he called hunter's pardon an abuse and miscarriage ofjustice. joe biden says he hopes americans will understand why a father and a president

would make this decision. well, it's easier to understand why a dad would do it than a politician who knows what the consequences could be. and joe biden is of course now facing those political consequences. but as a father, he has been constantly worried during his time in the white house about hunter biden. worried that the stress of these court cases and investigations could tip him back into that dangerous drug addiction. and it seems obvious that he was also worried this may carry on after he leaves office, that when republicans are in charge they will continue investigating hunter, possibly as a way of getting tojoe biden himself. that is probably why he made this decision to pardon his son. sarah smith in washington, thank you. the united nations is holding an emergency meeting on events in syria. the syrian army says it's preparing a counter—offensive against the islamist forces who have taken the country's second largest city aleppo in a surprise

offensive at the weekend. our international editor jeremy bowen is here. the war in syria has reignited. rebels based in idlib went on the offensive last wednesday. they are a coalition led by a group known as hts 7 short for hayat tahrir al sham 7 which means organisation for the liberation of the levant. aleppo was their target, but they captured it so quickly that there's premature talk of a push towards damascus. the hts fighters took their chance 7 the assad regime's main middle eastern allies iran and lebanese hezbullah have been badly damaged in their wider war with israel 7 and russia, assad 5 other ally, is busy in ukraine. at the weekend, only a couple of days after starting their offensive, rebel fighters were posing and celebrating at aleppo's ancient citadel.

during years of war, the citadel was an impregnable regime fortress. but these men took it almost without a fight. back in january 2017, i was in aleppo in the days after the assad regime recaptured the east of the city from rebels who'd held it since the war in aleppo started in 2012. there was massive destruction from russian and regime extracts. —— there was massive destruction from russian and regime air strikes. this was all a huge victory for the regime. but in the years that followed, the war gradually froze but never ended. once again president bashar al—assad is beleaguered. he had an emergency meeting in damascus with the iranian foreign minister. assad's survival will depend again on his allies, who are worrying about their own futures. in aleppo, hts fighters are pulling down portraits of assad, their enemy.

they are considered terrorists by his regime, and by the un, the us, the uk and the eu, because their roots are in al-anda. mina alami follows jihadist media for bbc monitoring. she has seen hts changing its image as syrians are mostly repelled by extremist religious rhetoric. in their messaging they have been trying to portray themselves as more of a nationalist rebel group and basically trying to shake off theirjihadist past and prove that they don't have any lasting links with al-qaeda orjihadist groups and that they are simply after toppling the government of bashar al—assad. syria is at centre of the region 5 network of faultlines. diplomats will struggle to find a way to de—escalate what 5 happening. years of war have already pulled in other powers 7 turkey and the us

have troops in the north, as well as russia. this could turn into a major escalation in the middle east crisis. a renewed syrian war would pour a lot more fuel on the fire that is consuming the middle east. jeremy, thank you. the old bailey has been hearing more details about a russian spy cell operating in the uk and the surveillance alleged to have carried out in britain and europe for nearly three years. three bulgarians, all living in london, deny conspiracy to spy. two others have admitted the charges. our correspondent daniel de simone is here. who were they allegedly spying on and what were they doing? well, the jury today heard that two of the targets were investigative journalists who have exposed a great deal about russian espionage. one of them is based in the uk. there was talk by the cell of kidnapping both. the russian agent who was

controlling the cell from abroad spoke about, it would be amazing if there were a successful operation in britain after a failed assassination attempt of surgery scrip al in 2018. the cell were said to have got flight details and got so close to journal some planes that they were able to take down the pin number, the phone pin number of one journalist, they used a surveillance video glasses to take footage of another journalist on the video glasses to take footage of anotherjournalist on the plane. the court also heard about surveillance operation in london of a cat sack former politician, trying to gain entry into a building where he was said to have been —— kazakhstan e former politician. the used disguises to get in, including just eat, delivery, pizza express or even an ambulance. eat, delivery, pizza express or even an ambulance-— an ambulance. daniel de simone at the old bailey. _ an ambulance. daniel de simone at the old bailey, thank _ an ambulance. daniel de simone at the old bailey, thank you. - the government has set a target for the removal of flammable cladding from tall tower blocks. hundreds of thousands of people are still living in potentially unsafe flats seven years on from the grenfell fire. now the government says all high—rise blocks will be fixed

by 2029, with a longer deadline for mid—rise blocks. our housing reporter tarah welsh has the details. family homes being pulled apart in east london today after fire destroyed the home. i east london today after fire destroyed the home. i woke up at three o'clock _ destroyed the home. i woke up at three o'clock in _ destroyed the home. i woke up at three o'clock in the _ destroyed the home. i woke up at three o'clock in the morning - three o'clock in the morning surrounded by smoke. i still wear the clothes from donation because i lost everything there. irina escaped when fire ripped through the tower earlier this year. her unsafe building now being demolished. the building in dagenham was having flammable cladding removed when it caught fire in august. but thousands of other blocks remain unsafe. today, the government said developers responsible for most of the buildings would double the rate of remediation and that cladding on high rise towers backed by taxpayer funding must be fixed by the end of 2029. we are drawing a line in the sand

