and a "spectacular" meteor shower is expected to light up the night sky this weekend all around the world. hello, i'm rich preston. a very warm welcome to the programme, good to have your company. let's begin in the middle east. leaders from the arab world, along with the us secretary of state antony blinken, have been meeting injordan to discuss the future of syria. more on that in a moment. first, nearly a week after the overthrow of the syrian president bashar al assad, more details are emerging about the extent of human rights abuses committed under his rule. the bbc has visited a military base, bombed earlier this week by israel, which revealed evidence of torture being carried out there. our middle east correspondent, lucy williamson, went to the base in damascus — and just to warn you, her report contains details

you may find distressing. the men who protected president assad have gone, the control room at mezzeh military air base scarred by the moment control slipped away, its abandoned assets now targets for israeli air strikes. israel has been systematically destroying the military equipment left by the assad regime, worried about who might end up using it. russian—made aircraft, israeli bombs, militia backed by turkey, iran, the us — this was neverjust syria's war, and outside powers still have a stake here. assad's fall has meant unanswered questions about syria's future, but it's also left unanswered questions from the past.

this airbase held a prison where detainees were reportedly tortured and raped by military intelligence. in one room, we were shown electric shock equipment for interrogations. the only thing more painful than finding your parent or child among the records here is not finding them at all. in the building next door, we found the mother of kurdish prisoner mahmoud hussein searching for his face among the photos on the floor. "he was registered here, but we can't find him," she said. "may god burn assad's heart, the way he burned ours". "what are these documents?" this woman raged. "no—one is helping us. how can i find him among these prison files?" assad's regime was meticulous

in documenting its brutality, but critical evidence here is being lost each day and the desperation of families is growing. in a cemetery outside damascus, we found khaled pulling out bags of bones from a shallow, unmarked grave, each one marked with a name and a prison number — two women and a man. khaled was looking for his brothers, taken by airforce intelligence 11 years ago. translation: anyone - who wasn't killed immediately was taken to an area known as the driving school to be slaughtered. i expect this happened to my brothers. when i saw these bags, i thought my brothers might be inside them. syria is beginning a new chapter amid unfinished stories from its past. lucy williamson, bbc news, damascus.

that's the latest from damascus. let's get more on those discussions in the region today. senior officials from the us, turkey and a number of arab countries say they'll support a peaceful transition process in syria. jordan's foreign minister said regional powers did not want syria to sink into chaos. i spoke to our arab affairs editor sebastian usher to get his analysis of this meeting. in a sense, there's nothing that radically new in what they had to say today. the fact that they were meeting, i mean, it underlines the sense that all powers, both inside syria and outside, are trying as hard as they can to ensure that there is as smooth a transition of power as possible. i mean, this is going to be difficult. and so the word that they were saying — i mean, i think the key word is "chaos". and they talked about that, that they don't want

syria to slip into chaos, understandably. and we were hearing from some of the foreign ministers that they believe that that means that remnants of the assad regime officials need to take part in the government. it can'tjust be stripped away, as we saw in iraq, as i guess we saw in libya. i mean, the iraqi foreign minister mentioned libya, saying, "we do not want to see another libya in the region". so i think that's a huge concern. there were eight arab countries, including saudi arabia, including the uae. and i mean, the other message, which again, we've been hearing again and again, is that this government needs to be representative of all syrians. that means all the ethnic groups, all the different political groups. and of course, there's still a big question mark over that. and we've been hearing from syria, from hts, the main rebel group, which has jihadist roots, of course — we've been hearing that same message coming time and time again. some people are suspicious because of its past, but others just wonder if in the sort of circumstances which they're now trying to deal with, whether it's possible to navigate towards that kind of smooth transition, if it's possible

to live up to those promises, even if the groups involved genuinely believe in them and genuinely want to work towards them. as well as those arab states that you mentioned, also involved was the united states secretary of state, antony blinken. let's take a quick listen to what he had to say. in this region and elsewhere, we've seen how the fall of a repressive regime can swiftly give way to more conflict and chaos, how the shoes of one dictator can be filled by another, or how interference by an outside country can be thrown off, only to be replaced by another. that's why it's so important that we and our partners came together today to agree on principles that will guide our efforts to help the syrian people meet these challenges and build the inclusive, non—sectarian, peaceful and sovereign state that they want. so, sebastian, antony blinken, echoing that word chaos there. what did you make of what he had to say?

