at ten, in the eye of the storm. 3 million people in wales and the south—west of england are urged to stay indoors as storm darragh approaches. an emergency alert is issued on a scale never seen before to mobile phones in the areas that could be worst hit. as the weather picks up here this evening, by the morning the entire west and south coast of wales will be within that red weather warning well when speeds could reach 90 mph. also tonight, islamist rebels take more ground in syria. after the fall of another city, fighters advance deeper into territory under president assad's control. new footage of the suspect in the murder of a top

in new york as police reveal the type of gun they say could have been used. a deal is reached to sell the observer, the world's oldest sunday newspaper, despite protests from its own journalists. and the princess of wales hosts her annual christmas carol service as she continues her return to royal duties after cancer treatment. and stay with us here on bbc news for continuing coverage and analysis from our team of correspondents in the uk and around the world. hello. 3 million people living in wales and the south—west of england have been urged to stay indoors as storm darragh approaches. the emergency alert, a text message warning of possible danger, was issued this evening on a scale never seen before to the mobile phones of those living in the areas

that could be worst hit. amber weather warnings are in place, meaning widespread disruption all the way along the west coast of the uk, from southern scotland to cornwall and northern ireland, but the most serious threat is to south wales and the bristol channel, where a rare red warning for strong winds has been issued, meaning there's a danger to life. nickjohnson will be reporting for us tonight from weston—super—mare, but first to tomos morgan, who's in porthcawl. tomos, this part of wales already soaked by storm bert, now they're having to brace for another lashing. they have not really recovered since two weeks ago when storm bert was here and now across the south wales coastline, they are getting ready for another storm, storm darragh, we have been speaking to businesses this afternoon who are making the

difficult decision to miss out on a pay day on a saturday so close to christmas and close due to the weather expected tomorrow. tomorrow behind me, the weather is lashing through and in the marine of the sales are to be wrapped up because in the morning when speeds could reach up to 90 mph and the met office is warning there could be flying debris to buildings from the early hours. right from penarth to porthcawl — along the welsh coastline, businesses have been busy planning and preparing for more bad weather. at the moment, the plans are to be in because we've got deliveries for our customers and stuff like that. some are elderly, so we need to get out to make sure they get in stuff. but other than that, that's all i've got on the cards at the moment. although towns on welsh coastlines are familiar with bad weather, having to close shops and cafes on a saturday so close to christmas will undoubtedly affect businesses. metres away from the seafront is piccolo�*s cafe, who earlier made the difficult decision to close tomorrow. sea defences keeps the water down,

but there's a lot of debris comes up and it's the wind more than anything and, you know, sometimes you can feel the glass shaking. two weeks ago, when storm bert ravaged the south wales valleys and caused severe flooding, there was criticism by residents and politicians that stronger warnings didn't come soon enough. tonight, the government has issued its largest ever use of its warning alert system, sent to the mobile phones of 3 million or so people living in the affected areas, where a rare red warning for wind, the met office's highest category for bad weather, has been issued across the entire west and south coast of wales and along the bristol channel. and they basically i mean danger to life. big impacts. but not just that, it also expresses certainty. - so that means that the met office is confident that these severe -

conditions will be affecting in quite a large area. - as wales gets ready to defend itself once more, the miserable weather in the run up to the festive period continues. this evening cardiff airport said it would be closed tomorrow morning from the early hours until the red warning comes to an end at around 11am, several local christmas events have been closed and shot down tomorrow in preparation for the bad weather, the football association of wales and the welsh rugby union have cancelled all community games across the country tomorrow. as i mentioned, the red warning comes to an end at around iiam, mentioned, the red warning comes to an end at around "am, but there is still an amber alert for rain that covers most of wales and that will be in place until the end of the day, so no sign of it letting up anytime soon. and nickjohnsonjoins us from weston—super—mare in somerset, also in that red wind warning zone.

