this is bbc news, the headlines. french prime minister michel barnier leaves the elysee palace, having tendered his resignation. police in new york use facial recognition in the hunt for a man, who shot dead the boss of major us health company. "country first, party second" — the prime minister unveals his "plan for change", setting out pledges on extra police officers, more house—building and fixing the health system. the price of bitcoin surges to over $100,000 — a new record high for the crypto currency. hello, i'm annita mcveigh. the search is continuing in new york city to find

crowds took to the street in the georgian capital for a seventh night of anti—government protests, while opposition groups have called for a general strike. tbilisi has been rocked by turmoil since the ruling georgian dream party claimed victory in parliamentary elections in october — denounced by opposition groups as rigged. let's speak now to our correspondent rayhan demytrie who joins us from tbilisi. there were some scenes of opposition leaders being dragged away by security forces there in the country at those protests. will the protests continue, the demonstrators seem very determined to make sure that they do?— sure that they do? that is ri . ht. sure that they do? that is right- let _ sure that they do? that is right. let me _ sure that they do? that is right. let me describe - sure that they do? that is i right. let me describe what i am sally. behind me there is a protest by actors and film directors and just a while ago, they unveiled a giant georgian flag, the white with the red cross and they are protesting

against, it is taking place outside the national theatre and they are saying that they have evidence that the premises of the national theatre were used by the security forces and that tear gas was fired from the national theatre couple of nights ago at the protesters. just to my right is the main avenue which has been the focal point of the ongoing protests. a short while ago, i was walking past the tbilisi state university. there is another state that he might protest that are being held by students. they are boycotting their lectures, saying that they disagree with what is happening in the country, one of their course mates was detained. and there is a lot of evidence of police brutality, of dozens of those who are detained, over300 of dozens of those who are detained, over 300 is the total number, with bruises on the

faces and swollen faces. so a lot is happening but one thing which i thought was quite interesting, though students, they told me they explained in their own words, that what is happening right now in georgia, they said, was a battle of generations between those who are somewhat influenced by the soviet bars and young people in their 20s. they say, we were born in a free country and there is no way that we will give up this fight.— there is no way that we will give up this fight. thank you very much — give up this fight. thank you very much that _ give up this fight. thank you very much that update. - give up this fight. thank you i very much that update. rayhan demytrie in tbilisi. the search is continuing in new york city to find a gunman who shot dead the boss of a us health insurance company. this is the moment that 50—year—old brian thompson was fatally shot in the back and the leg in manhattan — close to times square. the suspect appeared to be waiting for thompson, who ran united health care, outside the hilton hotel. the suspect then fled the scene on foot and was last seen

riding an electric bike through central park. 0ur north america correspondentjohn sudworth is in new york with more. as brian thompson arrived early for his meeting, behind him a figure can be seen stepping out of the shadows. the gunman fires at least three rounds before running away — all caught on cctv video. the police have released this image showing the suspect moving further away from the scene by bike, and this one revealing part of his face. taken, officers say, minutes before the shooting. mr thompson was ceo of unitedhealthcare, this country's biggest health insurer, providing cover for some 30 million americans. as the investigation began, with numbers marking where the shell casings had been recovered, the police said they had little doubt the killing was premeditated. in midtown manhattan early this morning, 50—year—old brian thompson, the ceo of unitedhealthcare, was shot and killed in what appears at this early

stage of our investigation to be a brazen, targeted attack. this does not appear to be a random act of violence. after the shooting, the street here was quickly closed off and the police investigation has been continuing all day. and while they say they do not yet have a motive, significantly, perhaps, mr thompson's wife has given a phone interview to nbc news in which she said her husband had been receiving threats of some kind. and, although she didn't go into any detail, that will clearly feed into the investigation. gun crime in new york is lower than the national average and extremely rare in central manhattan. those close by when it happened spoke of their shock. i mean, it's new york. it's kind of, it's not normal here at 8:00 and 7:00 in the morning, but it's pretty scary, huh? i feel so sorry for his family. and no matter whatjob he has, no matter where he worked or what he done, nobody deserves to be murdered. for now, the priority is finding the suspect. police drones, helicopters and dogs, and thousands of cctv