well, i mean, he signed ajoint statement with the arab foreign ministers and also the turkish foreign minister, as well. turkey, of course, has played a very, very big role in the past, but particularly in supporting hts. i mean, i think of all the outside powers, turkey was probably the most proactive in what's happened in the past two or three weeks in the removal of president assad from power. and i mean, that message, yes, it's the one that we've been hearing again and again. but if you look at the us record — i mean, move away from syria for a moment, look at gaza. we've heard from antony blinken many, many times, he's made many visits to the region with plans, with pressure, and he hasn't really achieved anything. desperately trying to get a ceasefire in gaza — has been unable to do that. so, i mean, we have to look at this on the level of, as he said, principles. but there's an element of wishful thinking. the one other kind of interesting thing that he said

there was that the us has been in touch with hts now — direct contact, he said. now, that's interesting because the us, as do several other countries, still designates it as a terrorist organisation, and it was in specifically to do with the fate of a missing american journalist, austin tice, who i think has been missing since 2012. and there's been hope that with the removal of president assad, there might be a possibility, if he's still alive, of finding him. and so the us has contacted — it's made it a priority of what it wants to do in syria and has contacted hts to discuss that. but he also said that the us had set out its principles, the ones we're talking about, the ones they talked about again today injordan, to hts to say, you know, this is what we believe is the way forward. sebastian usher there. let's go to the _ sebastian usher there. let's go to the caucasus now. a former professional football player has been elected in president of georgia in a vote in the country's parliament, despite condemnation from the incumbent president and the pro—eu opposition.

they say the election process was illegitimate. mikheil kavelashvili previously played for the manchester city team before going on to become an mp in his home country from the increasingly authoritarian ruling georgian dream party. he was the only candidate for thejob. it comes after 17 days of pro—eu protests across the country's towns and cities. this was the scene outside parliament earlier. the four main opposition groups have rejected mr kavelashvili's appointment and have boycotted parliament. earlier i spoke to liza zhvania, who's the daughter of former georgian prime minister zurab zhvania. we're seeing the unprecedentedly long, 17 days of protests outside, gathering thousands every day, young people, along with more than 500 imprisoned and about 300 of them beaten severely. so the so—called government,

which has a huge lack of legitimacy locally, not only by the opposition but also by a large portion of the public as well as internationally, has announced, has chosen the new president, someone who, even for the electorate of georgian dream, is not liked as or not eligible for the candidacy of presidency, and has been criticised by even the supporters of georgian dream. i was going to say, you say he's not eligible. he ran unopposed in the vote in parliament. there will be people who support him. what kind of person is he and what will he be like in this role?

more than what kind of person he is, it's interesting to see why... well, he has been the spokesperson for the gd�*s far—right wing. he has been quite aggressive in his speeches, but he has never held political weight as a player within the team. and it is important to see this event as gd�*s other act of taking legitimacy from a public institution, that is the president's institution. we saw the parliament filled by only gd mps, which shows the comic nature of the parliament now, and now the place of the president is filled by someone who is least likely to oppose anything by the gd leadership. so i guess that's why he got chosen for this, and for other to completely delegitimise the institution of president, which so far remains the only independent

official institution in georgia. let's go to east asia now, and thousands of people have been celebrating on the streets of south korea's capital, seoul, after parliament voted to impeach president yoon suk yeol. it was the second attempt to impeach the president after he tried to impose martial law at the start of the month. the move was seen as the biggest test south korea's democracy has faced. 0ur correspondent, jean mckenzie, sent this report from seoul. cheering in a moment, a protest erupts into a street party, rejoicing the downfall of a president many have long despised. they'd accused him of being authoritarian, of eroding their democracy.