today and for the first time bringing forward a serious and ambitious target, and that's the 2029 date. so what's the size of the cladding challenge7 well, currently there are over 3,000 tower blocks eligible to be fixed with money from government schemes. of these, less than a third have been completed so far. last year, a number of big developers said they'd repair the defective blocks they built. so far, there are nearly 1,500 of these and a quarter have been fixed to date. the government has said developers could face criminal charges if they don't comply. campaigners say they've heard it all before. people still don't know when their homes are going to be made safe, so it's a start, but i think we need a lot more from this government at this point. hundreds of thousands are relying on the government to fix the building safety crisis. those here have already lost everything. tarah welsh, bbc news.

the time is 18.17. our top story this evening. an apology from tv presenter gregg wallace for comments he made about middle—class women of a certain age. we are live at the royal albert hall in london for the fashion awards tonight where we will have the latest from the red carpet. coming up in sport on bbc news. from postman to world champion — tributes are paid to snooker great terry griffiths — who's died at the age of 77. the trafalgar square christmas tree arrives from norway. the government's plan to tackle the housing crisis and kickstart the economy with an ambitious housebuilding agenda has been branded "unrealistic" and "impossible to achieve" by local authorities in england. labour say they are aiming to build 1.5million homes over the next 5 years.

the bbc has asked 317 local councils in england for their response to a consultation on changes to the planning system which would introduce new mandatory housebuilding targets. the responses reveal widespread concern about the ability of councils to meet the new targets and deliver a key government policy, as our political correspondent alex forsyth reports. finding land to get homes built, that's what the government wants councils to do. 1.5 million more homes over the next five years. but behind the scenes, many councils are concerned about the government's approach. we've seen responses to new housing targets that say they are impossible to achieve, they're not credible, deliverable or sensible. in one case, it's claimed they're removed from reality. and it's notjust conservative or liberal democrat councils, but labour councils, too. like the council here in west lancashire who say the housing targets they've been set are undeliverable and unachievable. why7

i don't think the land is actually available here to build that much housing on unless you were to go and build specifically on arable farmland, and i don't think that it matches the housing needs analysis that we've been doing. what would you say to the prime minister, the deputy prime minister, who say, "we've got to build. "you're going to have to build. "you've got to take your fair share". very happy to take our fair share. itjust won't be as high as possibly the new reforms were suggesting. across most of england, housing targets are going up. part of the government plans to get the economy growing, but also to fix what ministers call the worst housing crisis in living memory. in salford, there are 7,000 people on the housing waiting list. homes are being built here and the labour council wants more, but they say the government's approach could mean unsustainable development without the right infrastructure. for me, housing need is not just a numbers game. it's about looking at your housing waiting list, it's about looking at the impacts around homelessness and rough sleeping, and building the homes that communities and residents need.

what is your message to government? because they are very clear to councils, "we want you to give planning permissions and meet these targets". just empower us. don't control this agenda from westminster and whitehall. the government says it will help councils reach housing targets by changing planning rules, including the kind of land that can be built on. but the concern from councils is widespread. we've seen responses from nearly 300 local authorities from different parties and parts of the country. while most support the idea of building more homes, many raised concerns about a lack of infrastructure, suitable land, or the ability of the market to deliver. that's because most house—building relies on private developers — councils just grant permission. here in oxford, the council supports the government's approach, saying higher housing targets will hopefully help drive delivery. i mean, it isn't going to be easy because we don't have all of the building companies that we need. i totally get that in some places

it's going to be very difficult to actually get the houses built, but you have to have these ambitions. i mean, you have to, you have to aim high. there is plenty of ambition. the question is whether that leads to all the homes the government hopes for. alex forsyth, bbc news. the former chairman of the countess of chester hospital hospital where serial killer lucy letby murdered babies has said his decision to not invite the doctors who suspected her to an important meeting was "a big personalfailure". sir duncan nichol has spoken publicly about the case for the first time at the public inquiry into what happened. letby killed seven infants and tried to kill seven others betweenjune 2015 and june 2016. france is facing a new political crisis as mps prepare for a vote of no confidence in the government. the move is a reaction to the prime ministers decision today to force through a new budget without parliaments approval. parties on the hard right and hard left now say they will vote to bring

down the government later this week. andrew harding is in paris — is this likely to happen? it looks like crunch time for the prime minister michel barnier and his government. as things stand he could very well be out of office by wednesday or thursday. if the parliament vote no confidence as they promised to. in the short term france has got used to muddling through if you like with interim governments and even an interim budget. this crisis if you like was triggered by economic disagreements and there are