prime minister in the history of modern france. the vote was decisive. 288 votes were needed to unseat mr barnier. in the end, 331 were cast to remove him. the budget, which was the cause of his downfall, is now defunct. france has been plagued by political uncertainty since the summer election resulted in a hung parliament, a result that can't be changed in an election before next july. in the meantime, president macron will address the nation on thursday evening. he's also expected to appoint a new prime minister quickly, not least because president—elect trump is due in paris this weekend for the opening of the notre dame cathedral. our paris correspondent andrew harding reports. moments before the voting began here in paris tonight, michel barnier made a final rather forlorn mp to french mps. the prime minister urged them to back him and his government and his budget, or create chaos.

translation: ican't- believe a majority of mps here will vote to destabilise our institutions at a moment where our country is going through a deep moral, economic, financial and civic crisis. but the answer came back, fast and conclusive. the speaker of parliament revealing that 57% of mps had voted no confidence in the government. politicians from the hard right and hard left of french politics briefly uniting on this one issue. translation: idon't| feel my head spinning, and i don't consider this a victory. we had a choice to make, and the choice we made was to protect french people. having tasted blood, many french mps now want more — specifically, they want president emmanuel macron ousted.

heading home from a trip to saudi arabia tonight, a badly weakened president has made it clear he is staying put. it is 62 years since france last found itself in a situation like this. on that occasion, president de gaulle stood his ground, and eventually regained control of parliament. today feels rather different. france is in debt, public frustration growing, a nation wrestling, like so many now, with the forces of polarisation and populism. "i think it's tragic," says this woman, of today's vote. "nobody is considering the consequences." "there is a lot of anxiety," this man adds. "i'm upset both with the forces on the left and the far right."

tonight, a government has fallen, but france's political deadlock remains firmly in place. andrew harding, bbc news, paris. i spoke with rainbow murray, professor of politics at queen mary university of london. she said president macron could not afford to wait to appoint a new prime minister. there's three reasons why he needs to act quickly. the first is that he has a visit to france later this week by donald trump to celebrate the reopening of notre dame. this is a lovely opportunity to put france back on the international stage and shown international stage and shown in its bad —— in its best light. he doesn't want that to get screwed up. he also needs to protect his own position. the longer this crisis drags on the more vulnerable he becomes, and he is going to want to try to get a new government in place quickly, and last but not least, france has no budget and their current budget expires at their current budget expires at the end of this month.

the defence minister, who reportedly advised president yoon suk yeol of south korea to impose martial law, which sparked widespread protests, has resigned. kim yong—hyun apologised for his role in the short—lived declaration of military rule. he will be replaced by a former army general. the president continues to face calls from the opposition to step down, or be forced from office. an impeachment vote in parliament could take place as soon as friday. our asia correspondent laura bicker reports from seoul. cheering. this candle—lit cam followed a night of chaos. they gathered on the steps of the parliament with one aim — to call for the impeachment of a president who declared martial law. translation: because we have a history of defending _ democracy a few times, the people will strongly defend democracy once more. translation: i'm out - here as a citizen who could not sit by and watch the democracy breaking down. "resign," the group chanted,

before their mexican wave. such a different scene from last night's turmoil. president yoon plunged his country into martial law. soldiers broke through the windows of parliament to prevent elected members from overturning his decree. they were unsuccessful, and after six hours, seoul's parliament, not just its president, were back in control. today, the building bore the scars of that struggle. repairs have already begun, as has a motion to impeach the president. translation: if they're willing to violate human rights under i martial law, it's obvious that they're also ready to sacrifice people's lives. stay alert and fight with us. cheering. protests sprung up in

other parts of the city, as south koreans took a moment to reflect. as south koreans took a moment to reflect. the prospect of martial law the prospect of martial law brought back chilling memories brought back chilling memories of authoritarian rule. of authoritarian rule. in the 19705 and �*80s, in the 19705 and �*80s, groups of students in seoul groups of students in seoul took on dictators, often took on dictators, often clashing with riot police clashing with riot police and risking their lives. and risking their lives. their defiance and resilience their defiance and resilience helped south korea become helped south korea become a democratic country. a democratic country. south koreans value south koreans value their democracy. their democracy. they fought for it, they fought for it, some died for it, some died for it, and although they may be and although they may be questioning just how robust questioning just how robust it may be, they've turned it may be, they've turned out in their thousands out in their thousands to protect it. to protect it. but president yoon but president yoon remains in power. remains in power. some tried to march to his some tried to march to his office, but they were blocked by police. it's unclear whether mr yoon hears their calls to resign, but until he does, these demonstrations, however peaceful, will only grow. laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. office, but they were

