live from london. this is bbc news. thousands flee syria's third largest city as islamist—led rebels advance towards horns after taking hama. president macron says he'll name a new french prime minister within days — after michel barnier was ousted in no—confidence vote. network rail says train services are now improving — after a fault with a communication system caused delays across the uk rail network. hello, i'm ben brown. welcome to bbc news now — three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. tens of thousands of people are fleeing syria's third biggest city homs — fearing that islamist—led

rebels will capture in the latest stage of their surprise offensive. the rebel advance has been as rapid as it has been unexpected. first they seized aleppo in the north — which saw fierce fighting during the syrian uprising against the assad regime, which began more than a decade ago. they then moved south and seized control of hama this week, with government forces beating a hasty retreat. now, the rebels are pushing towards the capital damascus. they're reported to have captured the settlements of rastan and talbiseh — and are currently said to be just five kilometres — that's three miles — from the outskirts of homs. if they can capture homs, the rebels could cut off the main road leading from damascus to the syrian coast. this footage shows how the rebels, seen here in hama, have been advancing almost unopposed into key syrian cities, although the government of bashar assad says it has been launching air

strikes against them. let's speak to our correspondent barbara plett usher in beirut. just tell us more about the speed of this rebel advance. it started just over a week ago and they swept into aleppo with almost no resistance force of the government crew seem to have completely folded. there was fighting around hama but at some point the syrian army pulled back. now based on their own communications, the rebel operation centre, they say they are making this very speedy advance on homs, passing through those two towns you mentioned and they are now on the outskirts of homs. it is not the thing that we have been able to independently verify

but a war monitor is reporting the same kind of things. so keeping a very close eye on that. the main allies of the syrian regime, russia and iran, have not responded with a great deal of help so far. we understand that the russians carried out air strikes, including one on a bridge between the cities of homs including one on a bridge between the cities of horns and hama to try to slow the events and the iranians are said to be providing intelligence and support. maybe there will send weapons but i think the main focus among them is how they can group together to defend homs, the coast and then obviously the route to damascus.— obviously the route to damascus. ., , ., ., ., damascus. how big a threat do thicknesses — damascus. how big a threat do thicknesses to _ damascus. how big a threat do thicknesses to the _ damascus. how big a threat do thicknesses to the survival - damascus. how big a threat do thicknesses to the survival of l thicknesses to the survival of the assad regime and what can assad and his supporters do about this? —— how big a threat do you think. it about this? -- how big a threat do you think-— do you think. it is a big threat to _ do you think. it is a big threat to his _ do you think. it is a big threat to his survival. l do you think. it is a big l threat to his survival. his political stronghold is based

on the mediterranean coast and if the rebels cut off homs, that will be cutting off the access to that coast. certainly if they move towards damascus, thatis if they move towards damascus, that is the core of his power. it has been reported quite a long time that he was already quite weak, that there was a lot of corruption in the regime, there was a lot of unhappiness from syrian people. the army, it seems, is quite demoralised and certainly that is one thing you can take from the way they have been able to put up more resistance. does this mean he will fall? i think it is much too ready to say that. part of that will depend on whether the foreign powers at play in the country, russia, iran and turkey, especially, which backs the rebels, want him to fall and whether they want to take action to try to keep him in power but perhaps press him to reach a political settlement with the opposition. barbara, many thanks indeed.

let's look at the background of this. the syrian conflict has largely been frozen since 2020, when a ceasefire brokered by russia and turkey descalated the fighting between syrian rebels and president assad's forces. the lighting offensive launched by rebels last week has been the fastest battlefield advance by either side, since the country spiralled into civil war 13 years ago. in 2011, as the arab spring swept the middle east, president assad's government troops cracked down violently on peaceful pro—democracy protesters. more thah half a million people have been killed since that time. back then, the group leading this latest advance — hayat tahrir al—sham — was set up under a different name, jabhat al—nusra, as a direct affiliate of al qaeda. its leader, abu mohammed al—jawlani, has since publicly broke ranks with al-qaeda, and set up a new organisation, taking that new name hayat tahrir al—sham. last week, they seized control of aleppo —

