live from london. this is bbc news. thousands flee syria's third largest city as islamist—led rebels advance, nowjust 5 km away from homs. rush hour chaos — a nationwide fault with communication system causes delays across uk rail network. at least nine lines are affected. calls from the leader of his own party to step aside — pressure on south korea's president grows, after he declared martial law this week. president macron vows to name a new french prime minister within days — after michel barnier ousted in no—confidence vote. i'm live in paris where the search for a new prime minister goes on to bring stability

amidst france's chaos. new york police release new photos of the suspect in the killing of a healthcare chief executive. good morning. tens of thousands of people are fleeing syria s 3rd largest city homs in fear that islamist—led rebels will press on with their advance, with one war monitor saying they are already just five kilometres outside. the rebels seized hama to the north yesterday 7 the second major blow to president bashar al—assad, who lost control of the strategic city 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 north—west of the country. the united nations secretary general,

antonio guterres, called the reignited war a collective failure of the international community. 0ur correspondent barbara plett usher is monitoring the situation from beirut. well, ragini, what we've got is a statement by the rebel operations centre saying that they have advanced quite significantly from hama. they have passed through two main towns and they are now about five kilometres from homs itself. and they have posted video on their channels showing them in a town very close to homs, at least apparently appearing to show them in that town. their movements have been also confirmed by a war monitor, although we haven't independently been able to verify these reports. but, if they are true, then that has been an astonishing advance. after having taken hama yesterday, fighting around the city there for several days, and then we've also been hearing that the government forces have been taking steps to try to slow any advance towards homs — for example, bombing a bridge on the main road in order

to to try to prevent them from moving forward. but, again, if what we're hearing from the rebels and from the war monitor are correct, then that hasn't deterred them and they are now at the gates pretty much of homs, which is the third largest city in syria and a very strategic one. the syrian defence minister had said that, for example, in hama, when the forces withdrew, that this was a temporary tactical move. they were doing so in order to save civilian lives, and that they were still in position, and suggesting that there would be a counter strike. but that didn't happen. and, as i mentioned, the focus has been on homs, apparently without too much success. so, i think one thing we can definitely say, since the past week, over the past week, as the advance has happened so quickly on major cities, the army has been exposed is just very weak, perhaps much weaker than even the rebels expected. now that has to do with the state of the army itself. you know, it's been widely reported that the troops are demoralised.

they haven't been paid that much. maintained that much over the past years. but also, of course, it has to do with the fact that bashar al—assad's allies, russia and iran, which have been propping him up for the past years and were very significant sources of military power, russian airstrikes, for example, iranian—backed militias which were fighting on the ground, particularly lebanon's hezbollah, which is now very much preoccupied with the military campaign against it by israel. those are not in the in the theatre of war in the way they used to be. and so i think all of these factors seem to have indicated that the army is justjust pulling back or unable to stop this advance. now, having said that, homs is a very strategic city. it's a sort of crossroads city where the main routes around the country converge. and it is on the road to damascus. it is the main route to the coastal area, which is bashar al—assad's political stronghold. so we'll see if the regime can get together a defence of this main, the core of its power,

and stop the rebel advance. but so far they have really been able to seize territory at an extraordinary speed. and, barbara, just briefly, hundreds of thousands of people displaced as a result of this renewed conflict? that's right. some of them from homs. this is the members of bashar al—assad's alawite community, who are afraid that the islamist—led rebels will take revenge on them. although the leader of the rebels has been saying that won't happen. you also have displacement in idlib, which is the northwest of the country, the long term rebel stronghold there. you have had counter—strikes by the russians and the syrians, so people have been displaced there as well. now some breaking news relating to weather in the uk. we have heard from the met office that a rare red warning for wind, which warns of significant

disruption and a danger to life has been issued by the met office for parts of wales and south west england. that warning issued for saturday as storm daraa hits the uk. it is predicted to bring winds of 80mph and flooding as well. people have been told to brace themselves for the fourth big storm of the season. heavy rain already forecast for friday afternoon. with more than 100 flood alerts already issued. now we have heard from the met office here in the uk that they office here in the uk that they haveissued office here in the uk that they have issued a very rare red warning. warning of significant disruption and a danger to life. for parts of wales and south—west england. 0f life. for parts of wales and south—west england. of course we will bring you more on that when we have it. and we had

already had an amber warning from if met office for potentially damaging winds across the west coast of the uk from ayrshire to cornwall. now this red warning for parts of wales and south—west england. we will have more from our weather team later in the hour. the head of south korea's governing party has urged the swift removal from power of president yoon suk yeol, who caused outrage earlier this week by declaring martial law. these are the live pictures from seoul outside the parliament today. you can see a large crowd has gathered with protestors and the media present too. south korea's main parties are holding meetings amid reports mps could bring forward a vote to impeach the president. meanwhile, south korea's defence ministry says it has suspended three senior commanders involved in the martial law operation.

