assad regime will be held accountable. this held accountable. is the scene live in the syrian this is the scene live in the syrian capital damascus as work continues to build a transitional government. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu arrives in court to testify for the first time in his long—running corruption trial. the prime minister sir keir starmer has thanked british personnel at the akrotiri air base in cyprus for their work during what he called �*a volatile�* period in the middle east. 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. in syria, the main islamist rebel leader has said the country's new government will pursue officials from president assad's regime who oversaw torture and war

crimes and offer rewards for information about those involved. rebel fighters say they've found more than forty bodies showing signs of torture at a hospital near damascus. this is the scene live in the capital. banks are expected to reopen and public transport services resume today. work continues to build a transitional government. the rebel leader abu mohammed al—jolani has appointed the man who's been running most of idlib province as the interim prime ministerm and a small cabinet — so that public services can resume. aru na ayengar reports. scenes ofjoy as syrians pour into the capital, damascus, for a second day. women, children and families joined with rebel soldiers... gunfire. ..to celebrate freedom from the regime of former president bashar al—assad.

syrian communities around the world are celebrating. these were the ecstatic crowds in london. look at all these people, how happy they are! now we should be able to go back home, see ourfamilies, visit the graves of our loved ones which were murdered by assad and his gang. back in damascus, stories of horror are not hard to find. this man is a5. he has no teeth — he says bashar al—assad soldiers broke them because he belonged to a rebel militia. they also cut off part of his tongue, and gave him mice to eat in prison. the prison has become a symbol of the atrocities committed by syria's former government. desperate relatives have been heading there, seeking loved ones, some of whom disappeared years ago. thousands of opposition supporters are believed to have been tortured and killed here. just days ago, rebels freed

thousands of prisoners here. hayat tahrir al—sham fighters are seen as heroes for liberating these people. but can a group that has a jihadist past deliver the democratic rule that many here want? this woman says, "they are from our country, they are not islamic state, we are not afraid of them." syria's stability depends for now on the man wearing military clothing — abu mohammed al—jolani, the leader of hayat tahrir al—sham. here, he was meeting the interim prime minister to discuss the way forward. he succeeded in uniting rebel groups and capturing the whole country in under two weeks. he said rewards will be given for information on assad officials involved in war crimes. meanwhile, these syrian refugees in turkey are facing the dilemma of whether to return home to syria. like germany, like france and like other countries, we have paused asylum decisions on cases from syria

while the home office reviews and monitors the current situation. what will syrian refugees return to, and how can those living in the country deal with the demons of its past? aruna iyengar, bbc news. the un special envoy for syria, geir otto pedersen, has been holding a briefing in the past hour, in which he said the rebel groups are co—ordinating well for now. for now, much of what some call rebel—controlled syria is under the control of what we call a patchwork of groups. they are coordinating well for now. but they are not fully or formally united. it is important that we do not see conflict between these groups. let me also say that by and large, we have seen reassuring statements from the hts and the different armed groups, but there are still some issues of law and order. the un special envoy

there to syria. i've been speaking to our middle east correspondent in damascus, lina sinjab, about reports that the rebel group had promised to publish a list of names of people who'd tortured political opponents. that's happened exactly after the leader of the rebels, mohammed al—jolani appointed a new prime minister and a small cabinet and met with the former prime minister to hand over power. he also announced that the new authorities were going to be issuing this list with names, and urged anyone who knows any information about people who've been involved in torturing syrians to hand this information. he also said that those who fled the country will be traced and prosecuted. however, it's really hard to tell at the moment how this process is going to take place because it's the early days of the toppling of the regime.