the first time rebels have controlled syria's second largest city since 2016. they've been pushing south ever since — capturing hama —a key central city they were never able to capture before. they are now on their way to homs — a strategic city linking the capital to the meditteranean coast, assad's political stronghold and key to his grip on powers. al—jawlani has told residents of homs "your time has come". let's speak to haid haid, a middle east expert from chatham house, which is a international think tank based in london. how do you see this panning out? do you think the rebels can ultimately march on damascus and depose president assad? it damascus and depose president assad? , ., ., damascus and depose president assad? , ., , ., assad? it is too early to really say _ assad? it is too early to really say with - assad? it is too early to really say with certainty|

assad? it is too early to - really say with certainty what will come next. for now, what we can say for sure is that their ability to capture homs where the fighting is currently taking place will definitely get them closer to damascus and make that possibility higher. however, for them to be able to do that and then get closer to damascus, they will have to remain united, maintain their supply lines as well as continue to attack regime forces from different areas. 0n the regime side, the inability to the regime to mobilise more support from its allies, primarily russia and iran, will also be a determining factor as to whether the regime will be able to draw a line and stand its ground in homs or withdraw

towards damascus. um? its ground in homs or withdraw towards damascus.— its ground in homs or withdraw towards damascus. why do you think the rebels _ towards damascus. why do you think the rebels are _ towards damascus. why do you think the rebels are doing - towards damascus. why do you think the rebels are doing so i think the rebels are doing so well, making such rapid advances and why do you think the government forces of assad are doing so badly?— are doing so badly? starting with the opposition - are doing so badly? starting with the opposition groups, | are doing so badly? starting| with the opposition groups, i think there are different factors. one of the main ones is that over the past years, they have been training, they have increased corporations, they have improved their fighting skills and they have also improved their arsenal, their weapon arsenal. what's that allowed them to do is act collectively as a unified force and use technology to their advantage. we have, for example, seen for the first time an extensive use of drones against regime forces. if you look at the regime, you have

assad has limited military as well as financial resources. his main allies have sort of limited or reduced their support because they have their own complex that they are engaged in, whether it is russia and ukraine or iran with israel and his brother in russia and ukraine or iran with israel and his brothe- israel and his brother in the middle east, _ israel and his brother in the middle east, so _ israel and his brother in the middle east, so all- israel and his brother in the middle east, so all of- israel and his brother in the middle east, so all of thesej middle east, so all of these factors have allowed the group to advance —— factors have allowed the group to advance "— to advance -- hezbollah. this has allowed _ to advance -- hezbollah. this has allowed to _ to advance -- hezbollah. this has allowed to speed - to advance -- hezbollah. this has allowed to speed up - to advance -- hezbollah. this has allowed to speed up the l has allowed to speed up the collapse of the region. thank ou ve collapse of the region. thank you very much. _ collapse of the region. thank you very much, haid - collapse of the region. thank you very much, haid haid. i a defiant emmanuel macron has insisted he will stay on as french president till the end of his term in office in 2027, despite opposition calls for him to stand down amid the country's political turmoil. in a ten—minute televised address to the nation, president macron also said he'll appoint a new prime

minister in the coming days, after the resignation of michel barnier, following a no confidence vote, mr barnier was only in office for three months, making his term the shortest of any prime minister in the history of modern france. president macron has asked him to stay on in a caretaker capacity, while his successor is chosen. he began by thanking mr 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: i have always acce ted translation: i have always accepted by _ translation: i have always accepted by responsible - translation: i have always accepted by responsible at l translation: i have always i accepted by responsible at that is, whether they were mistakes or whether they were successes but i have never taken the responsibility 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. live to paris now and our correspondent mark lowen. asi as i said at the beginning, a pretty defiant yoon suk yeol or in that address. —— president macron. in that address. -- president macron. , . . macron. defiant and quite accusing _ macron. defiant and quite accusing of— macron. defiant and quite accusing of his _ macron. defiant and quite accusing of his political i accusing of his political rivals. he intimated that marine le pen had been one of those trying to bring down michel barnier and succeeding with a no—confidence vote because of naked political ambition. her eye on the presidential election in 2027. he did not name her but that was clearly the application behind that statement. and he said that the french people need to unite in a spirit of

cooperation, citing the olympic games, held her in paris over the summer, the reopening of notre dame cathedral tomorrow, saturday after that fire that ravaged it five years ago, as examples of how france can produce great things and come together when it is needed. but actually this country is incredibly divided at the moment and many people blame president macron for that, for polarising people, pushing people towards the extremes, towards the far left at the far right, despite being the man who came in as president, promising to provide the centre ground. and a real challenge here is that even if a new prime minister is appointed in the next day or two as we expect it to be, or in the coming days, those problems, those very deep inherent problems will remain and president macron absolutely defined that he will absolutely go nowhere, he intends to see how the rest of his presidential term until 2027, despite mounting calls for him to resign. why might you just mention the reopening of notre

