bashar al—assad, says the us is behind a rebel offensive that has reignited the country's civil war. he claims washington and its allies want to redraw the map of the middle east. syria and its allies russia are bombarding rebel—held positions — this was the aftermath of a russian strike on a hospital in idlib. the syrian army says they've killed hundreds of the advancing fighters, while rebel groups and independent observers say many of the dead are civilians. aleppo — syria's second city — was seized in a surprise attack last week. here's our international editor, jeremy bowen. the syrian regime is striking back. in the last two days, the un humanitarian office says more than 50 air strikes hit idlib, the province that is the powerhouse

of the rebels. the hospital in idlib city was among several healthcare facilities targeted. the un says at least 44 civilians have been killed in airstrikes. air raids, body bags, civilians in another middle eastern country are grieving. a renewed syrian war will pour a lot more fuel on the fire that is consuming the middle east. it is the regime's response to the lightning offensive that swept up aleppo, including its ancient citadel. during years of war, the citadel was an impregnable regime fortress, but these men, from hts, took it almost without a fight. back injanuary 2017, i was in aleppo, in the days after the assad regime recaptured the east of the city from rebels who had held it since the war in aleppo started in 2012. 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 it 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, the 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-qaeda. mina al lami follows jihadist media for bbc monitoring. she's seen hts changing its image, as the syrians are mostly repelled by extremist religious rhetoric. in their messaging, they have been trying to portray

themselves as more of 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 a toppling of the government of bashar al—assad. some food is getting through to civilians in aleppo, but this is another humanitarian crisis in the making. the people of this city live at one of the historic crossroads of the middle east, connected to all the regions, political and sectarian fault lines. if the offensive leads to protracted fighting, it will be a major escalation in the middle east crisis. that is bad news for the whole region, notjust the hungry and frightened people on aleppo�*s streets. meanwhile, there have been signs of a break in the ceasefire between israel and lebanon. israel launched a wave of air strikes on southern lebanon

on monday evening, hours after the lebanese militant group, hezbollah, fired two mortars at an israeli army post in an area occupied by israel. the attack was the first by hezbollah since a ceasefire went into effect, last week. the united states and france have said that israel had violated the ceasefire, though israel denies this. in georgia, thousands of protestors are in the capital tblisi for a fifth night in a row. once again, there have been extensive clashes with police, with protesters throwing fireworks at officers, who are shooting tear gas and water cannon. the protestors are furious about what they see as the government's increasing ties to russia, a country that currently occupies 20% of their land. last week, the prime minister said he'd put european union accession talks on hold, despite polls suggesting widespread support for membership, sparking this latest round of demonstrations. the president of georgia, salome zourabichvili has been among those criticising the strong police response. she has been in a stand—off with the ruling georgia dream

party, and is on the side of the protestors. she says last month's elections were rigged, the current parliament is illegitimate, and has vowed to stay in herjob, when her term ends in a couple of weeks. in an interview with the bbc on monday evening, she called for more western support. well, the same thing they have been doing now for more than 30 years since the independence of georgia, which is to support us in our path towards european integration, euro—atlantic integration, which is enshrined in our constitution and has been supported by our partners, but also the georgian population, more than 80% of them. all over this year, whatever was happening, including the war or the occupation of our territories. that determination has never flinched. and today also we see on the streets that the georgian population wants nothing else and nothing more than its independence

and its european past. that's what the people on the streets are very calmly, very peacefully demanding. our vote back, our european future back. i'm joined now by the former georgian ambassador to the us, temuri yakobashvili. wejust heard president zourabichvili calling for external support. she also called the recent elections rigged. in practical terms, what is she asking for? hello. she is asking, in my opinion, not only the support from the west, but concrete actions, and there's actions can take several dimensions, one of them is obviously a sanction, sanction in relation to rigged elections, to allow such a massive violation on the streets of georgia of human

rights, and decide sanction is there are political measures that can also be applied, the rights of it, and the western countries know how to do it, including isolating the georgian so—called government and massive support to georgian opposition, political support, and any other support to the civil society of georgia that is standing on the streets now. speaking of those on the streets now, when you see what has been unfolding over the last few nights, do you hear that things could turn violent? it is already violent, and i would say that we are bond already a political crisis, it is already a crisis of governance, because those people who are on the streets are not there because of a specific political party or group or political parties. obviously, they are there as well, and they were arrested, some leaders were arrested as well, but it is already a