but no one could have guessed what he had planned. when mr yoon stole from the playbook of south korea's past military dictators, dispatching troops to storm the parliament, he committed his final unforgivable act. the biting temperatures would have been enough to force many indoors. but armed with glow sticks and hot packs, they descended here for the 11th day in a row, young women leading the charge. "he said martial law was for the people, but not one of his policies has helped us". as the vote to impeach mr yoon got under way, a solemn warning from pa rliament�*s speaker. translation: the weight l of your ballot is heavy today. it carries the weight of history, the weight of democracy. enough mps heeded his words. the motion passed by just four votes. cheering the irony here tonight is that president yoon always

said that he didn't care about being popular with people or with his party. he wanted to do things his own way, and he didn't mind who he upset. but people in south korea have shown him tonight that in a democracy, in their democracy, you cannot act alone, however much you might try. the dictator president yoon has now disappeared. so happy! today's verdict doesn't mean the president is gone for good — for now, he's suspended. the courts will have the final say. and tonight, mr yoon has said he's determined to fight on. this is the biggest test korea's young democracy has everfaced — and it's passed. people's persistence has paid off — the politicians have listened and tonight, this is their victory. jean mckenzie, bbc news, seoul.

now it's time for a look at today's sport with karthi. thank you. what is already an intriguing premier league season has been made even more interesting with league leaders, liverpool playing out a 2—2 draw with fulham. arne slot�*s side were down to 10 men in the first half when andy robertson was sent off, and fulham were already ahead at that point thanks to andreas pereira. cody gakpo managed to equalise for liverpool just after half time, but fulham regained the lead with 15 minutes left thanks to rodrigo muniz. before diogojota, playing his first game since october equalised for liverpool, with neither side able to find a winner. it doesn't matter against who, you have always something to prove, and we came here to prove something for ourselves, not for no—one but for ourselves. the trust in ourselves, the belief, that you have an identity and we have to respect it, and we did it again. of course, the momentum is here.

but the way we played against arsenal, against tottenham, against brighton and liverpool, we have to go in the same way against southampton next week. newcastle united stopped their recent run of four games wihtout a win by beating leicester city 4—0. that's a first defeat for the new leicester manager, ruud van nistelrroy. jacob murphy scored two of newcastle's four goals and the win moves them up to 11th place. the newcalste boss, eddie howe wants his team to produce more of those kind of performances. we are disappointed that we have not been able to show that more this season. today's up there again with one of our best performances, but i do feel we are getting there, despite some inconsistencies around today's performance. we have just got to focus on the future and try and replicate these levels on a regular basis. third placed arsenal failed to capitalise on liverpool dropping points. the london side could only manage a goalless draw against everton. wolves's woes continue.

they were beaten 2—1 by ipswich — jack taylor with a late winner in the 94th minute. but both sides remain in the relegation zone. while nottingham forest have beaten aston villa in the day's late game — 2—1 the final score, anthony elanga with an injury time winner. there were plenty of goals in the scottish premiership. motherwell moving up to fourth place after an eventful 4—3 win over dundee united. hibs defeated ross county 2—1. and saint mirren are in the top 6 — they had a 3—2 win over saintjohnstone. elsewhere in europe, serie a leaders, atalanta beat cagliari 10. "1-0. second placed napoli had a 3—1 win over udinese. in germany, the bundesliga leaders bayern munich were beaten 2—1 by mainz. jae—sung lee with both goals for the home side. defending champions bayer leverkusen won 2—0 at augsburg. in spain, real madrid can move to the top of la liga, above barcelona. that is if they win away at rayo vallecano.