dame tomorrow and an amazing achievement and in five years after that terrible fire. and after that terrible fire. and president _ after that terrible fire. and president elect _ after that terrible fire. and president elect donald i after that terrible fire. and president elect donald trump among one of the vip guests coming to that, and almost an embarrassing backdrop for president macron to have such political chaos at the time when he has so many guests coming to paris.— when he has so many guests coming to paris. yes, he was hoinu coming to paris. yes, he was hoping that _ coming to paris. yes, he was hoping that france _ coming to paris. yes, he was hoping that france will- coming to paris. yes, he was hoping that france will be i hoping that france will be basking in the world stage and not have its mind on political chaos for the reopening of notre dame. a lot of people here will be thinking about how france get its own political house in order, let alone its opening of a beautiful cathedral. there was talk that he wanted to establish a new prime minister, new government before the reopening of notre dame. i think that is now unlikely unless there is suddenly an announcement later on today. all of this coming as a time of real concern about france's economy with a budget deficit very high here, it is double the limit imposed by the

european union. there are wars era europe on my doorstep and trap about to get into the white house so a terrible time for france to be in such a perilous state —— was on the doorstep and tramp about get in the white house. at doorstep and tramp about get in the white house.— the white house. at least the weather is — the white house. at least the weather is beautiful _ the white house. at least the weather is beautiful there! i weather is beautiful there! thank you very much. police in new york have shared new images of a man they want to question over the fatal shooting of the health care executive, brian thompson, outside a hotel on wednesday morning. the first images had shown the man wearing a mask — but the nypd has now made these pictures of his face public. he is wearing a hood — but as you can see, he appears to be relaxed and even smiling. just a few minutes later he shot mr thompson dead, before making his escape. more details are emerging about his movements leading up to the murder — but so far, his current whereabouts remain unknown — and his motive is yet to be fully established.

with the latest, here's our north america correspondent rowan bridge. hi, i'm brian thompson, ceo of unitedhealthcare. brian thompson in a corporate video for a health care event in 2021. it was the same year he became the ceo of the company where he worked for two decades. flags were lowered at unitedhealthcare's headquarters following the shooting. the company is a massive player in the us health market, but mr thompson wasn't a public figure. which raises the question, why was he targeted? it's been revealed the bullet casings found at the scene had the words "deny," "defend" and "depose" written on them. it's possibly a reference to some of the tactics critics say insurers used not to pay medical bills. mr thompson was attacked as he walked through midtown manhattan by the hilton hotel. police say this man is a person of interest in their murder investigation. this is the first sighting of the gunman as he leaves a subway station about half an hour before the shooting. he then visits a starbucks, where again, he's seen on cctv

before making his way to the nearby hilton hotel, where brian thompson was due to attend an event. following the shooting, he leaves the scene and is later spotted on an e—bike. police say it was a planned and calculated attack. he has a shooter stance, he's masked and he's thought about his escape route. all of these things make it challenging, but farfrom out of the ability range of the nypd. they have great resources to nail down a crime like this. despite the challenges, the investigation is moving at pace. earlier, police visited a hostel where the suspect checked in, and they're also examining a starbucks coffee cup for fingerprints and dna. now it's emerged he took a bus to new york several days before the attack. two days on from brian thompson's murder, the suspect remains at large, the motive remains unclear, and the investigation continues at a relentless pace. rowan bridge, bbc news, washington.

live to new york — and cbs news correspondentjarred hill. good to have you with us. it is an intriguing case. not least those words that were carved into the shell casings that were discovered. what are the latest details on this police investigation? it latest details on this police investigation?— investigation? it is kind of interesting _ investigation? it is kind of interesting because i investigation? it is kind of interesting because we i investigation? it is kind of| interesting because we are learning that the potential reason that we actually have this very clear image of the person of interest�*s face, in particular why he is smiling one of these pictures. we are learning that a woman working at the front desk at the hostel ask to see his pretty smile, quote, when he was checking in. was a tactic to try and make sure that she could see his face or was it a moment of friendly flotation? that is still yet to be seen but it appears that that is a reason why we have this clear image of his face was that the big question still remains, where is he and who exactly is he? we