massive public outcry, not only in the capital of georgia, but we see the similar pictures coming from all major cities of georgia, and people who are taking actions are not only politically motivated people, but they are regular people, even schoolchildren are on the street. can it get worse? it can always get worse, unfortunately, and unfortunately, and unfortunately also i don't see a sign that those who are in the ruling position in georgia, that they understand that they are losing not only public support, not only the support from the western allies, but they are also losing support of their internal administrative resources as well. we have seen a wave of resigning letters from ambassadors, we have seen the massive protest letters coming from the variety of public protest, different

ministries, different state agencies and all of them are expressing their disappointment, and all of them are demanding to go back to the european path, and the reality is that the current so—called government already lost trust inside the country as well as outside of the country, so the solution, the political solution, the political solution, will be what the president of georgia has just declared it is a snap elections and declaring the new government that will decide how to fix. ~ . , ~ , to fix. what is the key thing to fix. what is the key thing to understand _ to fix. what is the key thing to understand for _ to fix. what is the key thing to understand for those - to understand for those watching outside, the position that georgia finds itself in between russia and the west? are there parallels we can draw with ukraine?— with ukraine? with a stretch of the imagination, _ with ukraine? with a stretch of the imagination, yes, - the imagination, yes, definitely, we have seen many times, like in ukraine and many other places, including

georgia, russia's interferences, and there is a strong belief that in the current situation, current decisions of the so—called government are also somehow complementary to russia. we have seen before then copy cutting of the russian attitude towards the civil society of the opposition, which is manifested in many different ways and forms, like adopting the so—called russian law against non—government organisations of the foreign funding, and enabling people like foreign agents, we have seen the oppression of the opposition, we have seen the oppression of the media, we have seen the oppression of civil society. so pretty much the guidebook that russia is following, so it is no surprise that georgians perceive these kind of moves is very friendly for russia. now, we have to

also see very clearly that the only government and only government officials that cheer the current georgian so—called government for their actions are the russians. it is putin himself, former president medvedev and other russian officials who are very publicly, and with an enormous grin on theirface, complementing and congratulating the bravery in parenthesis of the current georgian political leadership. so that situation obviously is drawing conclusions itself, and we are not in georgia struck between russia and the west. georgian people made their choice. they want to be part of the western society. they consider themselves europeans, and it is not only the constitution that stated that, but it is not a full—time chat

with the population and the absolute majority of the population wants that. wade ambassador, thank you so much for your time today, the georgian ambassador, the former georgian ambassador, the former georgian ambassador, the former georgian ambassador to the us. thank you. now to the us next. presidentjoe biden is facing sharp criticism from both sides of the aisle, after issuing an official pardon for his son, hunter, who was facing almost certain prison time. injune, hunter biden was convicted of firearms offences, becoming the first child of a sitting president to be convicted of a crime. in september, hunter pleaded guilty to tax violations. president biden previously said he wouldn't pardon his son, but on sunday he reversed that position, saying hunter had been unfairly targeted for political reasons. our north america editor sarah smith reports. 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'd 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. at a children's event at the white house today, the first lady tried to be heard over the christmas songs, as she said, "of course i support a pardon for my son". 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, saying 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 to 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, a 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. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news in the uk. the former chairman of the 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. the masterchef presenter, gregg wallace, has apologised

for comments he posted online, about his accusers who've been claiming sexually harassing bahaviour. he says he "needs to take some time out". downing street says the video, in which he says allegations about improper language and behaviour, come from "middle—class women of a certain age", were completely inappropriate and misogynistic. the presenter denies the claims. queen camilla will miss parts of an official visit on tuesday by the emir of qatar, due to a lingering viral chest infection. on the advice of doctors, the 77—year—old will not be there for the arrival, but will attend the state banquet in the evening. you're live with bbc news. the un's new relief chief, tom fletcher, says the sudanese region of darfur is facing famine, and that people are being used as pawns in the conflict. human rights groups are describing recent ethnic—based massacres as possible genocide.

