live from washington, this is bbc news. the syrian city of hama has fallen to rebels in the second major blow in a week to president bashar al—assad. police in new york release new pictures of a suspect they want to question in connection with the killing of a us health insurance boss. the french president rules out resigning after the fall of his prime minister, and says he will nominate a new pm in the days ahead. hello, i'm caitriona perry. you are very welcome. islamist rebels have made another breakthrough in their surprise offensive against the syrian government and seized a second major city, hama. the syrian army says it has

withdrawn its forces there, effectively ceding control to the islamist—led rebel fighters. it comes after their surprise capture of aleppo last week. this footage shows rebels, entering the city apparently unopposed. the un says fighting has displaced more than 280,000 people in the northwest of the country. united nations secretary general antonio guterres called the reignited war "a collective failure of the international "community". speaking in new york, mr guterres called on all sides to end the bloodshed. now, this latest offensive was launched into government—controlled areas by tahrir al—sham, a group sanctioned by the security council, along with a broad range of other armed opposition groups. it has led to significant shifts in the frontlines and tens of thousands of civilians are at risk in a region already on fire. for more on the situation,

our correspondent, hugo bachega is at the turkey—syria border. this is a major victory for these rebels in this astonishing offensive. gurrutu is home to1 million people and the second biggest city that has been captured by the rebels in this offensive against president asaad after aleppo. —— assad. with this capture it as be much more difficult for the regime to launch a counteroffensive to reclaim aleppo and for the rebels, it puts them closer to the key city of homes which is a strategic hub connecting damascus to the north of the country and also to the coast —— homs. this is an offensive that has been led by islamist rebels from a group known as hts. they are saying they will not stop in hama and that they will continue and that the next stop in this campaign is the city of homs, so a major setback for president asaad. we

know that in the past, he relied on russia and iran to crush the opposition in syria. russia now is busy with its war in ukraine and the iranians are still reeling after a huge israeli campaign against its proxies across the middle east, so we still don't know how or if the president is going to react to try to stop this advance that could threaten the survival of his regime. here in the us, a massive police operation is still under way in new york after a gunman shot dead the chief executive of one america's biggest health insurance companies. police released new photos of a person of interest, last seen on a bike in central park fleeing the shooting on wednesday morning. unitedhealthcare chief brian thompson was shot in midtown manhattan on his way to the company's investor meeting, and later died in hospital. ros atkins of bbc verify has been following the latest. brian thompson was shot dead

on wednesday morning. he was attacked a few blocks from times square and central park, just outside the hilton hotel in manhattan. police now say this man is a person of interest as they pursue their investigation. the first known sighting of the gunman is by the 57th street subway station. this cctv image, obtained by the washington post, is time—stamped 6:15. the next sighting, according to us media, is 6:17 at a starbucks. the police released this image from inside the cafe. then at 6:30, we see the same man in this video, published by the new york times. he appears to be on the phone. nearby is the hilton hotel. brian thompson was attending a conference there and according to police, at around 6:40, the gunman arrived and waited. minutes later, this video shows mr thompson by the hotel. the gunman approaches

and takes aim. he ignores a bystander close by who flees as the shooting begins. also, if we zoom in, after the initial shot, the gun appears to temporarily jam, and one firearms expert told us the gun may have a silencer. after the shooting, the assailant runs across the street, leaving brian thompson lying on the ground. police say he then walked into a nearby alleyway and then, using a bike, headed north toward central park. we have this image from the police showing someone in the same outfit with the same rucksack. according to police, he then rode into central park. by this point, it's 6:48. the final possible sighting is on west 85th street. our us partner cbs reports police are analysing this surveillance footage from just before 7:00.

13 minutes later — 7:12 — at the mount sinai west hospital, brian thompson was pronounced dead. across new york, the search continues for his killer. ros atkins, bbc news. we're still learning about who brian thompson is and why he might have been targeted. nada tawfik has more. combing through every inch of the crime scene to piece together notjust the who, but the why. police revealed that the words "deny", "defend, "depose" were written on recovered shell cases there. the words appear to be a reference to an american saying about the tactics used by insurance companies to try to avoid paying people's healthcare claims. the evidence has added more weight to the police�*s belief that this was a targeted attack. they're talking to police in his home, they're talking to corporate security. he's in a high—profile business — a business that gets a lot of complaints and in those complaints,

there may be some threats, so they're doing all of those things. it's a very methodical process. brian thompson led unitedhealthcare, a successful for—profit insurance company, but one that came under scrutiny from lawmakers for systematically denying people's health claims, leaving them with large medical bills. he rose through the ranks of the company over several decades, becoming the ceo in 2021. as one of the company's highest—paid executives, he earned more than $10 million between pay and stock. relatively unknown to the wider public, his profile has already been removed from the company website. at their headquarters in minnesota, flags have been lowered to half—mast to mourn his passing but outside of the company, there's been less sympathy over his death. he previously faced criticism and allegations of insider trading. before investors were told about a justice department anti—trust investigation into the company, he sold $15 million worth of his company shares. unitedhealthcare told bloomberg