madrid have come from 2 goals down to lead in the second half. to cricket where england have already won their test series in new zealand but they are hoping to make it a 3—0clean sweep. 0n the opening day of the final test in hamilton their bowlers have had a good start, taking nine wickets. gus atkinson and matthew potts both taking three wickets each. new zealand's tail dug in with mitchell santner unbeaten on 50 — there was a half century earlier on 315 for 9. there are periods where we go through— there are periods where we go through a _ there are periods where we go through a phase of not taking wickets. _ through a phase of not taking wickets, but when you see the energy— wickets, but when you see the energy that gives all the same as taking _ energy that gives all the same as taking away and perhaps not doing _ as taking away and perhaps not doing a — as taking away and perhaps not doing a nice job, as taking away and perhaps not doing a nicejob, grafting away, _ doing a nicejob, grafting away, as_ doing a nicejob, grafting away, as you would say, not being — away, as you would say, not being rewarded for it, it is backed _ being rewarded for it, it is backed up by the fielders. we know— backed up by the fielders. we know that if we stick to our guns — know that if we stick to our guns and _ know that if we stick to our guns and meticulous with that, it will_ guns and meticulous with that, it will come our way eventually. and kind of wrestled the day back for ourselves. we have people extremely well tomorrow.

i think the pitch will probably usually flattens out here, so new boat could be key and trying to build pressure, which is tough to do against english with the guess the way they come about it. and that's all the sport for now. france's interior minister has warned of a potentially "heavy" number of casualties after cyclone chido hit its overseas territory mayotte on saturday. mayotte sits in the indian ocean, about 500km east of mozambique and about 350km west of madagascar. heavy rain and winds of up to 220 kilometres an hour hit the tiny indian ocean island on saturday. the cyclone has also wrecked homes, brought down electricity poles and trees and smashed boats. france's transport minister says mayotte's airport has suffered major damage, and that ships are being deployed to ensure supplies reach the island. it's been described as the worst storm there in 90 years.

with me is elizabeth rizzini from bbc weather. this is intensifying at the moment in the warm waters off mozambique and it is tracking towards a northern coast of mozambique, due to make landfall in the next few hours, the early hours of sunday morning. then it will track further westwards, affecting parts of malawi and also zimbabwe as well. 0nce parts of malawi and also zimbabwe as well. once it makes the next landfall, it will start to weaken again, but it is particularly intense at the moment. some gusts of 280 kilometres an hour, 173 mph. it will cause a storm surge when it gets to the north mozambique coast. it is likely to affect the cities of nonpolar, pember, and will bring a lot of heavy rainfall locally, some sport seeing as much as 300 millimetres of rainfall, but we

are very concerned about the strength of the winds as well. they are intensifying at the moment, so it is likely to make landfall as a category four storm with again the same sort of damage as we have been seeing on mayotte. fin of damage as we have been seeing on mayotte.- seeing on mayotte. on the damage. _ seeing on mayotte. on the damage. we _ seeing on mayotte. on the damage, we saw— seeing on mayotte. on the damage, we saw the - seeing on mayotte. on the. damage, we saw the picture seeing on mayotte. on the - damage, we saw the picture is a moment ago. talk us through the kinds of damage one can expect to infrastructure for tropical cyclones like this? it to infrastructure for tropical cyclones like this?- cyclones like this? it all depends _ cyclones like this? it all depends on _ cyclones like this? it all depends on how - cyclones like this? it all depends on how strong | cyclones like this? it all. depends on how strong the infrastructure is at the time when the tropical cyclone makes landfall, of course, but you can expect roofs to be ripped off, certainly transport infrastructure to be damaged. there are evacuation orders, people have been ordered to get to higher ground, for example, towards the coast there will be the risk of a storm surge with those very strong gusty winds and huge waves as well. waves of up to 4—6 metres had been predicted for coastal areas, so it's likely to make a huge impact on this area of the world. . ~ impact on this area of the

world. ., ~ , ., impact on this area of the world. . ~' , ., , impact on this area of the world. ., ~ i. , . a "spectacular" meteor shower is expected to light up the night sky this weekend. the geminid meteor show is considered one of the most impressive events in the sky's calendar, with up to 150 meteors expected to be visible per hour. while they've been visible since the 11th of december, in the uk they will peak in intensity tonight and into tomorrow, so it's the ideal time for those hoping to catch a glimpse. ben marshall is an astronomer based in newcastle. he explained what the gemini meteor shower is. so we have multiple meteor showers throughout the year, and basically all they are is there's some debris somewhere in our orbit that the earth is passing through. so the geminids meteor shower is debris from a comet that we found in about 2005, and an asteroid, in fact, this asteroid is one of the closest that goes to the sun. but we are passing through this debris field left as that thing has gone past our orbit. and of course, as we go