fewjournalists have been able to visit darfur, which is mainly controlled by the paramilitary rapid support forces since the war began. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet is travelling with the un team — her report begins in a refugee camp in chad on the border. a people dispossessed and displaced, the people of darfur. this is an informal refugee camp in chad, just across the border from sudan. the women wait, praying someone will help. translation: we used i to get food from our farms when the war began. we couldn't farm and the animals ate our crops, so we were left with nothing.

people who escaped the spectre of famine, the horrow of war. translation: when we were fleeing, our young | brothers were killed. some were too young to walk. our elders escaping with us were killed. yes, within ourfamily, they killed my uncles, my aunties, all the men in ourfamily. translation: they kill| people, they rob people, they take their food, they take your belongings. they take everything. they don't know if their husbands and fathers are alive or dead. in all my years of reporting, i've never seen a crowd as big as this. everyone we meet here says they come from el—geneina, just across the border. and everyone has a story of the horrors of this war — a story of a massacre, of a frenzy, of killing, of days so dark it's regarded as the worst atrocity in sudan's brutal civil war.

then, there's a rush. word spreads — un food is being delivered. there's also not enough of it crossing this border into sudan. not enough attention to this crisis. this is daft for, the place which has seen all of the worst of the worst. ethnic cleansing, starvation, rape. it happened here two decades ago, it's happening again, and getting worse. we're travelling to el—geneina, with the first high—level un team to enter darfur, across this land controlled by the paramilitary rsf, locked in battle with sudan's government. this is what the women fled — blackened houses, blasted shops. you can still taste the smoke.

the rsf accused of terrorising non—arab communities. they deny it was their deed. i know that this situation is very, very hard, very tough. i know that sometimes you must feel that the world has forgotten you. more people pushed from place to place. they need everything but this war. translation: we've suffered so much. - when this war started, some people supported the army, some supported the rsf, but we, the displaced, are neutral. what can you do to protect people? we've got to do much better. ultimately, it's about getting a peace process going, putting the international pressure on the parties. now, that's not easy, but we've got to be here. it's also about food, and delivering much more, to prevent famine from spreading, to prevent people from dying. lyse doucet, bbc news, darfur.

let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the us secretary of state antony blinken has announced more military assistance for ukraine. the package, worth $725 million, includes stinger air defence missiles, ammunition for himars rocket launchers and anti—personnel mines. mr blinken said the package was part of efforts to ensure ukraine had what it needed to defend itself against russian aggression. vietnam property tycoon, truong my lan, will hear the verdict in her appeal against the death sentence on tuesday. she was found guilty in april for masterminding the world's biggest bank fraud, secretly taking loans and cash over more than ten years, through a web of shell companies, amounting to a total of $41; billion. she is asking to avoid the death penalty, if she can pay back 75% of what she took. australian police have seized 2.3 tonnes of cocaine from a broken—down boat, off the coast of queensland. eleven men and two juveniles were arrested, including the vessel's crew, and others

waiting on the shore to collect the illegal shipment. the drugs had an estimated street value of us $500 million, making it the largest cocaine bust in australian history. the french government could be heading for collapse, pushing europe's second biggest economy deeper into political crisis. the french prime minister, michel barnier, has used a special procedure to force his controversial social security budget through without a vote in parliament. he says it's needed in order to reign in the spiralling government deficit. the use of that parliamentary loophole triggers a vote of confidence, and both the hard right and left wing parties say they will vote against mr barnier. barring a last—minute surprise, barnier�*s fragile coalition will be the first french government to be forced out by a no—confidence vote since 1962. here's our paris correspondent andrew harding. this was the moment

michel barnier declared that he would haggle no more. france's ice—cool prime minister telling mps that he was forcing through a strict new national budget, and they could either back him or vote him out of office. in which case, he warned — to the sound of heckles — france could plunge into financial turmoil. "we'll be entering unknown territory," said barnier. but the immediate answer from marine le pen was, "bring it on." the leader of the hard—right national rally said her party would vote to get rid of the current government. "the french have had enough," she said. "things have gone from bad to worse". france is in a financial pickle, with soaring debt. trouble here could spread throughout europe. but the crisis is, at heart, political, sparked by this summer's elections, which resulted in a spectacularly gridlocked parliament,