at the time that the company approved the sale. the fevered hunt continues for the 50—year—old's killer. new footage shows the suspect exiting a new york subway station half an hour before the shooting — another crucial moment as police build a timeline of this rare and brazen attack in midtown. the french president emmanuel macron has rejected calls to resign after the ousting of his prime minister. in a national address, president macron said he would name michel barnier�*s replacement "in the coming "days," claiming mps who had toppled him in a confidence vote were hoping to force an early presidential election. mr macron says he will remain president until the end of his term. here's our paris correspondent andrew harding. a mood of angry confusion across france today. teachers here leading nationwide marches against the government and its

tough budget cuts — except there is no government any more and no budget, either — not since last night's vote of no confidence sent the nation spinning into political chaos. now, there'sjust frustration. france is a big country. should be a big country, 0k? today, it's a mess. everything is wrong. it's all about corruption. this evening, a statement from the man most french blame for the mess. president emmanuel macron — not for the first time — called for unity and lashed out at intransigent mps. translation: some political groups have simply chosen i chaos. it's the only agenda that unites them. they don't want to build. they want to dismantle and create disorder. it was yesterday evening that mps on the hard left and hard right voted to bring down a fragile centrist government and with it, the former brexit

negotiator turned short—lived prime minister, michel barnier. the parliament was and still is deadlocked, with no appetite for the sort of pragmatic deal—making france needs. already, businesses big and small are concerned about the knock—on effects. "all i want is a stable situation," says abdul majeed, "so everyone is happy. "a lot of us are worried." we know that we have to make fiscal consolidation, but we don't have a strategy now because we don't have a government. any new government may depend on this man's support. signing his autobiography at the age ofjust 29, jordan bardella, leader of the national rally, is the star of france's hard right. asked if he's now demanding president macron step down, he said... speaks french. "not yet." there is no clarity tonight about the way

forward for france. the president looks weak, hardliners in parliament are still sharpening their claws and a new prime minister will surely struggle to break this winter deadlock. andrew harding, bbc news, paris. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. prime minister keir starmer set out six priorities for the government. they include the delivery of at least 95% clean power by 2030 and boosting the number of major infrastructure projects. sir keir also promised more police and to cut hospital waiting times and improve children's early years education. he did not set any specific targets on regulating immigration. the archbishop of canterbury, justin welby, has been condemned by survivors of abuse for the tone of his farewell speech. he resigned last month after an independent review said he should have reported a prolific child abuser. abuse survivors say they were,

quote, "disgusted" by his farewell speech in the house of lords, saying it lacked remorse for survivors and included "frivolous" jokes. 3.4 million people in england could potentially benefit from a weight loss drug approved for use on the nhs. mounjaro will be available to those with a body mass index over 35 who also have an obesity—related health problem. the drug will be rolled out over the course of 12 years — the longest rollout ever planned by the nhs. you're live with bbc news. the head of the us secret service testified thursday before a bipartisan house task force investigating the assassination attempts against president—elect donald trump. the hearing marked ronald rowe's first public appearance before the task force since taking leadership of the agency injuly. mr rowe says he takes accountability for the secret

service's "abject failure" before an attacker shot at trump during a rally in butler, pennsylvania. the shooting left the agency under intense scrutiny and led to the resignation of his predecessor, kimberly cheatle. the quality of the advance work in preparation for the butler farm show visit absolutely did not meet the expected standards of this agency. let me be clear — there will be accountability, and that accountability is occurring. it is an extensive review that requires time to ensure due process. and the base of this process, quite frankly, it does frustrate me. but it is essential that we recognise the gravity of our failure. that hearing comes as president—elect trump finalises his cabinet and advisers. one of those nominations include conservative commentator sebastian gorka as deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counter—terrorism. mr gorka served in trump's first administration as a strategist and deputy assistant to the president back in 2017. i spoke with him about his return to the white house a little earlier.

