in georgia, after the court rejected an appeal to overturn the result of october's election. hello, i'm lewis vaughan—jones. we start in seoul where it's been a tumultuous 2a hours. these are live pictures of a vigil taking place outside the national assembly after the president yoon suk yeol imposed, and then six hours later revoked, martial law, shocking notjust the people of south korea but many around the world. opposition parties have already submitted an impeachment bill against president yoon suk yeol after his short—lived declaration of martial law. but the fallout is spreading to his cabinet after calls for his impeachment, defence minister kim yong—hyun has offered his resignation, apologising, in a defence ministry statement, for spreading confusion

and causing distress. in fact, media reports say his cabinet has offered to resign en masse. and the head of the country's biggest labour union has called a nationwide strike until mr yoon resigns. there have been mass demonstrations outside the main parliament building in seoul this morning. the crisis has alarmed many around the world. both the us and the uk say they are relieved that the president reversed his decision, but are deeply concerned about what is happening in south korea. with a round up of the events so far surrounding this fast moving story, here's our south east asia correspondentjonathan head. even in a country known for its rough and tumble politics, this was a bolt from the blue. the elected president suspending democracy and calling in the army to deal, he said, with the threat from north korea and what he called "anti—state forces" within minutes, soldiers surrounded the korean parliament, evoking unhappy memories of the military rule which was overthrown back in the 1980s.

but plenty of ordinary koreans were there, too, jostling with the army to protest against this extraordinary move by president yoon against their hard—won democracy. i thought it was a joke when i heard it on the news, said this woman. "when i realised it was true, i got so worried." it doesn't make sense, said this man. "i mean, this is the first time we've seen martial law "since the 1980s." for a while there was a tense, noisy stand—off with riot police deployed to clear the crowds without success. people continued to protest, many now calling for president yoon�*s resignation. meanwhile, inside the parliament, it was clear he had almost no support. even his own party condemned the imposition of martial law, and the mps voted unanimously to overturn it. president yoon then bowed to what most koreans

believed was inevitable and rescinded his declaration. his political future now looks bleak. already unpopular, and with his wife facing a corruption investigation, few think he can survive long in thejob. the events of the past few hours may leave some koreans wondering just how strong their democracy is, though it does appear to have passed this unexpected test. jonathan head, bbc news. my colleague steve lai is in seoul and earlier he asked associate professor in korean studies at the australian national university jay song what options president yoon has left. i would see this as political suicide for him. he was very poorjudgment by the president himself, in a highly ill—advised by his defence minister. the opposition parties all pushed forward the impeachment efforts.

i was originally scheduled next year sorry next week, but they see the urgency of putting me forward urgently tonight so it will be passed in the next 72 hours and he is likely to face the impeachment unless he resigns. i was really in shock. i think everybody in south korea was in shock and embarrassment, and a bit of relief thanks to the swift move by the parliamentarian this morning. i, myself, have been up since 2am following the news. i thought it was fake news in the first place but it was real. just unbelievable how he did it. i don't know what he was thinking but its political suicide for him. what does that mean for his party? we knew some of the senior members of the ppp met with the prime minister to discuss a way forward.

what options are there for them? well, the leader of the ruling party, an ex colleague of president yoon suk yeol, a prosecutor, isjoining the opposition party of the impeachment and he has no chance to stand, finish his term for them he's only finished half of his term now. even before the martial law, his approval rating was around 20%, but after that martial law, it is likely the approval rate will, you know, go below io%. the opposition party, notjust the opposition party but the ruling party, the cabinet ministers resign and his chief of staff also offered a resignation, so it's very bleak but what i'm really concerned about is one of the reasons listed for the justification for martial law, the emergency martial law, is that

the opposition party is a pro—north korea sympathiser and is always used the wind from the north, always affecting politics but there is no relation to north korea. it's actually the opposite. president yoon suk yeol is giving an opportunity for the north korean leader to take advantage of this political turmoil and there is also speculation mr yoon might use a second attempt to declare martial law by breaking a war, skirmishes in the border, so he can justify wartime emergency martial law. it's really, really worrying so i will highly support the opposition parties impeachment resolution. and also, the foreign government should denounce president's attempt to destroy democracy.