unable to agree on anything. marine le pen wants to be france's next president, and she holds some strong cards right now. she's gambling that any fresh chaos here will be blamed on this man, not her — president emmanuel macron. arriving in saudi arabia tonight, he's never looked so politically fragile. he may cling on to power, but his promise to strengthen the centre ground of french politics is in trouble. andrew harding, bbc news, paris. and before we go, its beginning to look a lot like christmas. the downing street tree lighting took place a little earlier. prime minister sir kier starmer and his wife victoria were joined by nhs workers, military personnel and members of the police for the ceremony. and the decorations are also up at the white house,

including 83 christmas trees, around 10,000 feet of ribbon, 28,000 ornaments and more than 165,000 lights. i will leave you to soak up the christmas vibes, and i will see you shortly on business today. hello, there. the rest of this week looks like one of two halves. we'll certainly have some quieter, colderweather for the next couple of days, with some decent spells of sunshine, could see some snow on the hills across the north through tuesday night, and then, as we push towards the end of the week, it turns milder, but very much wetter and windier, as deep areas of low pressure move in off the atlantic. so we're in this ridge of high pressure, though, for tuesday, and this wedge of colder air,

as you can see on the airmass chart, so it will be a colder start for many for tuesday morning. very cold across scotland, perhaps down to —7, —8 celsius over the highlands and the grampians, and there will be some freezing fog patches around. some fog patches further south, too, which may lift into low cloud, but for many, it'll be a dry and a sunny day, with light winds. but across south—west england, northern ireland, western scotland, we'll start to see a weather front pushing in, bringing outbreaks of rain and increasing breeze here, but for most, it stays dry through the day, but a cold one to come, temperatures struggling to get above freezing across scotland, to around four or five degrees in the south. but as that rain bumps into the cold air across scotland during tuesday evening, we could see a spell of fairly significant hill snow here, with some accumulations, and maybe some for northern england, the cumbrian fells, north wales, as we move through tuesday night. but as the weather front moves southwards and eastwards, it tends to fizzle out, so no more than a band of cloud, with a few showers across southern areas. but again, it's going to be another cold night to come, a touch of frost in there, and possibly some ice, too. so, wednesday, then, it should be a mostly dry day once again, thanks to

a ridge of high pressure. so plenty of sunshine around, one or two showers around coastalareas, but later in the day, we'll start to see the next weather front arriving across western areas. that will bring increasing cloud, breeze and also some rain, with temperatures lifting here, but another chilly day to come, elsewhere. it's all change, though, beyond wednesday. thursday, friday, we'll start to see a deep area of low pressure spread across the country, bringing a spell of very wet and windy weather, with widespread gales, and another one hot on its heels. so we'll see wet and windy weather early on thursday push its way eastwards, a bit of sunshine, then the wind, the rain, the gales start to build up again, as another system pushes in from the south west, but that'll be ushering in some milder air, with temperatures ranging from 10 to 1a or 15 degrees from north to south across the country. could see a spell of potentially very stormy weather friday night into saturday, this is certainly one to watch, and then for part two of the weekend, it'll turn colder but brighter once again. take care.

usjudge once again rules elon musk is not entitled to a record—breaking pay package. and as playstation 1030 we look back at the console that revolutionised gaming. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. the usjudge has ruled elon musk is not entitled to a record pay package. it comes after months of legal wrangling

with shareholders approving the compensation. the bbc lily jamali told me about the background. jamali told me about the background.— jamali told me about the background. this was a pay acka . e background. this was a pay package worth _ background. this was a pay package worth $56 - background. this was a pay package worth $56 billion l background. this was a pay - package worth $56 billion which as you noted it would have been the largest pay package ever for a ceo of a publicly traded company. it was contingent on elon musk, the head of tesla, meeting certain targets having to do with sales and revenue and the like. those billions of dollars were in stock options. today they are worth quite a bit more than 56 billion, closer to about 100 $11 and this ruling today from the chancellor catherine mccormack reiterates a ruling from at the start of the year injanuary when she found this pay package is excessive and not only that, the board of directors at tesla is not sufficiently independent to approve it, that people on the board have personal and business relationships with elon musk. to give