some tried to march to his office, but the) president defence office. president yoon�*s office confirmed that as well. he a former general, just to give you some background. when we talked about the defence minister that has now resigned, there were in his confirmation hearing just in september, so he has not been office that long, left—wing opposition members actually asked him about the prospect that he would want to declare martial law, which he dismissed, and the party dismissed, and the party dismissed as a wild rumour, so quite an interesting point to see how this has played out over the last 48 hours on that front. ,, ., , front. indeed, steve, and this of course _ front. indeed, steve, and this of course all _ front. indeed, steve, and this of course all as _ front. indeed, steve, and this of course all as the _ front. indeed, steve, and this of course all as the questions| of course all as the questions over the future of president you and himself still remain. we know impeachment proceedings have started. do we know at this point what might happen? well, the impeachment proceedings have been set in motion, the wheels are a nation for that now. there is a 24—hour period where the vote can't take place, so we are expecting that vote to happen at earliest tomorrow for that to happen. just to give you an

idea of the numbers at play here, there are 300 members of parliament in the national assembly. you need two thirds for an impeachment to be successful. now the ruling people power party, which is president yoon�*s party, they have 108 seats, so if they are all going to vote in line with their party, then the opposition wouldn't be able to impeach him, and we have had some lines this morning about that in fact. local media have been reporting that the ppp has decided to vote against the prospective impeachment, so that does offer a bit of a lifeline for president you and, although we have also seen reports in local media this morning, saying the ruling party chief has asked the president to leave the party. now there's quite a bit going on this morning. there is a press conference at the ministry of defence this morning, so we will have some more lines about the minister there, but news is slowly starting to trickle, as the day after all the events we saw transpire gets under way and we will be bringing you those updates do you live as they

happen. updates do you live as they ha en. ~ updates do you live as they hauen. ~ updates do you live as they hauen.~ ., ., . happen. we saw those dramatic imaaes happen. we saw those dramatic ima . es of happen. we saw those dramatic images of the — happen. we saw those dramatic images of the protests - happen. we saw those dramatic images of the protests and - images of the protests and people entering the national assembly. i wonder what people there in seoul have been telling you about what they make about all of this? yes, those pictures _ make about all of this? yes, those pictures were - make about all of this? yes, | those pictures were certainly dramatic. i mean, we also all those images from laura bicker�*s story that she did on it, with that ladyjust it, with that lady just grabbing it, with that ladyjust grabbing the gun of a and pushing it away, a real symbol of the defiance that people here in south korea, and how much they want to protect their democracy, something very important, that has also been evidenced from the rallies we have seen as well. so the day has calmed, though, the mood has calmed, though, the mood has certainly calmed, especially when that decree for martial law was lifted, things became a lot more peaceful. day after here, i am here in downtown seoul, and people are sort of getting on with their day today. and as they sort of see how this all plays out. there is, though, a strong determination to see president yoon removed from office.

whether that happens through his own hand, being asked to leave the party is the final blow for him, or whether he survives this impeachment, there's a few questions that we are still waiting to see play out. ,, , ., , out. stephen lowry reporting from seoul. _ out. stephen lowry reporting from seoul, great _ out. stephen lowry reporting from seoul, great to - out. stephen lowry reporting from seoul, great to speak i out. stephen lowry reporting| from seoul, great to speak to you as always. —— steve lie. police in new york city are searching for a gunman who shot dead the chief executive of one of the united states's largest health insurance companies. brian thompson was fatally shot just before 7am local time on wednesday. he was found outside the hilton hotel in midtown manhattan, where he had been scheduled to speak at an investor conference. the 50—year—old father—of—two was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. in a statement released in the last hour, his family said... around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the scottish government has unveiled plans to scrap the uk—wide two—child benefit cap. campaigners say the policy is the uk's biggest single