i spoke to our chief presenter, steve lai who was outside the national assembly with our asia correspondent, rupert wingfield—hayes. it has just it hasjust gone it has just gone past 6pm in sole. you mentioned the leader of the ruling people power party, han dong—hoon, he has withdrawn his support for president yoon. he did that this morn. he met with the president earlier. according to media reports here, han said that he had urged yoon to address the public. the president has not made any public appearance or statement since he withdrew that declaration of martial law on wednesday. apparently yoon has declined to make any comments, saying it was not time yet. well if the president isn't going to speak, we know the protesters will make their voices heard, as we can hear

now. they're set to hold a rally, tens of thousands are expected on the streets tomorrow, that is all leading up tomorrow, that is all leading up to this impeachment vote thatis up to this impeachment vote that is scheduled for 7pm tomorrow. we are going to get the thoughts of our asia correspondent. there has been talk behind closed doors, are we nearer a talk behind closed doors, are we nearer _ talk behind closed doors, are we nearer a solutionsome? we are heading — we nearer a solutionsome? we are heading for— we nearer a solutionsome? we are heading for this _ we nearer a solutionsome? we are heading for this vote - we nearer a solutionsome? we are heading for this vote in - we nearer a solutionsome? we are heading for this vote in 24' are heading for this vote in 2a hours. there has been a lot of activity inside the national assembly. we saw the leader of people power party come out and say that he was going to support the opposition in their impeachment. he has been there meeting with his own legislators today and apparently has been having

difficulty in persuading them to come behind him to support the impeachment motion. it is still a fluid situation. also as you said, very odd that we are now 60 hours s since lifting of martial law order and we have heard nothing from president yoon. we don't know what is going on in his mind. but he has told the leader of his own party that it is not time for him to speak to the public or legislators yet. he seems, some sort of siege mentality going on and he is holed up in his office. £311" holed up in his office. our correspondent _ holed up in his office. 0ur correspondent speaking earlier. let's speak tojeongmin kim, who is editorial director at korea pro, a korean information service we are continuing to see images

of large crowds outside the national assembly. tell us about the protest and if you have been speaking to any people gathering there. i haven't been speaking people on the street, it looks like the crowd is getting bigger. the biggest one tomorrow timed just a few hours before the impeachment vote. it looks like the national assembly decided they might be voting at 5pm, two hours early. it is due to anger that the martial law happened in the year 2024, 45 years after the last one. also i think it seems the crowd has been gathering more after party leaders changed his mind about the opposing the impeachment he says that yoon has to halt his authority as president immediately.- authority as president

immediatel . ~ . , immediately. we are seeing imaaes immediately. we are seeing images of — immediately. we are seeing images of a _ immediately. we are seeing images of a speaker - immediately. we are seeing images of a speaker who - immediately. we are seeing images of a speaker who is| images of a speaker who is outside the assembly at the moment. we are going to try a get a translation to listen to that. but we will carry on for now, which way do you think the impeachment vote is likely to go. impeachment vote is likely to co. impeachment vote is likely to i o, , impeachment vote is likely to .o_ , ., impeachment vote is likely to io, , ., go. untilthis morning, i wasn't sure, _ go. untilthis morning, i wasn't sure, i— go. untilthis morning, i wasn't sure, i was - go. untilthis morning, i. wasn't sure, i was leaning go. untilthis morning, i- wasn't sure, i was leaning to it's not going to pass, because it's not going to pass, because it looked like there won't be enough defection votes. until last night the ruling party leaders decided their official position would be opposing the impeachment. but after han changed his position, i have seen at least two law maker that decided unless yoon resigns he will be voting in favour of the impeachment. it looks likely it might pass. also because a lot officials that were instructed on the night of the martial law have