what do you and president—elect trump perceive as the greatest threat to us national security at this time? what's going to be your priority on day? well, sadly, given the feckless diletta nte leadership of the last four years underjoe biden and kamala harris, we have a panoply of threats if you look at the fact that for four years under president trump, we had no new wars and then in comes the democratic administration. he surrenders afghanistan, putin invades ukraine, there's the slaughter of the innocents of israel

on october 7, we have the recrudescent militant — chinese military buzzing our ships, buzzing our planes, on and on and on. we will have our work cut out for us, but this will be peace through strength. the priority has been indicated by president trump, by incoming national security adviser michael waltz and by the new borders tsar are tom homan, to secure the sovereignty of the nation, to put in place the border regime we had under president trump, to begin the largest deportation of illegals from our country starting with the heinous — thousands of criminals that, —— that kamala harris let in a sborder tsarina. meanwhile, two of the president—elect�*s nominations were on capitol hill thursday to promote their new government efficiency organisation known as the department of government efficiency or doge. billionaire elon musk and former presidential candidate vivek ramaswamy met with republican lawmakers to see whose support they will need to pass mass spending cuts throughout the us government. the chairs have advocated for the firing of thousands of federal workers and reducing federal regulations and programs. house speaker mikejohnson welcomed the pair and said their work is vitally

important. be frank about this, government is too big and there's too many things that it does almost nothing well and the taxpayers deserve better, they deserve a more responsive government, more responsive government, more efficient government, one thatis more efficient government, one that is leaner and more focused on its primary objectives, and that's the opportunity we have here now. we believe it's an moment for the country and these two gentlemen are going to help navigate through this exciting new day. there's been a shock development in south korea in the last hour. the chairman of the last hour. the chairman of the ruling group has that they no longer believe the president should remain in office. ahead of the people power parties that the country should in great danger should he not be suspended. the opposition democratic party had scheduled a vote for saturday evening to impeach and remove president yoon after his failed attempt to bring the country under martial law. it was looking

unlikely to pass without the support of a large number of members of the ruling party crossing the floor but the ruling party chairman said the party received evidence overnight that the president had planned to arrest politicians, meaning they can now no longer support him. there is plenty more on that developing story here on bbc news and in the next hour we will have that for you as we get it, so stay with us. a new report from the human rights group amnesty international has accused israel of committing genocide against palestinians in gaza. the rights group says its conclusion is based on visual and digital evidence and witness testimony, finding that israel has treated palestinians in gaza as "subhuman". israel says amnesty�*s report is "entirely baseless and fails "to account for operational realities". state department spokesman vedant patel say the us also disagrees with amnesty�*s findings. the report comes as medics say israeli air strikes killed at least 39 people across the gaza strip overnight.

at least 20 of those killed were sheltering in tents that set ablaze in a crowded camp. 0ur middle east correspondent yolande knell is injerusalem and she told me what's in the report. amnesty says this is a report that has been conducted over the course of many months and is taking into account what it calls "dehumanizing and genocidal statements" by israeli officials, as well as things like satellite images and fieldwork that it has conducted with many palestinian witnesses — people who have seen the events that are going on in gaza first—hand — and it says it believes the legal threshold for genocide has been met. these are damning findings, it says, and they should be a wake—up call for the international community. israel has come out with very strongly worded response from the foreign ministry spokesperson.

he said that "amnesty was a deplorable and fanatical "organisation," and he said that this report was fabricated, entirely false, and based on lies. israel is acting in self—defence in gaza, he said, and in accordance with international law. we have heard similar comments coming from israel — very strong denials — with the case that is been going on on with the un's top court, the international court ofjustice, in the hague. that contintues to examine accusations brought by south africa of genocide in gaza, and we had those hearings earlier this year. so, i mean, this is all sort of still something that is extremely sensitive, of course, in israel, that the use of the were �*genocide' in particular — that goes back to the definition that was laid out in the un's 1948 genocide convention that was enacted in the wake of the mass murder ofjews

in the nazi holocaust. for more on the report, i spoke to dr agnes callamard, secretary general at amnesty international. thanks forjoining us on bbc news. your report firmly finds israel guilty of genocide in gaza — an accusation they reject, we have to say. both in relation to your report and what we have seen at the international criminal court and from the united nations, but what does the international community need to do now? the first and most crucial thing that they need to do is really negotiate an immediate ceasefire. it's — you know, we have been witnessing a carnage in front of our very eyes for far too long. before anything else can be done, people need to be able to survive, so ceasefire is the first thing.

but beyond that, there is a genocide happening. the international community is failing in its obligation to prevent the crime of genocide — as demanded, in fact, by the international court ofjustice. some governments, such as the united states, may actually face the risk of being complicit of genocide through the transfer of weapons. that must stop. it's a violation of one of the most cardinal, important principle — prevention of genocide. and then, the rest of the international community — those that may be saying the right thing, those that may have denounced what is happening but have not taken action — we need to see far more happening. words are not enough. people are dying. 45,000 people have died. the conditions of life are leading to far more destruction. words are not enough. we need to see tangible action

on the top of the international community collective platform meant to stop the genocide and the carnage, collective platform, committing all states to implement to the international criminal court arrest warrant, to implement the ruling of the international court ofjustice, and any means that is at the disposal of states regarding unlawful activities by israel, such as sanctions. all of that must be put in place not, you know — not in three months, it must be put in place now if palestinians in gaza have any chance of surviving. and dr callamard, we see, of course, a close relationship between the united states and israel. do you see at this point a specific role for the outgoing biden administration? yes, absolutely.