we received that emergency alert to our phones here in the south—west just before 7pm. we spoke to some people in a bar a short time ago who described the noise, the surprise when everyone inside that bar received the notification at the same time. weston—super—mare faces down the bristol channel behind me which is where some of the strongest winds are forecast for the early hours. businesses along the seafront to have taken extra precautions by battening down outdoor furniture to have taken extra precautions by battening down outdoorfurniture but also saying they will open much later tomorrow, also saying they will open much latertomorrow, but also saying they will open much later tomorrow, but even and somerset police have urged people to stay away from the coastline here wherever possible. gwr, the train company that runs services through south wales and south—west england, have urged passengers to change their travel plans over the weekend wherever possible. bristol airport has warned passengers to expect disruption tomorrow and cardiff

airport in the last couple of hours has said it will close its runway between 3am and ham, any passengers due to fly from cardiff it says should get in touch with their airline. . ~ should get in touch with their airline. w' . ~ should get in touch with their airline. w ., ~ i. tens of thousands of people are fleeing the syrian city of homs as rebel islamist fighters close in, and the speed at which the armed opposition is advancing across the country has astonished everyone, with the syrian army, loyal to president assad, simply falling away. the civil war began in 2011, but the rebels, with links to al-qaeda, were forced into retreat five years later. now they're back, and injust ten days have taken the whole of syria's second largest city of aleppo. another major city, hama, fell yesterday, and now their sights are on homs. success there could see the main road from the capital, damascus, to the syrian coast cut, dividing the stronghold

of president assad. his lightning loss of territory, due to his backers, including russia, iran currently fighting in other conflicts. with all the latest from the turkey—syrian border, here's hugo bachega. syrian rebels on their way to homs, their offensive has been swift and astonishing. here, they celebrate as they capture another town without facing any resistance. they also had no opposition in hama, chanting, god is greatest, crowds gathered. to welcome the fighters. they also seized this army base, symbolic as the military struggles to counter their progress. the civil war in

syria started in 2011 when president bashar al—assad crushed protests against his regime. homs, a rebel stronghold, was under siege for three years in opposition fighters only left under a deal brokered by the un in 2015 when government forces reclaimed it. if the un in 2015 when government forces reclaimed it.— forces reclaimed it. if the rebels take homs. _ forces reclaimed it. if the rebels take homs, damascus— forces reclaimed it. if the rebels take homs, damascus the - forces reclaimed it. if the rebelsl take homs, damascus the capital would be an easier target. the syrian army has fallen, the state capacity has been degraded. the writing is on the wall.— writing is on the wall. frozen for ears, writing is on the wall. frozen for years. the _ writing is on the wall. frozen for years, the front _ writing is on the wall. frozen for years, the front lines _ writing is on the wall. frozen for years, the front lines in - writing is on the wall. frozen for years, the front lines in syria - writing is on the wall. frozen for| years, the front lines in syria are changing fast, this is an insurgency led by islamist rebels from a group known as hts, they have their roots in al-qaeda but have tried to rebrand themselves as a nationalist force. from their base, they launched a surprise campaign last

week, they took aleppo, the country's second largest city, continued to push south. this is their leader. in an interview to cnn, he said the goal was to topple the regime and bring back syrian refugees. the regime and bring back syrian refu~ees. ., , ., refugees. people return to their homes, refugees. people return to their homes. many — refugees. people return to their homes, many refugees - refugees. people return to their homes, many refugees in - refugees. people return to their| homes, many refugees in turkey refugees. people return to their- homes, many refugees in turkey will likely— homes, many refugees in turkey will likely return, as will a significant number— likely return, as will a significant number of— likely return, as will a significant number of refugees in lebanon and jordan, _ number of refugees in lebanon and jordan, even refugees in europe may return_ jordan, even refugees in europe may return to _ jordan, even refugees in europe may return to rebuild their country. they— return to rebuild their country. they are — return to rebuild their country. they are vowing to reach damascus and bashar al—assad is struggling to stop them. in the past, he relied heavily on russia in iran to fight the opposition. but both allies are preoccupied with their own affairs. the rebels have the momentum and the regime is increasingly under threat. tonight, rebels are claiming to have reached homs tonight, rebels are claiming to have reached horns and have made a final