the government, the new government, the interim government is expected to take authority of the former government today. so things are going to take some time between handover. it's really unclear how the justice system will operate. there should be like a justice minister and justice authorities, and it's really hard to see when and if they manage to capture those people who've been involved in torture and killing of the syrians, how the process is going to be to bring them to justice. and when it comes to those accusations of torture, of course, we've been witnessing these scenes in that very notorious prison in syria. what is the latest there? have they managed to access and find any more people, any more former prisoners? well, the white helmets, which is the rescue group that has been involved in the search operation, along with many experts, have already put out a statement that they've

halted their search operation, mainly in saydnaya prison and that they haven't found any more prisoners. and at the same time, the rebels have announced that they found at least a0 bodies in body bags in a morgue, in a hospitalwith, you know, gruesome marks of torture on their bodies. we believe that these bodies belong to prisoners who were in saydnaya prison. however, many groups are still in the search. there are statements coming out with rewards for people who have information about any secret prisons that they haven't discovered yet, and still searching for people who are missing. over the past decade, with the rule of former president bashar al—assad, he used detention and torture to silence people. and human rights activists documented over 100,000 forcibly disappeared, that their families don't know their whereabouts, and they're still looking for them. while the syrian observatory

for human rights also documented at least 60,000 people have been tortured to death inside assad's prisons. israeli warplanes are reported to have carried out more than 100 air strikes across syria. loud explosions were reported in the capital damascas and smoke was seen rising over the city. a research centre suspected of links to chemical weapons production was among the sites hit. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, said the action was necessary to ensure his country's security. the un special envoy for syria has condemned the israeli strikes on syria — calling for them to stop. a very troubling development. we are continuing to see israeli movements and bombardments into syrian territory. this needs to stop. this is extremely important.

israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu 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. my my colleague is at the courthouse in tel aviv for us. benjamin netanyahu, giving testimony. he is remaining to be defiant after this trial, which is a long time coming. that's right. this trial has been going on now for some time, but this is the opening of the defence. we had quite lengthy remarks from the lawyer

for benjamin netanyahu, really calling this a biased case and saying that the aim was the downfall of his client. then we heard from benjamin netanyahu, speaking on the witness stand as a defendant in this case, for the first time. he gave evidence. he was really outlining, you know, what he thought the charges were against him, how he was minimising those, i suppose, and distressing israel �*s role in the region at this momentous time when he has been called before the court. he was saying that the future of the state was the only thing in front of him. that was his priority, not his own future. he criticised the media for what he said were "absurd attacks" on him. of course, one of the cases he involves the allegations that he received positive press coverage, or requested it, from

media owners in exchange for regulatory favours that he is alleged to have done. then he also said it was doubly absurd, the idea that he took illicit gifts, this refers to one of the other cases where he is accused of accepting some $200,000 worth of gifts from wealthy businessmen, one of them a well—known hollywood producer. the prime minister went on to talk very much about how he works very long hours, he can't find five minutes even to spend with his wife. he said, "is not really a life". so he has come out fighting and his protesters are out in force, but so are his critics. i've just been outside the court and it is quite a stark contrast. on one side you have his supporters, and on the other side of the anti—netanyahu camp. it really just underlines the deep divisions that we have seen in

israeli politics in recent years. particularly with this trial going on. i spoke to people on both sides and there are very strong feelings, some saying that mr netanyahu should have stepped down to face these charges, and others saying that he is the only person that can lead the country at this turbulent time.- lead the country at this turbulent time. ., ~ , ., ,., turbulent time. thank you so much. turbulent time. thank you so much- we — turbulent time. thank you so much. we are, _ turbulent time. thank you so much. we are, of— turbulent time. thank you so much. we are, of course, . much. we are, of course, monitoring that trial. much more on our website. also more background to that court case. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

to the united states now and a 26—year—old man has been charged with the murder of a health insurance executive, who was shot dead in a street in new york last week. luigi mangione was detained in pennsylvania after a member of the public recognised him at a mcdonald's. he has since appeared in court and our correspondent jessica parker was there.

