mr al bashir says he wants to provide stability and calm. the bbc�*s lina sinjab has been speaking with food vendors at one of damascus�*s markets who say there are more signs of life through out the city. i am in one of damascus's food and vegetable markets and as we can see today there is plenty of produce available. syria is very rich in its agriculture and most of the products we are seeing today are coming from rural damascus or from the coastal side, a sign that the traffic and the delivery is continuing. we have spoken to lots of people here today. some of the shopkeepers said that we are going, you know, we have full oxygen now, a sign that they have been suffocating under assad. the others said, "we have a full—time celebration." we can see people picking up their groceries here.

this is essential for the rebels to get things back working. they have captured today as well the city of deir ezzor, after the kurdish forces left the area. deir ezzor is very important, as it is rich with oil. by this, the rebels will control resources and provide fuel to the rest of the country. as we drove in here today we also saw some of the minibuses transporting public employees to their work. it seems that this city slowly, but surely, going back to normal. you can keep up—to—date with you can keep up—to—date with the latest by going to the live the latest by going to the live page on the bbc news website page on the bbc news website scientists believe they have with expert analysis from our with expert analysis from our correspondence in the region. correspondence in the region. we will be live with my we will be live with my colleague. colleague.

for the first time, for the first time, scientists believe they have witnessed the building blocks of how a galaxy is formed. nasa's james webb space telescope has obtained the first image of a clumps of stars, much like our own milky way, forming not long after the big bang. here 5 our science correspondent, pallab ghosh. littered across the night sky are distant galaxies.

in space, the further you look, the further back in time you see. that's because of the time it takes for the light to reach us. it takes around a second for it to reach us from the moon. for the sun it's eight minutes, and for the closest star it's four years. but the light from firefly sparkle is from not long after the very beginning of the universe. and it's taken 13 billion years to get to us. firefly is too small and too far away to be detected by the james webb telescope, but luckily there are a cluster of galaxies in between which acted like a gigantic magnifying glass, which enabled us to see in incredible detail. the formation of a galaxy like our own milky way in the process of forming. it takes the light coming from the firefly and bends and amplifies it and magnifies

this object so that we can see it in glorious detail. and when it does all of this, and it's able to see these incredibly far away galaxies, it's just this very humbling, magical feeling. like all magnifying glasses, the galaxy lenses stretch and distort whatever they're enlarging. this artist's impression, published in the journal nature, shows what fireflies sparkle actually looks like. it's so beautiful because the early life of a galaxy is extremely active. there is so much happening. there are new stars being born. there are massive stars dying. there is a lot of gas and dust around it. you have all these lovely colours that come out of these regions. the james webb space telescope has transformed our understanding of the cosmos, bringing us pictures like these since its launch on the 25th of december 2021, with much more to be revealed from the early universe. the telescope is the christmas gift that will keep on giving.

pallab ghosh, bbc news. i love that, a christmas gift that keeps on giving and i love the name, firefly sparkle. just before i leave you i will take you to damascus, we are continuing to monitor the live shot of the syrian capital where you can see people returning back to the country following the fall of basher al—assad. we will be live in damascus with my colleague lyse doucet who it is there for us right now we are of course a complete transformation of the fall of the basher al—assad regime. you are watching bbc news. we will continue to bring you more developments from

syria as we get them. the teaching union the nasuwt has threatened �*industrial relations misery�* over next year's recommended public sector pay rise. the 2.8% increase will apply to more than a million workers — including teachers, nhs staff and civil servants. but already trade unions have reacted angrily, saying the figure is too low. our political correspondent iain watson has more. overworked! underpaid! with the labour government awarding a substantial pay increase to junior doctors, you might have thought scenes like these wouldn't be repeated. but think again. the government is proposing pay increases for many public—service workers which are barely above inflation. and the unions are very vocally expressing their discontent this winter. including some which help fund the labour party. nhs staff are facing a huge challenge going into this winter, with the quad—demic on the horizon, and the huge challenge to try and bring down those unacceptable waiting lists.

pay is really key to that. the biggest worry at the moment is this news will drive more people to leave, and that will make the situation even worse. for many public—sector workers, ministers are recommending a pay rise of 2.8% for next year. that's just above inflation, which is expected to rise to 2.6%. the government has already upset farmers over inheritance tax, and some pensioners over cuts in winter fuel payments. and now they could be on a collision course with the unions. the government's proposed 2.8% increase will now be put to independent pay review bodies to consider. they have to take into account the need to retain and recruit staff. that could lead to them to recommending a higher increase. but there's a sting in the tail because the government's saying that anything above 2.8% would have to come from existing departmental budgets. that means they will have to find efficiencies, or make cuts.