france's government is on the verge of collapse as the country's parliament is expected to remove prime minister michel barnier in a confidence vote, just three months after taking office. the fresh political turmoil follows the decision by mr barnier, to force through an austerity budget without the approval of parliament. the no confidence motion is supported by the majority of mps from across the political divide. our correspondent hugh schofield is in bordeaux. he appeared on television last night to give his side of all of this. but there was no concession, there was no indication of any movement. and so, as things stand, there is no question what's going to happen. he's going to be ousted. notwithstanding the fact that they could be still a change in the course of the day. until it's voted, it's not voted. what the optimists at least in his entourage are saying

is that, hang on, let's wait. there could be a phone call between him and marine le pen during the day. he could give, on this last issue, which marine le pen is demanding of him, which is to do with pensions and the indexation of pensions, linking them with inflation and so on, that was a red line that she had given him to budget, and that's why she's now saying she's going to vote against him at this key vote this afternoon, but if there is some movement today that could still shift. i have to say i find it most unlikely, so in all possibility, in 12 hours from now we will once again be without a prime minister here. david chazan is paris correspondent at the times. i asked him what we can expect in the hours ahead. i think we can expect a fairly staunch session in parliament this afternoon, lewis, and by this evening, i think the government will fall. why?

because parliament has split into roughly three equal marks, none of which holds an overall majority but in this case there is a motion of no confidence in the government which has been tabled by an alliance of left—wing parties and marine le pen's populist national rally says it will vote for that motion and that will result in a comfortable majority it seems, barring a political miracle. it seems inevitable that michel barnier�*s government will fall. 0k, we'll come back to any potential miracles in a moment, but let's work on that assumption that does happen, so where does that leave the government of france? well, in the short term, the current government will probably be asked by president one to stay on as a caretaker administration, but what it means is this belt

tightening budget you referred tightening budget you referred to, which the government says to, which the government says is essential to tackle france's is essential to tackle france's colossal debt and deficit colossal debt and deficit will not go through. will not go through. so in that case, the current so in that case, the current budget will remain in force. budget will remain in force. michel barnier, the prime michel barnier, the prime minister, says that will be minister, says that will be catastrophic for france's catastrophic for france's fragile public finances. fragile public finances. for the time being, for the time being, at least, president macron who will then be charged at least, president macron remains in office. remains in office. there is no obligation there is no obligation on him to step down. on him to step down. but the opposition are saying but the opposition are saying that, given the political that, given the political turmoil, he should not see turmoil, he should not see out his presidential out his presidential term which ends in 2027. term which ends in 2027. he should resign. he should resign. mr macron says that is mr macron says that is out of the question. out of the question. so it will be up to him so it will be up to him to find a replacement to find a replacement for the prime minister for the prime minister

who will then be charged with forming a new government and observers believe it will be very challenging to find somebody who can form a government that will not be toppled again in a similar parliamentary move, assuming the barnier government falls this afternoon. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims. steve knibbs has this report. did lucy letby, the uk's most prolific child serial killer of modern times, murder more babies? detectives were always clear that they would look back at letby�*s entire career, reviewing more than 4,000 admissions of babies into neonatal units where she was known to have worked. and as part of that ongoing review, late last night in a statement, cheshire constabulary confirmed that... lucy letby worked over 30 shifts at the liverpool women's

hospital in 2012 and 2015, before her crimes were committed at the countess of chester hospital in october. in october, the bbc�*s panorama programme uncovered potentially life—threatening incidents that occurred on almost a third of letby�*s shifts in liverpool. in one case from november 2012, a baby boy collapsed and water was later found in his breathing tube, something that's highly unusual. the clinical notes confirmed that the nurse looking after him was lucy letby. the programme also saw evidence that may have shown a baby boy was poisoned with insulin whilst in letby�*s care at the countess of chester hospital. this case wasn't part of the trial. and there have been other claims that letby may have killed other babies. the lead paediatric consultant from the countess of chester hospital, who originally raised the alarm about her, told the ongoing thurwell inquiry recently it was likely that letby had harmed or killed babies before 2015. but there has also been a big

debate over the science used in the case against letby. a number of experts have challenged the medical evidence used against her, and her new legal team say they also take a contradictory view of the new evidence. they plan to take her case to the criminal cases review commission, which investigates alleged miscarriages ofjustice, to apply for it to be sent back to the court of appeal. steve knibbs, bbc news. mass anti—government protests continued for a sixth night in georgia after the country's constitutional court rejected an appeal from the opposition to overturn the result of 0ctober�*s election. police fired water cannon at demonstrators who are angry about the government being too authoritarian and its announcement that it plans to delay its talks to join the eu until 2028. earlier i spoke to guram imnadze, director of the human rights group socialjustice center on his reaction to the protests. the first thing we have to mention about these protests is these protests are politically driven.