do know that new york police is continuing to scour the city, in particular around central park because that is the last place that we saw him with his backpack as well as with the weapon before he left the park and then was seen without those too. so again the question is where are those quick piece of evidence and what might be learned from that. find evidence and what might be learned from that. and what more do _ learned from that. and what more do we _ learned from that. and what more do we know— learned from that. and what more do we know about i learned from that. and what more do we know about his| more do we know about his victim, brian thompson, chief executive of this huge health company? he executive of this huge health company?— executive of this huge health coman ? , ., ., company? he is someone that was not really a — company? he is someone that was not really a public _ company? he is someone that was not really a public player, - company? he is someone that was not really a public player, so i not really a public player, so there are a lot of questions about why exactly was he specifically targeted? he was a husband, he was a father. we do know that his widow has told the media sources that there were some other threats on his life prior to the shooting, local police in the area have said that they had not had any reports of other threats that is also a big question as well,

was anything leading up to this that might have been a bit of the signal that something could have happened?— the signal that something could have happened? what are people in new york _ have happened? what are people in new york and _ have happened? what are people in new york and the _ have happened? what are people in new york and the wider - in new york and the wider united states making of this? in a way, gun violence is not new in america, farfrom it but this sort of targeted attack, and assassination, it is something different. this definitely _ something different. this definitely plays _ something different. this definitely plays out i something different. this definitely plays out like i something different. this definitely plays out like a| something different. try 3 definitely plays out like a spy film in a lot of ways, which is one of the reasons that we are seeing so much interest in this but then also, this really gets to an issue that a lot of americans care about, this is the cost of health care, the ease of getting health care. there has been a lot of discussion on social media as well as among folks in the real world around what this might make in the bigger picture. there is a speculation that potentially this could have been motivated by a displeasure of some kind with the health care system, again, police have not confirmed any of that quite yet but this is bringing up a

lot of question about the overall concerns that folks here in the us have with the health care system, in particular with the way the insurance companies deal with health care and deal with getting her hair in the us. thank you very much forjoining us, jarred hill from cbs news with the latest from new york. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

here in the uk, rail chiefs have told us they've managed to find the cause of a fault that's brought nationwide delays and cancellations — and it's being fixed. engineers say a new hardware card installed as an upgrade is the source of the problem and it's affecting communications between train drivers and signallers. they say the system's being rebooted. passengers are being advised to check services before they travel, with trains

to several airports affected. 0ur reporter meghan 0wen sent this update from waterloo station in london. today, trains have been delayed across the uk due to a communication system issue. i've been reporting from waterloo since this morning, and you only have to have looked at the arrival boards to see how many trains have been delayed. now, there's been a number of frustrated commuters this morning. it happened in the peak of rush hour and obviously a busy friday before christmas as well, so the timing was not ideal. now, national rail have said that this was due to a fault with the communication system used between train drivers and signallers, known as gsm—r, and this hasn't been connecting easily. now, they've been looking to find a workaround, but it doesn't mean that many people have not been affected. we've been speaking

to one woman who said that she was over three hours late for a job interview. others were one to two hours late for work this morning. now, it does seem that the delays are easing. the arrivals board now says that a few are delayed by a few minutes, and train operators such as scotrail are saying that their lines are operating smoothly. but it clearly has affected a number of people using lines such as the elizabeth line, south western, the gatwick express, great northern, great northern and southern and south eastern rail and the thameslink, so plenty of services are affected across the country. as i say, that seems to have eased slightly, but the train operators will be trying to get to the bottom of what has happened to cause these delays. that is megan 0wen reporting from waterloo station in london. protestors and members of parliament are camping out overnight at the south korean national assembly —

ahead of a vote to impeach the president on saturday. hundreds of people are outside the building in seoul. they've voiced concerns that president yoon — who first declared, and then a few hours later revoked, martial law earlier this week — could try again to subvert civilian rule. mps voted unanimously to reject martial law — tomorrow's vote could remove mr yoon from office. the national assembly is already considering launching a treason investigation against the president. take a listen. translation: president yoon suk yeol's recent martial law— declaration cannot be free from suspicions of violating the constitution and committing acts of treason. treason against the constitutional order which violates the constitution and the law, carries severe penalties, including the death penalty or life imprisonment. let's remind ourselves of how events unfolded this week. president yoon shocked