call of forces loyal to the government to defect, but it's not only those fighters making progress, kurdish forces have taken control of the eastern desert after government troops abandoned their positions and there are local insurgencies in this half of the country so without significant help from russia and iran, president assad seems unable to stop this offensive against his government, and many are saying that this could be the beginning of the end of his regime. what a transformation in syria's fortunes. romania's constitutional court has annulled the first round of voting in the country's presidential election in which the surprise winner was a far—right candidate who'd previously supported russia's vladimir putin. the court ruling came after intelligence documents suggested calin georgech was backed by a mass social media campaign conducted from abroad. he's now accused romania's establishment of subverting democracy. sarah rainsford is live

in the capital, bucharest. what is the evidence of this mass social media campaign being conducted from abroad? this social media campaign being conducted from abroad? this has been a really dramatic _ conducted from abroad? this has been a really dramatic couple _ conducted from abroad? this has been a really dramatic couple of _ conducted from abroad? this has been a really dramatic couple of weeks - conducted from abroad? this has been a really dramatic couple of weeks in i a really dramatic couple of weeks in romanian politics, topped off with this shocking decision by the constitutional court. it is based on declassified intelligence that was released to the public earlier this week in an attempt to show that russia, which is not identified directly but strongly hinted that, essentially conducted a massive influence a campaign using tiktok to warp the results of this vote. they used tiktok we are told because that is exactly where calin georgescu used tiktok we are told because that is exactly where calin georgech was campaigning, he had no other traditional election campaigning, thatis traditional election campaigning, that is where he was. and people we have spoken to here in bucharest have spoken to here in bucharest

have told me how they were bombarded with content promoting calin georgescu, even someone who had no interest in him before, and very nearly he was elected here, he was heading to a second round vote on sunday but the entire election has been cancelled, very controversial, but mr georgech has not caught people out in protest yet, he is calling on people to stay calm, change will come to romania, but as far as he is concerned this is the end of the electoral campaign. police in new york say it's now a multistate manhunt in the search for the killer of the boss of a major health insurance company. new images of the suspect in the murder have been released as detectives reveal the type of gun they believe was used. brian thompson was killed in what's being described as a targeted attack. nada tawfik has the latest from new york. new video shows the assailant

walking along 55th st and putting something on a pile of trash bags, minutes after he purchased items at a starbucks with cash. and less than half an hour before he shot united health care ceo brian thompson. this image caught on surveillance camera shows the suspect standing at the check—in desk at a hostel where he reportedly shared a room with two other men, he pulls down his mask to show the receptionist to smile and reveals his full face. this breakthrough in the case here at the american youth hostel on manhattan's upper west side has given police new leads. these brothers who live in italy say they were staying on the same floor as the suspect. it italy say they were staying on the same floor as the suspect.- italy say they were staying on the same floor as the suspect. it was a weird coincidence _ same floor as the suspect. it was a weird coincidence that _ same floor as the suspect. it was a weird coincidence that it _ same floor as the suspect. it was a weird coincidence that it was - weird coincidence that it was exactly that night, it feels a bit crazy still, but the next day, the whole night we had a police officer

staying on our floor for our safety, we don't know, maybe he was waiting for him to come back. we we don't know, maybe he was waiting for him to come back.— for him to come back. we now know the person — for him to come back. we now know the person of— for him to come back. we now know the person of interest _ for him to come back. we now know the person of interest in _ for him to come back. we now know the person of interest in this - for him to come back. we now know the person of interest in this case i the person of interest in this case checked into this hostel using a fake id, after arriving here on a bus from a state south of the city ten days before the shooting, this has now turned into a multistate manhunt. the fatal shooting of brian thompson in midtown manhattanjust as he was about to give an investor talk felt like a scene out of a hollywood movie, it has led other major corporations to re—evaluate their safety. ihla major corporations to re-evaluate their safety-— their safety. no one is thinking immediately — their safety. no one is thinking immediately this _ their safety. no one is thinking immediately this is _ their safety. no one is thinking immediately this is an - their safety. no one is thinking immediately this is an attack i immediately this is an attack against — immediately this is an attack against ce05, but it is making everyone _ 1415 0