i would say this is a grassroots protest, organised by people themselves and that's why it is not easy for the government and police institutions to deal with this kind of protest because self organisation is quite strong in this regard, and it's not easy to presume or deal with these kind of protests effectively. what we have seen is that the government has systematically manipulated elections and we can say that these parliamentary elections on october the 26th were systematically rigged. and then the government proceeded with authoritarian tendencies to follow up and openly declared, as you mention, that the eu integration process would be delayed until 2028.

so this is of course democratic backsliding of georgia and also it refers to the security of the state because without proper integration partnership with western partners, georgia's security is also under serious threat because russia's influence is extensively increasing on georgia, on political and economic spheres. the government clearly rejects those claims. are these protests going to achieve anything? it is not easy to say at this point but what we can say is now georgia is in a systematic crisis. it is not only a political crisis. but there is a crisis on so many levels, in the media, on the society level, on the society level, and economic crisis etc. and economic crisis etc. it will not be easy it will not be easy for the government to try this for the government to try this kind of situation effectively, kind of situation effectively,

to deal with this kind to deal with this kind of extensive multilayered of extensive multilayered crisis, and even if these crisis, and even if these protests will be shut down protests will be shut down by extensive use of police by extensive use of police forces, i am sceptical forces, i am sceptical that this will be the finish, that this will be the finish, or this will deal or this will deal with all the problems. with all the problems. now georgia is in a spiral of now georgia is in a spiral of crises and even the slightest a payment of $130,000 to mistake from the government could result in unexpected protests and events etc. now to the us where crises and even the slightest lawyers for president— elect donald trump have asked a new yorkjudge to completely dismiss the criminal case in which he was convicted of falsifying business records to cover up payments to the adult film star, stormy daniels. 0ur north america correspondent david willis has the details. donald trump was found guilty in may of falsifying business

records in order to cover up

that's something thatjoe biden asserted in the statement that revealed his decision to pardon his son, hunter. and it's something, of course, that donald trump has long asserted, calling the criminal cases against him part of a political witch hunt. well, it will now be up to the district attorney to respond to that defence motion. but what this does do is it shows how politically inflammatoryjoe biden�*s justification for pardoning his son hunter, was, and how that decision could be used by republicans loyal to president—elect trump in order to undermine confidence in the criminal justice system in this country.

thanks to david for that. anti—government forces in syria say they've captured one of the largest military bases on the edge of the city of hama. the bbc has not been able to verify these pictures which we are told are from halfaya in hama province which show intense fighting. syria's defence ministry said syrian and russian warplanes were bombarding the rebels. a little while ago i spoke to our middle east correspondent lina sinjab. it is nearly a week since the offensive started and now we are hearing confirmation that the rebels are in control of several towns on the outskirts of the city hama, especially to the northern side of hama. i've spoken to some residents who fled the area and they have said the opposition forces are in control. the government are being defeated. although there are reports that suggest that the government has done a counteroffensive overnight. but still haven't been able to regain control over the towns and cities

that the rebels have controlled on the outskirts of the city of hama. these operations are happening in the northern part of the city while the government still has control of the main city of hama and its southern parts as well. and more broadly, what is the aim of the rebels here? well, this is a time where assad's allies are weakened, iran and hezbollah are weakened, russia is busy in ukraine as well, so they have seized the opportunity to advance, mainly supported by turkey who has a big interest in this. they have over 3 million refugees in turkey, they have borders they are worried about, they have the kurds they are blaming for some instability inside turkey. so president has invited assad for talks for a long time but he has been ignoring. so this is the time that he

supported the opposition to seize control and blow a defeat to president assad simply to bring him back to the negotiation table. now we're hearing that the city of aleppo will remain under the of civil opposition mainly as supported by turkey but it is not clear that if the rebels will advance further and take the city of hama or not. the national audit office has said the government's plans to expand prison capacity in england and wales fall well short of what is needed. the public spending watchdog predict a shortfall of more than 12 thousand places by 2027, blaming previous conservative governments forfailing to provide enough places. the british museum has said it is in constructive talks with greece about the parthenon sculptures which are also known as the elgin marbles. sir keir starmer met the greek prime minister in downing street, but a spokesman said the topic was not discussed. a former advisor to the greek government told the bbc