driver of child poverty, and the labour government has come under repeated pressure to scrap it. holyrood also announced increases for some income tax bands, record spending for the nhs, and investment in affordable housing. economists at the oecd have warned that interest rates may fall more slowly in the uk than previously thought, due to the tax and spending measures announced in the budget. the international thinktank predicts the bank of england will cut its base rate, from the current 4.75% to 3.5%, by early 2026. a barrister, representing lucy letby, says she continues to maintain her innocence, after she was interviewed about more deaths. detectives asked her about incidents at the countess of chester hospital, and liverpool women's hospital, where she trained. letby is serving a whole life sentence for the murders of seven babies, and the attempted murder of seven more, in chester. you're live with bbc news.

the opposition in georgia says one of its leaders is in detention after being beaten unconscious by police in the capital, tbilisi. footage shows nika gvaramia, from the pro—european coalition for change, being dragged along a street by what appear to be security forces wearing balaclavas. police have raided the offices of all key opposition parties, as well as the offices and homes or civic activists. more than 300 people have been arrested in seven days of anti—government protests in tbilisi. one of the county's opposition leaders tells the bbc what is needed in order to stop the protests. the protests must continue. people who have been jailed for their political opinion must be freed. the campaign of terror must stop, and the new elections must take place, and we are calling for a general strike and civil disobedience to this government. our corespondent rayhan demytrie has more from tbilisi.

this is a really tense confrontation between the police and journalists from the opposition media. a short while ago, one of the members of the opposition party was arrested outside the hotel, where opposition leader is a short while ago held a meeting, and they announced their plan, what to do next. they are calling for a general strike, they are saying the protest should continue, that outside the hotel where this meeting was held, there is a huge number, a massive number of police. it has been a tense day in tbilisi, the georgian capital. earlier on wednesday, the police raided offices of all opposition parties and one of the opposition leaders was violently kind of detained, as he confronted the police, and about 200 metres away from where i'm standing now, huge

protests have resumed for the seventh night. the nato secretary general mark rutte urged the united states to send more ammunition to ukraine. speaking at a meeting of nato foreign ministers on wednesday he said it was necessary for ukraine to get from being on the back foot, as he put it, in its war, to a position of strength before peace talks with russia could be considered. he also said russia was supporting north korea's nuclear and missile programmes in exchange the deployment of north korean troops to ukraine.— troops to ukraine. allies are workin: troops to ukraine. allies are working on _ troops to ukraine. allies are working on financial - troops to ukraine. allies are i working on financial assistance and security assistance for ukraine in 2024, and i expect the new commands in this to be fully operational by the end of this year. but we must do more thanjust keep ukraine in the fight. we must provide enough support to change the trajectory of this conflict, once and for all.

a landmark case is before the us supreme court, involving access to gender—affirming care for minors experiencing gender dysphoria. conservative justices seemed skeptical of a challenge to a law in the us state of tennessee that would ban that type of medical care for transgender teenagers. tennessee is one of 24 states that prohibit puberty blockers or hormone therapy for those under the age of 18, and any decision the court makes could affect similar laws in those states. the plaintiffs, which includes the biden administration, say the law violates the 14th amendment's promise of equal protection, as it discriminates against adolescents, based on sex and transgender status. however, several conservative justices questioned whether it is an issue for the courts to decide, or for state lawmakers elected by the people. a decision is expected by the end ofjune. i spoke to david cole, an attorney, representing one of the families. i think the medical consensus is that it is not only beneficial but medically necessary for some transgender youths, and if you require them

to wait until they are adults, and they have already gone through puberty, it has irreversible consequences that make it much more difficult for them to transition, and to be who they are, to be the gender that they are. so there is clearly benefits to the treatment. are there risks? sure, but that doesn't make it any different from any other sort of medical intervention, and this is the only one, that tennessee comes in and says categorically you cannot get it. if a parent, their child, their doctor all agree it is medically necessary, then tennessee legislatures can come in and say you can't do it because it is inconsistent with their expectations about how people who are born with one sex should act only for the rest of their lives. i sex should act only for the rest of their lives.- rest of their lives. i “ust want to i rest of their lives. i “ust want to come �* rest of their lives. i “ust want to come back h rest of their lives. i just want to come back to l rest of their lives. i just l want to come back to one rest of their lives. i just - want to come back to one point, that conservatives who favour