cameras are combing the city, street by street, and a reward of $10,000 is being offered for information that helps to track him down. john sudworth, bbc news, new york. let's speak to our cbs correspondent naomi ruchim. chilling images of the moments before that fatal shooting. what is the latest news on the investigation? the what is the latest news on the investigation?— investigation? the police department _ investigation? the police department has - investigation? the police department has taken i investigation? the police department has taken in | investigation? the police l department has taken in or hands on deck approach in the hunt for the suspect. this shooting has our city shaking with a garment on the loose. police are examining a trail of evidence as they hunt for this masked murderer. they describe this as a brazen targeted attack. new york city's police commissioner said that the suspect seem to be lying in wait for a few minutes before starting to fire. he appeared

to be waiting for his intended target. he had thompson once in the back and once in the leg and then was seen trying to 0ns jabeur his gun bit for shooting again —— onjam his gun before shooting away. he then sleeved on —— he then fled on the vehicle down an alleyway. they are conducting forensic analysis to determine if the weapon bleed to the suspect. they also believed the suspect left evidence behind at a starbucks just moments before the shooting. sources tell cbs news that surveillance images there may have captured enough of the suspect�*s face to run it through facial recognition programmes. police sources also said investigators are running frantic testing on a water bottle and a candy bar wrapper that they believe he might have left there. ~ ., ., i. left there. what more can you tell us about _ left there. what more can you

tell us about potential- left there. what more can you | tell us about potential motives that detectives are looking at? the motive is still unclear at this hour but we do know that united health care security is coming through files for any previous search that disgruntled or recently fired employees may have made. his widow said her husband had been getting death threats before the shooting. the detectives say they have uncovered rants directed at united health care. they are speaking with police in the state of minnesota where the company is based. the conference was scheduled to start at eight o'clock in the morning and the ceo's schedule is widely known to the public so it seems that gunmen knew exactly where brian thompson would be and when. he was only 50 years old. he also had two sons. his family is asking for privacy at this time and said he was a loving father, an incredible man who lived life

to the fullest.— incredible man who lived life to the fullest. thank you very much for _ to the fullest. thank you very much for that _ to the fullest. thank you very much for that update. - a big moment for cryptocurrency — for the first time, one bitcoin is now being valued at over $100,000. that's on the back of a rapid rise in the last year. the figures are striking — bitcoin�*s value has gone up by 1a0% in 202a. and 40% of that increase has come in the last month, since donald trump won the presidential election. he had previously been a crypto—sceptic — in 2021 he said bitcoin was a scam. but he now says he wants to make the us "the crypto capital of the planet. " and he seems to be taking actions to make that happen. he's nominated a crypto—fan, paul atkins, be the head of america's powerful financial watchdog, the sec. let's speak tojoshua mahony — chief market analyst at scope markets. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. ijust want

thank you forjoining us on bbc news. i just want to be sure that everyone is understanding the absolute basics of this. so if anyone is not clear about what exactly is crypto currency, just explain that for us first? is currency, 'ust explain that for us first? , ~' ., currency, 'ust explain that for us first? , ~ ., .,, . us first? is the kind of topic that you — us first? is the kind of topic that you can _ us first? is the kind of topic that you can talk— us first? is the kind of topic that you can talk about - us first? is the kind of topic that you can talk about on | us first? is the kind of topic i that you can talk about on the very top level we can go into the real nuts and bolts of it. essentially it is a decentralised digital currency. it was created in 2009 by an unknown person, they haven't necessarily made themselves known to people around the world but what is key to this is that it is an asset that cannot be influenced by central banks. we cannot see a wrap—up in terms of the supply of this asset is the price increases which is typically something that we see in assets around the world. we can't see any more than there will be and thatis more than there will be and that is 21 million bitcoin and as we see increased adoption, people want to jump on this