that a deal was close, potentially ending a long—running dispute over where the art should be kept. have you dug the old christmas jumper out from the back of the cupboard yet, ready for the party season? a group of knitters in north yorkshire have been working on a rather special one this year. the ripon community poppy project have spent four and a half thousand hours creating this enormous christmas jumper for a gritter! it's taken 12 months and 1,130 balls of wool. �*goldie the gritter�* is going to be showing off the jumper on a 900 mile tour of the uk, visiting schools to teach pupils about road safety, so keep your eyes peeled! a reminder of our main story, political turmoil in south korea, these are the live pictures. we have an update, the president, on his impeachment, this vote could

happen on friday or saturday, so six opposition parties filed a motion to impeach the president and plan to present it on thursday, could be voted on on friday. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. it's been fairly chilly out there so far this week. we will see things change to something milder, though, over the next couple of days, but it comes at a price. we've got not one, two, but three separate spells of wet and, at times, windy weather set to push its way through, before cold weather returns later this week and into the weekend. first batch of milder weather comes with this huge hook of cloud. lots of rain under that as well. it's been pushing its way towards northern ireland, continues to set in through lunchtime, then into early afternoon across western scotland, isle of man, western fringes of england and wales. milder southerly winds picking up as well. 12 degrees in plymouth and belfast. just seven or eight degrees down these eastern coasts, though, where it will stay dry and bright till the end of the day. now, as we go into tonight, those outbreaks of rain

will push their way eastwards, strong to gale—force winds. worst of the conditions in the north of scotland but could see gales along the south. rain clears scotland and northern ireland fairly quickly, but england and wales, rain on and off through a good part of the night. but with the cloud, the wind, the rain around, it won't be as cold as the last few nights and a frost—free start to thursday morning. so into thursday we go. south east, east anglia, still the remnants of the overnight rain to clear for the early risers. a lot of dry and bright weather elsewhere, a few mist or fog patches, but cloud amounts will be fairly large in the west and they'll start to produce outbreaks of rain. northern ireland seeing some of the heaviest rain late morning early afternoon, and then through the afternoon, parts of northern england, southern and western scotland will see the wettest weather. rain at times further south, although i think parts of east anglia and the south east will stay dry till later on again, 13 or 1a here, seven or eight in the north. outbreaks of rain, then, for many of us during the first half of thursday night. windy for a time again, too. but then winds fall lighter into friday morning. there could be a touch of frost around, a few mist or fog patches. showers across the north and west of scotland could turn

wintry over the hills. and then the big question mark of the day, and to take us into friday night, what happens with this batch of rain? now this is a developing area of low pressure. we mentioned yesterday this could be potentially something quite stormy, but computer models are showing different scenarios for this. one, the european one, which brings that area of low pressure to the south of us, the wettest, windiest weather will be across france, but still with rain impacts in southern parts of england and wales. but the american computer model shows something much more stormy through friday night. more widely across the country, most likely probably somewhere in between. but once it clears through saturday morning, it looks like the rest of the weekend, cold and showery.

this is bbc news, the headlines: political turmoil in south korea after the president's sudden decision to impose martial law last night, only to revoke itjust over six hours later. the mother of the only british—israeli hostage being held by hamas says there are increasing fears for her daughter's life, after more than 400 days in captivity. here in the uk, the government says it will renationalise three rail operators next year, starting with south western railway. scotland's finance secretary has pledged to put tackling child poverty �*at the heart of her plans�*, when she unveils the scottish budget later today. we speak to vogue's editor—in—chief anna wintour

about a new exhibition, showcasing leading voices in the fashion industry throughout the decades. hello, i'm lewis vaughanjones. welcome to the programme. the mother of the only british—israeli hostage being held by hamas has described her increasing fears for her daughter's life after more than 400 days in captivity. emily damari was shot and taken by hamas gunmen from her home in southern israel on october 7th. her mother has been speaking to our special correspondent lucy manning. mandy damari can't hold her daughter emily, so instead must make do with just a photo. after more than 400 days as a hostage, she fears for her daughter's life. i fear that she's dead. that's the main fear. and if she's not dead, that she's not getting enough food to eat. she's not being able to wash herself.

there's no water. she could be ill.