syria's main islamist rebel leader says those involved in torturing political prisoners from the deposed assad regime will be held accountable. a man is charged with murder over last week's fatal shooting of a healthcare boss in new york. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu arrives in court to testify for the first time in his long—running corruption trial. and real—life succession — rupert murdoch loses his bid to change a family trust and give control of his media empire to his eldest son. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has arrived in court in tel aviv to testify for the first time in his trial on corruption allegations. he stands accused of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases but denies wrongdoing. netanyahu, who has repeatedly sought to delay his appearance in court is the first sitting prime minister of israel to face a criminal

trial. we can cross to speak to my colleague yolande knell who is at the courtyard in tel aviv. benjamin netanyahu facing multiple charges.— multiple charges. that's correct. _ multiple charges. that's correct, in _ multiple charges. that's correct, in this - multiple charges. that's - correct, in this long-running correct, in this long—running trial, we still haven't had the prime minister taking to the witness stand. we have been hearing the opening remarks for the defence from his lawyer who has been talking about what he said was the absurdity of having a sitting prime minister basically charged in relation to asking for positive media coverage, he said, when he said the media was so much set against the veteran leader. he said the gifts he had received, which were part of one of these cases, were only proof of his deep friendship with those involved. he said that in the days ahead he would show that the scope of the gifts was immeasurably less than in the charge sheet. there is this

idea that the prime minister himself was putting forward in a news conference last night that he is the victim of what he called a brutal witchhunt by his political opponents and his lawyer picked up on that saying in court it was the pursuit of a man, not a in court it was the pursuit of a man, nota crime. we in court it was the pursuit of a man, not a crime. we have had a man, not a crime. we have had a series of ministers from mr netanyahu's coalition neta nyahu's coalition government turning netanyahu's coalition government turning up here in the courtroom, some of them calling for the attorney general to be ousted from her post. others have been talking about what mr netanyahu has also said, the fact that this is taking place at such an important moment in the region, taking up a lot of the prime minister's time, as we have the war going on in gaza, those israeli strikes in syria we were just talking about, israeli forces now in what was the demilitarised zone in syria, and a fragile ceasefire in lebanon as well. this is of

course very damaging for the prime minister's prestige. he likes to cultivate an image of himself as being a world leader, someone who is sophisticated and politically savvy. sophisticated and politically sa . . , sophisticated and politically sa , , sophisticated and politically sa . , , sophisticated and politically sa . ., savvy. he has been accused of dra: ulna savvy. he has been accused of dragging out _ savvy. he has been accused of dragging out the _ savvy. he has been accused of dragging out the war- savvy. he has been accused of dragging out the war in - savvy. he has been accused of dragging out the war in gaza l savvy. he has been accused of| dragging out the war in gaza in order to avoid these trials, this trial in particular. it has been very contentious when it comes to how israel views what these charges are on the fact he has been delaying this trial for so long.— fact he has been delaying this trial for so long. trialfor so long. yeah, he has had several _ trialfor so long. yeah, he has had several requests - trialfor so long. yeah, he has had several requests for - trial for so long. yeah, he has. had several requests for delays in the trial accepted by the judges. the last time he said he was not going to ask for further delays and that's how we end up with him in the court today. you can see outside of this court room just how deeply the country is split, something that has defined in israeli politics over the past few

years. you do have the pro netanyahu supporters on one side of the security line, a line of security guards, and then on the other side you have then on the other side you have the anti—netanyahu group, those who are saying he should have stepped down to face serious criminal charges, he should not have continued in office. and among them you have some of the hostage families. they are accusing the prime minister really of putting his own political survival ahead of the well—being of their loved ones still being held by hamas in gaza. ., ., ., gaza. yolande knell at the courthouse _ gaza. yolande knell at the courthouse where - gaza. yolande knell at the courthouse where we - gaza. yolande knell at the courthouse where we will. courthouse where we will continue to monitor that historic trial. i will take you across our live to cyprus. this is the scene live where british troops are waiting for the uk prime minister sir keir starmer, who will address the royal air force troops at the

base. it's being described as a historic trip to cyprus. also quite contentious because he landed in cyprus but he is not visiting the turkish cypriot northern part of the island. so that has caused quite a lot of contention on this divided island. but he has become the first prime minister, he will become the first prime minister to make an official visit for bilateral talks for more than five decades in cyprus. he is expected to hold talks with the president of the republic of cyprus in the greek cypriot —controlled south of the island. before that he will be addressing british troops there. we are monitoring the live shot because we expect the uk prime minister to appear imminently to address royal air force troops. we are watching