through that field, we pick up all of this stuff that its left behind, that goes into our atmosphere, burns up, and we get these beautiful lines of light going across the sky. are they dangerous to people watching them on earth? do things fall out of the sky and hit people on the head? no. i think there's only about two ever reports of someone being hit by them, and nobody�*s been seriously injured. no, they are no danger. they're about the size of a grain of sugar to about a grain of rice. 0k. not that big at all. so no need to go out wearing a hard hat then. but what is the best way to see them? just go outside and look up, basically. you need to be somewhere dark. so anywhere away from light pollution is always best for looking at the night sky anyway, and preferably have no clouds. it is always better when there is no moon. unfortunately, at the moment we are in full moon period, so that will get rid

of some of the dimmer meteors that we'll see. butjust go outside when it's dark and look up. so they're called the geminids because they come from the constellation of gemini. that's like the epicentre of them. so if you look there, you won't really see many. but if you look kind of like 45 degrees off to the side of it, that's where you'll see more of them coming from there. butjust go out and look at them. they are great ones to see as well. and are these visible around the world, both northern and southern hemisphere? yes, these will be visible everywhere around the world. i've seen photos from saudi arabia, from america well, just about everywhere in the us at the moment i've had photos sent to me, but, yeah, saudi arabia definitely as well. they are visible absolutely anywhere, anywhere you can see a dark sky. is there something that's particularly special about this meteor shower? it is quite a high intensity one, but i would say probably the best thing about the geminids is they are slow meteors.

so i say slow — it's still 35km per second. but the problem with a meteor shower and whenever you go out or see like a shooting star as we call them, you'll go, "oh, wow, look at that!" and it's gone. and but these ones are, like i say, relatively slow. they last a little bit longer. so you can actually really enjoy seeing it and you can take it a bit more information about it. they are great to look at. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. well, finally some blue sky and some sunshine for many parts of england and wales through the day on saturday. and it was a beautiful end to the day — lots of red skies around, including here in gosport in hampshire with our approaching weather front. but it's that weather front that's introducing a lot more cloud as we head through sunday so it's not such a nice day of weather.

there'll be a brisk westerly wind, many places will stay dry and the air is going to turn a lot milder. and that's because it's a warm front marked here, with the red circles gradually slipping southwards and eastwards for the rest of saturday night, introducing that milder feeling air, marked here in yellow, squeezing the blue, colder air well out of the way. we're staying in that milder air for the next few days. and here it is on sunday morning. a lot of clouds, some coastal, some hill fog around, gales across the northern isles. and it's breezy with that brisk westerly wind further south too. heavy rain pushing into northwest scotland, but elsewhere largely dry away from these northern and western coasts. the best of any breaks in the cloud will be to the east of high ground, so eastern scotland, northeast england, eastern wales should see at least some brighter spells. temperatures will be mild, 12 to 1a celsius and the best of any brightness. and it's just more of the same as we head through sunday night and into monday, the rain continues across northwest scotland. a few breaks in the cloud, perhaps further south with the strength of the breeze, but temperatures won't drop much below nine or ten

celsius as we kick off the new working week. and if we just take a look at the pressure chart, then you can see that this rain is just set to continue across north west scotland. there is a met office yellow weather warning in place for heavy rain here. there could be some localised flooding because the rainfall totals will really start to rack up, particularly as we head through monday and into tuesday. and because of the snow melt, with that milder air, there could be some localised flooding, the rain gradually pushing across caithness and sutherland later on. a few more breaks in the cloud, i think further south on monday. it does stay breezy, but i think we'll stand the chance of seeing more sunshine across east anglia and parts of the east midlands in particular. as we head through monday and into tuesday we look out towards the southwest, it's turning really very wet and windy, with this deep area of low pressure starting to sweep through. the winds turn more south—westerly and it will be very blustery, unsettled as we head through the middle of the week, and then it will turn cooler with a northwesterly wind developing on thursday. so a drop in temperature again.