the first step that they should really take is acknowledge that they misread the situation for the last 14 months. stop providing this unrelentant support for israel. we are not asking them to find genocide — of course, it would be fantastic — but at least acknowledge israel is committing incredible crimes right now against the palestinian people of gaza. stop transferring weapons. stop shielding israel from any kind of meaningful actions by the security council. even if they have one month, at least be on the right side of history for one month. we heard from the us state department recently, though, when they had said that they were examining their military aid for israel and where it sat with international law, and they had told israel to improve the humanitarian situation,

and they have said they're happy with what they're seeing their on the humanitarian front — which is not what we're hearing from all of the ngos working in the region. why is there that discrepancy, do you think? well, because the state department only wants to see and only wants to hear what they want. they are not basing their policies and their position on the fact, they are not basing it on evidence, they are basing it on geostrategic interest and on a misplaced belief that israel cannot commit crimes. meanwhile, palestinian peoples in gaza are being eradicated, are being humiliated in front of our very eyes. let's turn to some other important news around the world. the us authorities have

cancelled a tsunami warning issued for coastal areas of california and oregon. people rushed to get to higher ground in san francisco before the warning was cancelled. the alert, which covered almost five million people, followed a magnitude seven earthquake that struck off the coast of northern california. there are power cuts across parts of the region. a parliamentary session in the bahamas was suspended after an opposition mp threw a ceremonial mace out a window. the scuffle began when the parliamentary speaker refused to allow an opposition leader address allegations in a us indictment. throwing a mace out a window has significance in the bahamas as an opposition leader did the same in a push for electoral change in 1965. before we go, one of the most iconic christmas celebrations is on full display in new york city. the lights on the rockefeller center christmas tree have been switched on — all 50,000 of them! the famous holiday attraction will be on view through mid january. the giant norway spruce, which this year hails from a tiny massachusetts town, is also topped with a swarovski star crown featuring 3 million crystals.

sparkling and twinkling away. stay with us here on bbc news there's plenty more to come. i'm caitriona perry. stay with us. goodbye. hello there. well, it was wet and windy on thursday and the weather is about to turn even worse still as we head into the weekend with our next named storm, storm darragh, barrelling in from the west. damaging gusts of wind — that's what we're most concerned about — but also the risk of flooding, especially in the northwest, and there will be some snowfall over the higher ground of scotland. but friday, a fairly quiet day of weather — the calm before the storm, particularly for the eastern half of the uk. it's a cold start to the morning compared to how mild it was on thursday. the sunshine lasting longest in the east, high cloud pushing eastwards and turning very wet, very windy by the end of the afternoon across northern ireland and for these western coasts, too. temperatures staying in single figures, so a lot cooler than on thursday. but here comes the storm on friday night into saturday.

deep area of low pressure, tight squeeze on the isobars first down towards irish sea coasts and then, the strength of the wind transfers to north sea—facing coasts on saturday afternoon. there are plenty of weather warnings in force but this is the most serious — an amber warning for damaging gusts of wind. gusts exceeding 70—80 miles an hour, perhaps, on some irish sea coasts. within these areas, we're likely to see coastal overtopping, transport disruption and even trees down. so this is the small hours, then, of saturday. blizzard—like conditions over the higher ground of scotland, even perhaps some snow to lower levels and across the pennines and the cumbrian fells. the rain will be relentless in the northwest but it's mostly the strength of the winds we're concerned about. this is how we're starting off the day on saturday. now, if you've got travel plans — or, indeed, pre—christmas plans, perhaps — then do keep checking the forecast. it will be very windy. even inland across england and wales, we're expecting gusts of 50—60 miles an hour. the winds easing a little the winds easing a little through the afternoon through the afternoon for irish sea coasts for irish sea coasts but picking up for north but picking up for north temperatures — not that you'll sea—facing coasts. sea—facing coasts. coastal overtopping expected coastal overtopping expected

across parts of norfolk. across parts of norfolk. and these will be the day's and these will be the day's temperatures — not that you'll notice the temperature too much. it will feel highly unpleasant outside and there'll be a lot of added wind chill, too. now, the area of low pressure pulls away as we head into sunday. high pressure builds in behind but there's a brisk northerly wind and it certainly is going to feel cold and there'll be a lot of added wind chill, too. windiest towards the eastern half of the uk. plenty more showers piling down on that wind. will stay in single figures into the start of next week. bye— bye.

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. # falling in love again. # never wanted to... what defines german cinema? its incandescent stars? the disconcerting, disorienting darkness of its expressionist cinema? hitler used this film showing the horror and detailing... the formidable power of its nazi—era propaganda films? or the brilliance of its more contemporary, authentic relationship dramas? berliners want the world

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