increasingly scarce asset. that ex - lains increasingly scarce asset. that exalains in _ increasingly scarce asset. that exalains in part _ increasingly scarce asset. that explains in part its _ increasingly scarce asset. that explains in part its rise, - increasingly scarce asset. that explains in part its rise, the rise in its value, it's success. tell us more about the rise in value and the reasons behind it?— behind it? exactly, we were talkin: behind it? exactly, we were talking about _ behind it? exactly, we were talking about an _ behind it? exactly, we were talking about an asset - behind it? exactly, we were talking about an asset thatl behind it? exactly, we were i talking about an asset that was a relative obscurity not so long ago and everyone is talking about it as being a scam. increasingly we are seeing wall street really sink their fingers seeing wall street really sink theirfingers into it and as it becomes something that is really embedded within the financial system, so it legitimises the asset. previously were talking about potential losses of people, businesses going under or people stealing bitcoin. we are not hearing as much about that. and certainly with the fact that we are seeing a pro—crypto sort of move from the sec, also a president coming and that is pro—crypto, we are likely to see new regulations that are going to favourite, we are likely see a more stable environment for people who are going to be investing in it and

now we are moving some people investing to question marks about whether we will see institutions investing in it. we have also got? but whether we could see central banks doing exactly the same under donald trump. —— question marks about. donald trump. -- question marks about. ~ ., ~ ., ., about. what we know about donald trump _ about. what we know about donald trump and - about. what we know about donald trump and this? in | about. what we know about i donald trump and this? in the ast, donald trump and this? in the past. donald _ donald trump and this? in the past, donald trump _ donald trump and this? in the past, donald trump has i donald trump and this? in the past, donald trump has been | past, donald trump has been anti—bitcoin because it is a digital currency. however, just yesterday we heard from jerome powell at the federal reserve and he said that he sees it more like a digital version of gold rather than competition for the us dollar and therefore as an asset, it is an asset class that people can really jump class that people can really jump on board without necessarily thinking, this is an alternative the us dollar. certainly if you go to a shop and try to spend bitcoin, it will be a much more difficult thanit will be a much more difficult than it would be spending us dollars or pounds. certainly if

you are looking at it as an asset for an investment standpoint, it's really does stack up very favourably against pretty much any asset out there. against pretty much any asset out there-— out there. really interesting to talk to — out there. really interesting to talk to you. _ out there. really interesting to talk to you. thank - out there. really interesting to talk to you. thank you i out there. really interesting l to talk to you. thank you very much, joshua mahony. much more... much more about cryptocurrency on our website — and we'll have more on this story throughout the day with our business team, here on bbc news. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

it's just over eight months since the francis scott key bridge in the us city of baltimore collapsed after being struck by a cargo ship. six people died and the port was closed, putting thousands out of work. tonight, a bbc documentary will explore what went wrong and how bridges can be made safer. 0ur transport correspondent sean dilley has the details. hold all traffic on the key bridge. there's a ship approaching just

lost their steering. 213 dispatch, the whole bridge just fell down. the whole bridge just collapsed. this is the moment the baltimore skyline changed forever. in seconds, the colossal ship toppled the francis scott key bridge... what's going on, man? we got one out of the water. 0k. ..leaving only one survivor and the loss of six lives. as night turned to day, the extent of the damage became clear. i remember speaking with the person who was running the operations from the coastguard, and i said, "what is the probability that we're going to find someone alive at this point?" and the answer that he gave was, "governor, my professional assessment is zero. there's a 0% chance." a new bbc documentary has been given exclusive access to the $100 million operation to find those victims and clear the shipping channel, and it's seen new footage of the dali the day before it

struck the key bridge. investigators say a power outage caused the dali to lose control and hit the bridge. their report found that it experienced two other blackouts the day before. this exclusive footage appears to show dense smoke from one of those blackouts. and this previously unseen angle shows the full extent of the bridge's progressive collapse. as well as the recovery, the salvage team would need to map the debris, free the ship and lift 115,000 tonnes of steel and concrete before they could fully reopen the port, with danger at every turn. the other side of that pendant, is it disconnected? yeah, it looks still connected to a beam, like a truss. you turn left and you went underneath something, you have to remember that that's where you have to come back out otherwise you could become trapped. everything that could make diving more difficult, it was on this job. the mission led up to a dramatic but carefully sequenced controlled demolition, where precision