the teaching unions say pay has declined by as much as a fifth in the past decade, making recruitment more difficult. but they say any pay increase should not be at the expense of spending on schools. there's also something else that is problematic in the evidence that the government has submitted to the pay review body. in the fact that the expectation is that any pay award next year should come out of existing school budgets. so there would be no extra funding made available. the current government is hoping that the unions, like them, will blame the previous government. i would hope that they recognise that the government's fiscal inheritance has been extremely difficult, and we do have to make sure that the books overall balance, as well, and that pay is on a sustainable footing. but the previous government wasn't exactly offering to share responsibility. labour have got themselves into a real bind here where, you know, they've sort of announced 22% for doctors a few weeks ago, 2.8% is on the table here now.

they've got to own the process. final decisions on pay are still some way off, so there won't be any new strike action soon. but there's clearly gap between the unions' expectations and the government's intentions. iain watson, bbc news. scientists say a humpback whale has made one of the longest and most unusual migrations ever recorded. photographs taken by whale—watchers have revealed an astonishing journey from colombia to zanibar — a distance of more than eight thousand miles. our environment correspondent helen briggs has the story. the wandering whale was first seen in the pacific ocean off colombia, popping up several years later in the indian ocean near zanzibar, an astonishing journey that has left scientists baffled. what normally happens is humpbacks learn their migration route from their mother by following her in the early years of their life, and then stick to that migration route

for their whole life. and so we don't know whether this is an animal that's somehow been motivated to go on a longerjourney, or has simply made a mistake, orfailed to learn the migration route adequately to be able to do it itself. humpback whales are known for their long migrations, feeding near the poles and breeding in warmer waters, but this male�*s journey was even more spectacular, involving two distant breeding grounds. one theory is that climate change is altering the abundance of the tiny shrimp—like krill humpback whales feed on, forcing him to go further in search of food. or he could have been crossing oceans in search of a mate. helen briggs, bbc news. one does hope that it is the latter and romance is dead. —— is not dead.

now it's time for a look at the weather with simon king. hello there. a beautiful scene in perth and kinross although it has been cold with the temperature freezing, frosty for many. elsewhere the cloud has been stubborn, if you are breaks to bring a bit of brightness for a time but as we go through tonight, not a great deal of change with cloud across england and northern ireland. scotland seeing mist and fog patches in central areas but largely clear skies with the temperature dropping quickly with widespread frost. the temperature could be as low as “8, temperature could be as low as -8, -9 temperature could be as low as —8, —9 again in more rural areas. elsewhere the temperature stays at 5—7. during thursday this area of high pressure that has been with ours over the last week will gradually move at used words. not going to change things too much for most of us on thursday. once again a lot of cloud around across england, wales and northern ireland. only breaking up a touch to

bring brighter spells. the best of the sunshine will be across central and northern areas of scotland. more cloud for the western isles compared to the last few days. the temperature, where you have got some sunshine the cold start means it doesn't get much above freezing, elsewhere about 5—9. similar to the last few days. by similar to the last few days. by friday the area of high pressure moves eastwards and allows one weather front moving close to the far north—west of the uk bringing rain to the north and west of scotland during friday. elsewhere in the cloud may be thick enough to produce some rain and drizzle towards the north and east and later on towards the south—west. otherwise fairly cloudy with a view breaks in the cloud developing. the temperature of about 7—9. as we go into the weekend that is where we see more significant changes with the weather, the cold air starts to be shunted

away, mild airfrom the atlantic, south—westerly winds, so the temperature will rise particularly through sunday. double figures in scotland and northern ireland. more on the way of centring to come over the weekend. that's all from me, goodbye.

live from london, this is bbc news. the father and stepmother of 10—year—old sara sharif, who was found dead at her family home, have been found guilty of murder.

the bbc tracked down the man who hid the family when they fled from uk to pakistan. we'll bring you that exclusive interview. fifa announce saudi arabia will play host to the men's world cup in 2034 — despite strong criticism from human rights groups. fighters in syria have set fire to the tomb of the ousted president bashar al assad's father. i'm lyse doucet in damascus. there continue to be reports and summary execution at the caretaker prime minister sent a reassuring message urging syrians abroad to come home. hello, i'm kasia madera. the father and stepmother of sara sharif, a 10—year—old girl who was found dead in her home here in the uk, have been convicted of her murder, after a trial