luigi mangione, a 26—year—old computer science graduate from a top us university, seen yesterday in handcuffs, now in custody in pennsylvania. he's been detained on firearm and forgery charges in pennsylvania and, overnight, a murder charge has been filed in new york after health—insurance boss brian thompson was shot dead in the street by a masked man in manhattan, 280 miles away from altoona, where the suspect was found. a huge manhunt and a nationwide police appeal led here to a roadside mcdonald's in altoona, pennsylvania. the suspect, who was inside the restaurant, was recognised and an employee then tipped off the police. i want to begin by thanking our fellow pennsylvania resident who acted as a hero today. pennsylvania resident saw something early this morning at mcdonald's and said something to our local police,

and our local police here in altoona acted swiftly. didn't even think twice about it. we knew that was our guy, but he was very... uh... he was very cooperative with us. didn't really give us too many issues. once we found out his identity, we took it from there. the authorities say the suspect was in possession of items consistent with the new york shooting, allegedly including a firearm and a silencer, as well as a document expressing ill will towards corporate america. in court, luigi mangione stated he had no criminal history. now he's been identified as a strong person of interest in a case that's garnered worldwide attention. jessica parker, bbc news, in altoona, pennsylvania. french president emmanuel macron invited party leaders to engage in cross—party talks, as he attempts to form a new government following a historic no—confidence vote last week, which toppled his

michel barnier—led government. party leaders will meet at macron s elysee palace office this afternoon. macron s office said that only those who had shown they placed themselves in a framework of compromise had been called upon for tuesday stalks, appearing to exclude the far—right national rally and hard—left france unbowed. with me is our news reporter pierre—antoine denis. so he is effectively missing out to really significant groupings here.- groupings here. yes, absolutely. _ groupings here. yes, absolutely. the - groupings here. yes, absolutely. the idea | groupings here. yes, - absolutely. the idea that he is still convinced that he can find some sort of republican blog within this very fragmented parliament. you have three groups here that are with equal seats but he still feels he can find a republican block mainly by trying to dislocate the left side of this assembly, and trying to appeal to socialists. what we are mainly

seeing is emmanuel macron looking at and trying to find a method, ratherthan looking at and trying to find a method, rather than someone, which was according to his close ally the big mistake that he made over the summer by appointing michel barnier, which was to find someone who would mend the differences. now by calling on these people and these party leaders he thinks he that he can find a method, rather than someone.- he that he can find a method, rather than someone. wow. so, he is feeling _ rather than someone. wow. so, he is feeling pretty _ rather than someone. wow. so, he is feeling pretty confident. i he is feeling pretty confident. we saw those images from the weekend, notre dame, paris as the world stayed there with so many important leaders, but our ghibli, of course, you were in france, in paris, when all of that collapse was happening and we were expecting emmanuel macron to name a prime minister but he didn't. we were monitoring this and we were talking to you when you were there. when it comes to the possibility of france actually getting somebody named, what is the likelihood?— the likelihood? well, at the time i the likelihood? well, at the time i think— the likelihood? well, at the time i think when _ the likelihood? well, at the time i think when it - the likelihood? well, at the time i think when it comes l the likelihood? well, at the i time i think when it comes to the people close to emmanuel

macron, what they have been telling us on the ground for the last few days, is we need someone quickly because emmanuel macron wants to turn that page, as you said. he is someone who wants to be seen internationally with the likes of donald trump and zelensky, he wants to move past all of this chaos domestically to try and shine again on the international side. and shine again on the internationalside. so and shine again on the international side. so he really wants that to happen, but it is all about whether the other parties will listen to him, and will not try and stop him, and will not try and stop him from this and say, look, you need to look at the french people as well because i think in this moment in time emmanuel macron is really focused on his international legacy. this is his second term in office and he can't be re—elected again, so he will really look to build his legacy from now on. what do french peeple — his legacy from now on. what do french people make _ his legacy from now on. what do french people make of— his legacy from now on. what do french people make of all- his legacy from now on. what do french people make of all of- french people make of all of this? , ., ~' french people make of all of this? , ., ~ ., this? they do think from speaking _ this? they do think from speaking to _ this? they do think from speaking to them - this? they do think from speaking to them on - this? they do think from speaking to them on the j this? they do think from - speaking to them on the streets over the last week, that they are still holding emmanuel