explosives were placed into a series of holes cut into the wreckage to free the dali. we were telling people it wasn't going to be, as you see in the movies, a big explosion. but at the end of the day, it turned out to be a pretty big explosion. as for the dali, a number of lawsuits allege that poor maintenance and cost cutting caused it to lose power and hit the bridge. its owners reject these allegations, but if settled, the total insurance claims could be over £3 billion. eight months on and work will soon begin to replace the fallen bridge. protective structures will be installed to prevent another disaster. meeting notes seen by the bbc show that the baltimore harbor safety committee had wanted underwater bollards like these for years, though they were never installed. safety experts stress that improving pier protection on existing bridges is an urgent priority. we can't let our old

bridges be sitting ducks. we can't just leave them unprotected. notjust sitting and waiting and hoping that nothing happens. a message that will resonate around the us, where an estimated 1500 bridges are believed to be at risk, and a message that will be heard around the world. sean dilley, bbc news. and that report is from a new bbc documentary why bridges collapse: the baltimore disaster. here in the uk, you can watch it on bbc one at 9pm tonight, and you can stream it now on the iplayer. there have beeen more general elections this year across the globe than in any other year, impacting more than half the world's population. this week it is ghana's turn — with the west african country going to the polls on saturday to elect a new president and parliament. daniel dadzie has the details.

this year has been a year of elections. every single day, i will be fighting for you. more than 50 countries worldwide have headed to the polls. well, now it's ghana's turn. a country that has been seen as a reliable democracy in west africa at a time when neighbouring countries have overturned their governments. so here's what's at stake. first, ghana's once booming economy is struggling. young people face high unemployment, inflation is up and debt keeps growing. but ghana is not alone. in kenya, similar debt issues led to protests and higher taxes, part of a larger debt crisis facing many developing nations. this economic frustration has young ghanaians often choosing between staying or migrating, but they say this election gives them a chance to insist on policies which could make it easierfor them at home.

then there's the environment. illegal mining, known as galamsey, is devastating ghana's forests and rivers. these forests also don't just matter to ghana. these are rivers often used by the local community as sources of drinking water. they help absorb carbon emissions, making them critical in the fight against climate change. for ghana, climate change is real and immediate. young ghanaians arejoining a global movement, demanding leaders protect the land and the climate. and it all ties back to governance. recent concerns about corruption and weak institutions have ghanaians worried, with recent coups in neighbouring countries. ghana's stability matters for the entire region. a strong democratic ghana helps support security and democracy across west africa. where everyone is feeling the pinch, the economy will be top of mind for voters. this election isn'tjust about ghana's future, it's about tackling issues locally in ghana that actually resonate globally.

so issues like excessive debt, climate change and democracy. the world will be watching closely as ghana makes its choice. in brazil, land covered by illegal gold mines has more than doubled in the past decade — now to an area even larger than greater london. no one knows how many people work at these sites. the brazilian government says it could be as many as 800,000 men. women are also drawn there in search of a better life, but it's a big risk. the un says the expansion of these mines is putting women at risk of violence, sexual exploitation and trafficking. bbc 100 women gained rare access to some of these women, who describe the dangers they face. bbc brasil�*s thais carranca reports. "the women are seriously humiliated there — they may be slapped in the face and yelled at." diane is a single mom of seven. her hometown, itaituba

in northern brazil, is at the heart of the country's illegal gold mining trade. she's worked on and off in the mines since she was 12 — as a cook, washerwoman, barmaid, then at 17, she turned to sex work to cover bills. translation: i was sleeping i in my bedroom and a guyjumped through the window and put a gun to my head, and it was one of the things that made me get out of there — out of fear. i don't even like to remember. the un says the expansion of gold mining in the brazilian amazon is exposing women to violence, sexual exploitation and trafficking. translation: she was a cheerful girl. - a girl full of dreams. haley was found beaten to death. her sister said she had refused to have sex for money.