the country on tuesday at 11pm when, out of the blue, he declared martial law in the asian democracy for the first time in nearly 50 years. it sparked immediate mass protests on the streets. two hours later, at 1am, the national assembly voted to overturn martial law and, within hours, the president announced it had been lifted. the next day, opposition lawmakers filed a motion to impeach the president. a vote will take place on saturday evening. let's speak to ellen kim, who is a senior fellow and the korea chair at the centre for strategic and international studies think tank. she joins us from seoul. what is your reading as to what will happen next, do you think? so the situation still remains highly unpredictable, despite mounting pressure on president yoon to stand down, president yoon to stand down, president yoon has remains silent for to be is not offered any official

statement so far on what his stances. however, the possibility of his impeachment is growing. today, the head of the ruling party stated that president yoon's official duty as a present should be suspended. that is it departure from the decision made yesterday that the ruling party will reject the impeachment movement. he said that the party starts or brings a change but today marks further uncertainty to the position on his impeachment. so uncertainty to the position on his impeachment.— his impeachment. so do you think there _ his impeachment. so do you think there could _ his impeachment. so do you think there could be - his impeachment. so do you think there could be more i his impeachment. so do you i think there could be more than impeachment? treason charges against the president? if impeachment? treason charges against the president?— against the president? if the resident against the president? if the president gets _ against the president? if the president gets impeached, l against the president? if the president gets impeached, i | president gets impeached, i think there is a high chance that the opposition party might further charging for the treason charges because the troops went into the national assembly and there was a discovery that the trooper

trying to arrest and detain some of the lawmakers. that could be considered as treason. are people there and south korea still worried that there could be another attempt in some way to declare martial law and to entrap democracy? yes. and to entrap democracy? yes, that is one _ and to entrap democracy? yes, that is one reason _ and to entrap democracy? yes, that is one reason why - and to entrap democracy? yes, that is one reason why the i that is one reason why the party leader actually changed his chance today —— his stance. there is mounting concern of speculation that president yoon might declare martial law again. however, today the defence minister actually issued a statement saying that the defence ministry and the joint chief of staff will not obey any order to execute martial law should the order be issued again so i think that the possibility of the martial law another time is low at this point. law another time is low at this oint, , ., ., law another time is low at this oint, ,., ., ., law another time is low at this oint. ,., ., ., i. point. good to get your thoughts- _ point. good to get your thoughts. that - point. good to get your thoughts. that is i point. good to get your thoughts. that is ellen| point. good to get your-

thoughts. that is ellen kim. do so with us. you are watching bbc news. —— do stay with us. hello there. storm darragh is heading into western parts of the uk this afternoon, but things will take a turn for the worse overnight and into saturday. it's then that we have this red wind warning from the met office, meaning a danger to life. the winds are going to be gusting 90 miles an hour across western and southern parts of wales, through the bristol channel. the warning is from 3:00 tomorrow morning to 11:00 on saturday morning. and as well as a danger to life, there's going to be some travel disruption. there may be some power cuts and there'll be some large and dangerous waves as well. it's all happening out in the atlantic, but getting closer to us, that area of cloud deepening into this area of low pressure and that is storm darragh, bringing some wet and windy weather already into some western parts of the uk, and pushing into cooler air. temperatures are not going to be as high as they were yesterday. let's follow the track

of the storm. it's going to push right the way across the uk, sweeping rain in from time to time, bringing a spell of heavy snow over the mountains, across northern parts of scotland. of scotland as the centre of the storm pushes away into the north sea, so those north to north westerly winds really strengthen, which is why we've got this red wind warning from the met office. but there is a larger area that's covered by an amber wind warning, where the winds are going to be gusting 70, 80 miles an hour. that lasts for longer during saturday and some disruption across these parts of the uk as well. and on top of that, given all the rain that we've had and more rain to come during saturday, this part of wales could see some flooding effects as well. so let's see what's happening, then, during saturday. we've got this wet and windy weather sweeping across many areas. a bit more snow over the scottish mountains as well. the centre of the storm is out into the north sea, so it's pushing in those very strong north to north westerly winds everywhere. it'll be windy everywhere and during the afternoon the winds really pick up along

those north sea coasts as well. temperatures very similar to those of today. there's the storm. it is eventually going to push out into continental europe. still lots of isobars on sunday. it's going to be windy on sunday again. probably not quite as windy, though, as on saturday, but the stronger winds probably going to be down the eastern side of the uk. and this is where we'll see most of those showers streaming in. further west it is looking largely dry with some sunshine, the winds continuing to ease down in these areas, but it may be a bit colder to end the weekend.