macron responsible for this whole situation, and have some sort of sympathy for michel barnier, who was kind of left on his own in this situation, trying to build a government in politics that were not really suitable. it is this sense of as a minute what is happening now feels almost like a political game. they really want to get the government in place and see things going because there is a lot of money and tax in discussion and they want to see the direction that france going forward. {iii want to see the direction that france going forward. of course they need _ france going forward. of course they need some _ france going forward. of course they need some form _ france going forward. of course they need some form of - france going forward. of course | they need some form of budget, don't they? thank you so much for talking us through that. to south korea and the turmoil following president yoon's failed attempt to impose martial law last week. he's been banned from leaving the country whilst a military intellegence chief has been suspended from duty. tens of thousands of people came out calling for president yoon to resign or be impeached. our seoul correspondent jean mackenzie gave us an update on the impeachment issue.

it looks like we're going to have another vote to impeach the president this coming weekend. now, the vote that happened on saturday, it actually couldn't go ahead in the end because the members, the parliament members of the ruling party, decided to boycott that vote. now, they did so, we think, because it was an anonymous vote and they were worried that some of the members might cross the floor, they might defect and they might vote in favour of this impeachment. now, the opposition party only needs eight votes from the ruling side in order to be able to impeach the president. but i know that some of the ruling party mps, they were frustrated that they were actually blocked from voting and they want to be able this time ahead to vote either for or against, they want to be given a free vote. and we've already had today three mps come out and say that whatever the party decides they have to do, they are going to at least take part in this vote. now, it doesn't mean they're going to vote to impeach the president necessarily, but they are going to take part in the vote. now, we have to bear in mind that why the ruling party up to this point haven't wanted

to impeach the president. they are worried about elections that would follow, because if the president is impeached there will be snap elections and they are worried they might lose these. they intensely dislike the opposition leader here, lee jae—myung. now, this man is actually under a number of criminal investigations here in south korea at the moment. so what they are essentially trying to do, we think, is to run down the clock. they are hoping that lee jae—myung is convicted of one of these crimes and that would bar him from office. now, they need, though, about six months in order for some of these criminal investigations to play out. but we think that some of these mps are starting to think twice about this strategy and starting to question whether they really are going to be able to hold out for this long given the public anger here. sir keir starmer has told cypriot president nikos christodoulides the uk—cyprus relationship could be "taken to an even stronger level" as the pair met in nicosia on tuesday. the prime minister also addressed royal air force personnel at the akrotiri base in prrus.

he delivered a message of thanks to the troops — and noted that many would be missing family christmas celebrations back home. here's some of his message. iam also i am also aware that some quite a bit of what goes on here can't be talked about. although we are really proud of what you are doing, we can't really tell the world what you are doing here, and therefore it makes it really important to say thank you and to acknowledge that because although we are not saying it to the whole world for reasons that are obvious to you, the whole world is relying on you. everybody back at home is relying on you and knows that you will be there. so a big thanks from me. king charles will present the first elizabeth emblems today. the awards, named after the late queen, will be given to the families of emergency service workers and public servants who have died in the line of duty. our correspondent ellie price has more.(tx) our correspondent

ellie price has more. two lives cut short in the line of duty. pc fiona bone and pc nicola hughes were killed responding to a bogus 999 call in greater manchester in september 2012. their fathers have campaigned ever since to mark their deaths, and those of other public—sector workers who died doing theirjobs. 12 years on, that campaign ended last month, with the prime minister commending their efforts at downing street. getting it moved on is always hard, takes a certain degree of resilience. she was nice, friendly and liked people... and she didn't anticipate dying the way she did, that's for sure. but...you know, she knows she had to do the job. they go to work every day, l and they're serving the crown and they're wearing a crown on their uniform, _ and quite rightly so. they should be recognised i by the crown, by the state.