this ban can you talk about the irreversible consequences of puberty, they say for a mine are to receive this type of therapy —— a minor to receive this type of therapy also has negative consequences that will affect this child late in life. what is your response to that argument? figs what is your response to that argument?— what is your response to that an ument? ~ , . , u, argument? as with any medical treatment. _ argument? as with any medical treatment, there _ argument? as with any medical treatment, there are _ argument? as with any medical treatment, there are often - treatment, there are often irreversible consequences either way. for the vast majority of people who go through this, or people who only have established persistent gender dysphoria, the parents, the kid and the doctor all agrees this is medically necessary, for that group of people, there is a very, very small array of regret, about 1%, and yet the state to pass it altogether. whereas other similar treatments, for say intersex kids, as long as they are getting it consistent with the gender that the state thinks they should have, they can get

it, even though the regrette rates for them are 38%. so tennessee has singled out trans—kids, has denied there medically necessary treatment, not for legitimate medical reasons but because it believes boys should be boys and girls should be girls, and that's, you know, that is a sex —based class location, and you can't say to a kid you can't pursue a career if it is inconsistent with your sex. you can't dress if it is inconsistent with your sex. those would clearly be sex discrimination. this is the same thing. family and supporters of iranian nobel peace prize winner, narges mohammadi, say her temporary release from prison in tehran on medical grounds is inadequate. authorities granted a 21—day suspension to her sentence as she recovers from surgery. but her supporters demand her immediate and unconditional release. ms mohammadi has continued

to campaign since being jailed in 2021 over her opposition to the wearing of the hijab, and to capital punishment in iran. she won the nobel peace prize last year. let's turn to some other important news around the world... judges in the corruption trial of benjamin netanyahu have agreed that the israeli prime minister can take the stand in a heavily—fortified bunker in tel aviv, when he appears in court next week. security forces recommended the move from the district court injerusalem. mr netanyahu had requested special safety considerations for the hearing, in which he'll testify on charges of fraud and breach of trust, in three separate cases. mr netanyahu denies any wrongdoing. police in mexico say they've made their biggest ever seizure of fenta nyl. mexican president claudia sheinbaum said the drugs seized in sinaloa on tuesday are enough for 20 million doses and are worth nearly $400 million. officials say two people have been arrested in connection with the case. fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid, responsible for thousands of deaths in the us and other countries. us presidentjoe biden met the presidents of zambia

and the democratic republic of congo to promote plans for a us—funded railway line. the proposed project aims to make it easier to export minerals, via a port in angola. the us has pledged $550 million to refurbish and expand the railway. mr biden�*s trip is seen as an effort to counter china's influence in africa. she's the queen of fashion, holding the title editor—in—chief at vogue for nearly 40 years, and now anna wintour is the driving force behind a new immersive exhibition, celebrating the changing history of the catwalk in london. inventing the runway uses vogue's archive, dating right back to its first publication, in 1892. our media editor katie razzall went to meet her. this is spectacle beyond spectacle. you were there. i was there. it was extraordinary. anna wintour, flanked by british vogue's boss, and the company's creative chief, relives the moment, back in 2017, when fashion designer

karl lagerfeld created a space station—inspired catwalk set for chanel. it was just a pleasure and amazing to be there, and you couldn't wait to see what he was going to come up with next. now, we have a front—row seat on the history of the catwalk, with an immersive exhibition at london's lightroom, dreamt up by vogue's reigning queen. i think, for someone who goes to so many shows, you get a little, notjaded but you get used to the experience, but it isn't one that many people do have that opportunity to see, and what we were very, very keen with this show is to make sure that you felt like you were actually there. what struck me is just how it's democratised over the... you see right at the beginning... it started as a very elitist, you had to be invited, and now everyone can come to the party, which is as it as it should be. anna wintour has been at the helm of vogue since 1988. she's behind the global fashion