that british air force base in the republic of cyprus in the greek cypriot —controlled south of the island. we are monitoring that and the moment the prime minister arrives we will bring that to you. let's turn to the iter states. —— let's turn to the united states. a court in the us city of nevada has denied rupert murdoch his bid to change his family trust, and give control of his media empire to his eldest son, lachlan. mr murdoch, who is 93 years old, owns major outlets like fox news and the wall streetjournal. the trust splits control of the media empire among his four children. the leaked court ruling stated that his attempt to change it was in bad faith. michelle fleury reports from new york. this is a case that has played out behind closed doors. rupert murdoch tried to amend a 1999 family trust to give his son lachlan more control over the family media empire, bypassing siblings prudence, elisabeth and james, who don't necessarily share his conservative views.

now this ruling, guaranteeing a say for all of the children, could change the editorial stance of the murdoch family's many media assets. these include controlling stakes in the times and sun newspapers in the uk, and perhaps more significantly, fox news in america, the powerhouse conservative network that's had a huge influence on republican politics and right—wing audiences. a nevada commissioner ruled that murdoch and lachlan acted in bad faith according to a leaked court ruling. james, elisabeth and prudence welcomed the decision, saying in a statement obtained by the bbc that they hoped

to move beyond this litigation to focus on strengthening and rebuilding relationships among all family members. despite the ruling, the case can continue. a districtjudge must ratify mr gorman�*s decision, according to the new york times, and rupert murdoch can challenge it. we can take you back to cyprus and historic images of sir keir starmer, the first british prime minister to visit cyprus in 53 years. he is there and we are watching him addressing the royal air force troops at the base in cyprus. the british forces have a number of retained sites on the republic of cyprus, they have a presence there, the british armed forces station across sites in cyprus. prime minister, the stage is yours — prime minister, the stage is ours. ~ , prime minister, the stage is ours, ~ , ., yours. we can listen in to the prime minister's _ yours. we can listen in to the prime minister's address. - yours. we can listen in to the| prime minister's address. can yours. we can listen in to the i prime minister's address. can i sa it is prime minister's address. can i say it is a _ prime minister's address. can i say it is a real _ prime minister's address. can i say it is a real privilege - prime minister's address. can i say it is a real privilege to - say it is a real privilege to see you here this morning. i came for one purpose. that was to stand here and have the

opportunity to say to you a very simple thing, but a really important thing, which is thank you. thank you for everything that you do for our country. i say that as me, i say that as prime minister, head of the government, on behalf of the government, on behalf of the government, but also importantly i say it on behalf of so many citizens back in the uk who would love to be able to stand here and see you and say thank you. millions of people in the uk who would love to be on this stage having the opportunity to personally say to you, thank you. on their behalf and on the behalf of theirfamilies and behalf and on the behalf of their families and communities for what you are doing, because they are so proud of what you do. they don't have that opportunity but through me i want to extend that to you and i want you to feel that from across the whole of the country because here you are, a long way from home, but back at home everyone is so appreciative of what you do. i think it's very

important that at the end of the year, as we come towards christmas, i have seen some of the decorations up on my way in, but it is a period to remember that not everybody here will necessarily have their family with them. some well and some won't. many of you will miss out on the wider family experience back home. but also this is a time to reflect, towards the end of the year, on what for you has been an incredibly busy year. when i say thank you, i want to extend that to all your families and the staff and everybody that forms the team here. they have also made a huge contribution. you do it year in, year out, wherever you are, but this year i think particularly from this base, it has been extraordinarily busy because the challenges have been intense. we have asked you over and over again to step up, whether that's the operation that has been going for some

time, whether that's the work you do dropping stuff in gaza, much—needed, difficult work. but also the evacuation work which a number of you will have been involved in. i know from the planning we had to do for the planning we had to do for the evacuation that it was chopping and changing, we didn't quite know what the plan would have to be, when it would be executed, if it would have to be executed. but i want you to be executed. but i want you to know that when i was making decisions about what we were doing and when we would do it with my senior team in downing street, i knew that you would step up. i knew you would be professional, i knewi step up. i knew you would be professional, i knew i could say notjust on my team but to our country, and i could say to allies, that we would be ready to do whatever was necessary, when it was necessary, and that's because i had complete faith in you. thank you for that, because it gave me the confidence 1513 00:11:58