and i think that's important — that they are recognised. - and notjust police officers, . but other public sector workers who have been killed in the line of duty . or have died doing the job that they're doing — - serving the public, serving us. the details and the design of the elizabeth emblem were announced in march. today, the families of more than 30 firefighters, police officers and other public servants will receive the first of the awards. they won't be the last. a simple tribute for a life given in service. ellie price, bbc news. a rare roman coin depicting brutus, one of the assassins ofjulius caesar, has sold at auction in switzerland for over $2 million. the gold coin, one of only 17 still in existence, was issued by brutus a year after the assassination in 44 bc. it features a portrait of brutus surrounded by laurel leaves on one side, while the other bears

symbols that reflect on his military victories. the coin was bought by a european collector following intense bidding. a moment of history. we'rejust going to go to live pictures of damascus. this is the shot we are just monitoring of the syrian capital, of course, we have got the overhaul of the assad regime, and the main islamist rebel leader saying that any of those senior officials who were involved in the assad regime who are involved in torturing political prisoners will be named. abu mohammed al—jolani saying that rewards will be offered for information about senior army and security officers involved in what he described as "war crimes". we have a page with the very latest on our website.

hello. we're still feeling the aftermath of storm darragh, particularly in terms of flooding. we've got 38 flood warnings currently in force. the majority of these are along stretches of the river severn and it's going to take a while for those flood waters to fade away. but over the next couple of days we should see some improvement because high pressure is in charge and that means we are not going to see any new storms coming our way anytime soon. now, it's a cold and frosty start to the day for scotland and northern ireland, lowest temperatures down to —9 celsius. and there are a few patches of freezing fog around as well. whereas england and wales, we are frost—free because we have extensive cloud around and that's been bringing widespread drizzle across parts of lincolnshire, through the east midlands, east anglia, southern counties of england, into south—east wales. that drizzle gradually should tend to die away as we head into the afternoon so it will become a bit drier, but it stays cloudy with winds gusting to 30—odd miles an hour around some of our north sea coasts. it will feel cold, temperatures at best 6—8 degrees, and those temperatures barely getting above freezing in scotland, particularly where any fog lingers.

now, overnight tonight, it's a repeat story, really, in that we'll have clear skies across parts of scotland and northern ireland to allow a fairly widespread frost. those temperatures probably down to about —8 or so. england and wales, still a lot of cloud around and some further patches of drizzle across eastern areas. that's how we'll start the day here on wednesday. now, we'll still have those chilly north—easterly winds but they are not quite as strong. might see a few breaks in the cloud for parts of west wales and north—west england, but otherwise the best of any limited sunshine will be across scotland and northern ireland once again. it will be another cold day for the time of year. on thursday, spot the difference, high pressure is still with us. again, the best of the breaks still for scotland and northern ireland with extensive cloud for most of england and wales, although the winds will be turning a little bit lighter and that might well help temperatures climb by an odd degree or two, perhaps up to ten in norwich. heading into friday and the weekend, weather fronts dive southwards across the uk, followed by high pressure moving in from the west

later in the weekend, into next week. and so weather—wise, friday and saturday, we'll probably start to see some rain move into scotland, a bit of hill snow with that but no significant accumulations. then it should brighten up at least for a time.

real—life �*succession' — rupert murdoch loses his bid to change a family trust and give control to his eldest son. blue skies ahead. more of us than ever before are predicted to take off next year — we'll speak to one of the leading figures from the aviation industry. and the nuclear race — ai demand is fuelling investment in new reactors — we hear from the company developing the first plant of its kind in the us. welcome to business today, i'm ben thompson. we start with the latest installment in the rupert murdoch succession saga. a court in the us state of nevada has rejected mr murdoch's plans to change the terms of his family trust and hand editorial control of his media empire to his son lachlan. the media mogul�*s other children had objected to their father s plans, which would have deprived them of a say in how the family business is run after he dies. 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