been speaking out in the past 12 hours about what kind of instructions they have been getting, which law makers they were asked to arrest. after that it looks like it will be difficult or the law makers to maintain their defence of yoon. were you surprised by the calling of martial law? the martial law _ calling of martial law? the martial law it _ calling of martial law? the martial law it started - calling of martial law? the martial law it started as i calling of martial law? tue: martial law it started as a rumour, a conspiracy theory many people thought when the opposition party brought it up in september. so it was a surprise, because at the time, even the ruling people power party and the now ex—defence minister who advised yoon to do this said the martial law will not work, because the military won't follow it. so it was a surprise, yes. it is also a pleasant surprise to see the law makers and the people gathered quickly to work, to

make sure that the institution works to take down the martial law quickly. works to take down the martial law quickly-— around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

french president emmanuel macron says he will appoint a new prime minister in the coming days, following the resignation of michel barnier. in an address to the nation, mr macron rejected calls to stand down, saying he will remain president until the end of his term in 2027. michel barnier lost a no—confidence vote on wednesday, 90 days after becoming prime minister. president macron has asked him to stay on in a caretaker capacity while his successor is chosen. he began by thanking barnier for his "dedication" and "unwillingness to give up", and blamed the "extreme right and extreme left" for yesterday's "unprecedented" no—confidence vote against him.

translation: parliament voted no confidence in the government despite concessions made by the prime minister to the parliamentary groups. unprecedented in 60 years, a vote of no—confidence. why? because the extreme right and the extreme leftjoined in an anti—republican front, and because the forces that were governing france yesterday chose to help them. now, i know that some people want to point the finger at me. it's a lot easier to do that. i've always accepted my responsibilities, whether they were mistakes or whether they were successes, but i've never taken on the responsibilities of others. particularly not parliamentarians who have decided to bring down the government and the budget a few days before christmas. we have to set our ambitions high for france.

we cannot allow ourselves to be divided or static, and that's why i will appoint a prime minister in the coming days. let's speak to our correspondent, mark lowen, now. mark what comes next? well, da s of mark what comes next? well, days of consultation _ mark what comes next? well, days of consultation until- mark what comes next? well, days of consultation until we | days of consultation until we get a name in the frame for a prime minister to lead a government that president macron hopes would command the confidence and unity within a very fragmented parliament. we don't know when that is going to be. but emmanuel macron trying to take his time to find somebody that he believes will be able to bring together this fragmented political scene. there has been a mixed reaction to his speech and his address last night. a couple of opinion polls, one said 59% of the

french believe that he should resign. another says 64% say he should resign. he has ruled that out and said that he will stay in office until the end of his term. he took aim at his opponents such as marine le pen. he suggested that she was bringing down the government because she was doing it for her personal political ambition with her eye on the presidency. i spoke to one of mr macron�*s mps and put it to her that the main beneficiary of france's political chaos is marine le pen. . , political chaos is marine le pen. ., , ., ., ., political chaos is marine le pen. ., ., ., ., pen. that is also a general and lobal pen. that is also a general and global movement _ pen. that is also a general and global movement and - pen. that is also a general and global movement and you - pen. that is also a general and global movement and you see | pen. that is also a general and l global movement and you see it in pretty— global movement and you see it in pretty much every country. maybe — in pretty much every country. maybe he _ in pretty much every country. maybe he thought that he could contain — maybe he thought that he could contain that and do something different. he did make a different. he did make a different proposal and made a lot of— different proposal and made a

lot of people from civil society— lot of people from civil society such as i am enter into politics— society such as i am enter into politics with new ideas and the idea that — politics with new ideas and the idea that we can work together. we are — idea that we can work together. we are pessimistic, because the situation — we are pessimistic, because the situation is — we are pessimistic, because the situation is difficult, but we have — situation is difficult, but we have to _ situation is difficult, but we have to see some optimism when you look— have to see some optimism when you took at— have to see some optimism when you look at the socialist party that say— you look at the socialist party that say they're willing to discuss, _ that say they're willing to discuss, well, they weren't a couple — discuss, well, they weren't a couple of— discuss, well, they weren't a couple of months ago. so we are learning — couple of months ago. so we are learning the hard way. all couple of months ago. so we are learning the hard way.— learning the hard way. all of this uncertainty _ learning the hard way. all of this uncertainty in _ learning the hard way. all of this uncertainty in france . this uncertainty in france comes as donald trump, the us president—elect, is due to visit the country this weekend? yes, it is going to be donald trump's first overseas visit since he won the election. when he comes to paris tomorrow for the inauguration of notre dame cathedral, five years after it was ravaged by fire. it has been restored and it will be inaugurated by emmanuel macron, hosting donald trump. macron

knows how to charm the president—elect. during the first term, macron was seen as somebody who got the first term, macron was seen as somebod