translation: a lot i of people who die here in the mining area are women. my sister isn't the first, and i'm sure she won'tl be the last either. a man has been arrested over her murder. he denies all the charges against him. the current brazilian government has taken action to slow the spread of illegal mines. but strong gold prices keep driving thousands to these sites. natalia was paid in gold as a sex worker. she made 200,000 brazilian reais, around 311,000 usd, before becoming a brothel madam. she has since quit the mines. translation: i have met some girls who, after the gold mines i were able to buy a house, were able to pay for plastic surgery. and today they have a good life. they have their own business. that's not the case for diana. but the dream of gold

keeps pulling her back. give it one last try. try to work for two more months. perhaps i can make some profit. stop working at gold mines and have my own business. to find out more about the other inspiring and influential women on this year's list go to bbc.co.uk/100women. you can follow bbc 100 women on facebook and instagram. scientists in britain say they may be able to explain how some of the universe's biggest galaxies were formed more than 12 billion years ago. vast bulging elliptical galaxies, which differ from the flat shape of our own milky way, have puzzled astronomers for decades. new research, published in the journal nature, suggests they could have formed from violent collisions between two disc galaxies — an intense burst of gas

would have sunk towards the centre, generating trillions of new stars, and creating the distinctive spheroid shape of these distant giants. a reminder of some breaking news this hourfrom a reminder of some breaking news this hour from syria. a reminder of some breaking news this hourfrom syria. we are here and that islamist led rebel forces have captured the central city of hama. the forces, only days after they captured aleppo in a very quick offensive, a lightning offensive. so people there are say they have been hearing many explosions, the sounds of gunfire, people sheltering indoors while all of this unfolds around them. we won't find out more about that with our correspondent in the next

few minutes —— we will find out more about that. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. we're in a short but fairly disturbed pattern of weather at the moment. we saw some heavy rain, strong winds last night. it links into the next one, which will come through this evening and followed on by this — the fourth named storm of the season, storm darragh, named by the uk met office for impacts expected through friday night and into saturday. it will all mount up for those on the move. keep an eye on the forecast because with subsequent bands of rain, we could see some flooding. winds could be disruptive at times too. and as cold air digs in for the start of the weekend, some snow on northern hills as well. at the moment, it seems fairly quiet and will remain so. eastern areas with some dry and bright weather, but quite quickly through the afternoon, many western areas turning

wetter and windier. some of that rain very heavy across parts of wales, north west england, especially. compared with recent days, it is mild, but that will be tempered by the wind. the wind will be picking up. it will become strong and gusty. widely over 30 miles an hour by the time we hit 3:00 in the afternoon, but strengthened further around some of these western coasts, maybe 70 mile an hour gusts. and as that heavy rain pushes its way eastwards, strongest winds attached to it could hit a0 or 50 for many parts of england and wales. still remaining breezy across eastern and northern areas by the end of the night, but by midnight onwards, most places becoming dry. and that means temperatures could drop low enough for a touch of frost in some scottish glens. but it does mean a lovely, bright start to friday. plenty of sunshine around for the morning commute, even though it's cooler than this morning. make the most of the morning, though, especially in the west. clouds quickly thickening up. rain spreading into ireland by the time we go through the morning and into the afternoon, across western parts of scotland, england and wales. temperatures down on today's values and again with those strengthening winds. that rain spreads to most other areas as we head through into the evening, turning to snow over the scottish mountains, pennines as well, for a time. that could cause around

10cm to 20cm of snow over the higher ground. but this area of low pressure we've been monitoring all week, its track now looks a bit further north. that means winds more widespread and more impactful. the met office have already issued an amber weather warning across parts of northern ireland, western parts of england and wales. we could see winds gusting up to 80 miles an hour for one or two, so expect impacts for any travel on saturday morning. those strong winds transferring across the country too. it's going to remain a very windy day. outbreaks of rain for many, snow on northern hills. maybe some sunshine between the downpours, though, later in the day in the west and added wind chill to boot. and those cold conditions continue into sunday.

today at one, sir keir starmer�*s plan for change — the prime minister makes new promises on living standards, nhs waiting lists and infrastructure. the conservatives call it a desperate relaunch. we'll look at the headline figures from today's speech and what they could mean for you. also on the programme... gregg wallace's ghostwriter says he touched her inappropriately while they were working togther. his lawyers deny he used sexually harassing behaviour. people waiting for a new weight—loss jab in england are told it might be 12 years before they can get it prescribed. france's prime minster resigns, collapsing the country's government, after losing a no—confidence vote. and the baltimore bridge collapse — eight months after the disaster, new footage sheds fresh light on the moment it was hit by a cargo ship.