event, new york's met gala, but what most people want to know — is she like this? the tyrannical magazine boss, played by meryl streep, in the devil wears prada. and for our interview, wintour�*s sunglasses stayed on. people are obsessed with the glasses. you're probably, like, i'm so bored of talking about these glasses. that would be true. is it a shield? is it about short—sightedness? i just wonder what the glasses are. well, they help me see, and they help me not see, and they help me be seen and not be seen. so they're a prop. what people always say about you is nobody says no to anna wintour. that people are frightened of you. well, unfortunately, that is untrue, they often say no, but that's a good thing. no is a wonderful word, i think. do you think people are frightened of you? i hope not. many years back you said, and i know it wasjokingly and very gently, you advised oprah winfrey to shed a few pounds to get on a cover, and she did and she looked amazing. but would you still suggest that now, or has the world changed?

well, i think ozempic has changed a lot, but i think... would you tell them to take a ozempic? i think that's a personal choice. vogue stands very much for body diversity today, and we really talk a lot to the designers and to the casting agents about having more body diversity on the runways. so i do think that we've seen some change. certainly not enough. wintour�*s driven more dramatic change in her long career, ensuring fashion and pop culture are now firmly entwined. katie razzall, bbc news. before we go — the world's oldest known wild bird has laid an egg, at the approximate age of 74. meet wisdom — a laysan albatross at the midway atoll national wildlife refuge in the pacific ocean. the us fish and wildlife service filmed this video of her with her latest partner looking after the egg. members of her species usually only live for 12—40 years. however, she was first identified and tagged in 1956. the species generally mates for life, but she is already thought to have outlived at least three partners.

that is our programme at this hour. thank you so much for watching bbc news. my colleague steve lai will have all the latest live from seoul at the top of the next hour. latest live from seoul at the top of the next hour. stay with us here on bbc news. hello, there. the weather is set to stay pretty unsettled, as we head towards the weekend, but it's not a complete wash—out. there will be some drier, brighter interludes from time to time, before the wet and windy weather moves through, and then it will turn noticeably colder, particularly for the second half of the weekend. so one weather front has been bringing some heavy rain — that's sweeping its way east. a brief lull, but only briefly, before the next system starts to pile in, so rainfall accumulations are going to start to pep up over the next few days. widely, we could see 50mm of rain, but across north wales, north—west england, some areas could see 70 to 80mm, possibility of further localised flooding. so, not a bad start for many, across central and eastern

areas, clouding over from the west, and some of that rain really turning quite heavy, with gale—force gusts of winds, particularly for the highlands and islands. here, we'll see eight or nine degrees. highest values, though, further south, of around 13 or 14 celsius. so a slightly milder feel to things, but a spell of very wet weather will sweep its way through, and as we move towards the early hours of friday morning, the wind direction changes once again, back to a north—westerly. so a slightly cooler start to friday, but friday should be a relatively dry start, with some sunny spells coming through. there will be a few scattered showers into the far northwest, and with elevation, some of these a little wintry, but later on, the next system starts to push in from the atlantic. yet more wet and windy weather to come. on the whole, friday will be a slightly cooler day, six to nine degrees. now, this area of low pressure could still be just that little bit further north, but at the moment, the current thinking is that it's going to move its way

across the country, and with elevation, across the pennines and the southern uplands, we could see some snow as it clears through. but it was going to move through during the early half of saturday. the wind directions swing around to a northerly. some of those showers, with elevation, could turn quite wintry, as well. temperatures down again, five to eight degrees quite widely across the country. for the second half of the weekend, though, it looks likely that we're going to start to see high pressure building in from the west. it'll still be a windy day, a cold wind coming down from the north. but on the whole, sunday will be drier, with more sunshine coming through, but it will feel very chilly indeed. take care.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. youtube? is. . . is that you? logan paul. oh, hi there. youtuber, wrestler and entrepreneur. one of the most famous people in. logan paul has the ability to move markets with just his own propaganda. he is no stranger to criticism. did wejust find a dead person in the suicide forest? but his latest controversy

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months, and the whole time, trying to speak to logan paul,