bye—bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines... the former manchester city footballer mikheil kavelashvili is elected as georgia's new president by the country's disputed parliament. it comes amid weeks of mass pro—eu protests by the opposition. us secretary of state antony blinken says

the us has made direct contact with hts, the group leading the rebel alliance in syria. dipolmatic moves are gathering pace to stabilise the country, after the end of the assad regime. mps in south korea vote to impeach president yoon over his failed attempt to impose martial law. speaking after the vote, he vowed to never give up. and the mystery is continuing to grow in the us after repeated sightings of unknown drones in several states on the east coast. the governor of newjersey has urged president biden to investigate. this is bbc news. let's return now to south korea, where president yoon suk yeol has vowed to fight on for his political future, after parliament voted to impeach him over his failed attempt to impose martial law. crowds of protesters celebrated outside the national assembly when the motion passed by a four—vote margin. president yoon has been suspended, but the final

decision on whether to remove him will be taken by south korea's constitutional court. jen moon is an international affairs specialist and freelance journalist. she told more about the significance of these developments. it isa it is a huge moment for this young — it is a huge moment for this young and vibrate democracy here — young and vibrate democracy here in— young and vibrate democracy here in south korea. for young and vibrate democracy here in south korea.- here in south korea. for the last 12 years. _ here in south korea. for the last 12 years, south - here in south korea. for the last 12 years, south korea i here in south korea. for the i last 12 years, south korea had beenin last 12 years, south korea had been in political turmoil as they watched in horror at the declaration of martial law which sent a chill through the country that had for decades for this kind of role. young people have embraced this victory at the national assembly. their parents and grandparents fought or some of them died for democracy. right now, after president yoon had been stripped of his presidential powers, the prime minister, who is second in line now takes the act as the

interim leader. because he is not an elected official, however, he will lead south korea with no real political haft at a time in this country faces challenges at home and abroad such as north korea's growing nuclear threat and the return of donald trump to the white house.— return of donald trump to the white house. you mentioned at the interim _ white house. you mentioned at the interim leader _ white house. you mentioned at the interim leader has - white house. you mentioned at the interim leader has limited i the interim leader has limited powers, this is now in the hand of the constitutional courts, six months i believe they have to get an answer on this. talk us through the process they will go through. absolutely. so, will go through. absolutely. 50. new. — will go through. absolutely. 50. new. the _ will go through. absolutely. so, now, the fate _ will go through. absolutely. so, now, the fate of- will go through. absolutely. i so, now, the fate of president yoon is now the constitutional court where nine justices are supposed to make up that court. right now, three have resigned. six remain in the constitutional court. the court will have roughly 180 days to make up the decision so whether to uphold this decision are rejected. when we look at past

experiences. we have had to impeachment of the president, one which went to the constitutional court and took 60 days until it was rejected by the constitutional court and that president went back to office. now, the president in 0ffice. now, the president in 2017 got ousted from office, it took the constitutional court roughly 90 days to make that decision. so we will have to wait and see how long that takes. after the constitutional court makes its decision, we will have two months to come up with a snap election for the president. more now on developments in georgia, and the parliament has elected a new president. mikheil kavelashvili, a former professional footballer, who is known for his nationalist, anti—western views. 0pposition supporters in georgia claim his election was illegal and continued their protests in the capital, tbilisi, and other cities into the evening.

we spoke to one of them, mari kapanadze, a lawyer and activist in georgia, a litle earlier. we asked her what has led to concerns of vote rigging, despite international observers finding that while voters were offered a choice, the elections were marred by an uneven playing field, pressure and tension. so i was also personally involved in the observation mission as an organiser. so i have observed the whole process pre—election period as well as the election period. and i can say for sure that that georgian dream has used the full package of falsification and different kind of methods, different kinds of methods to falsify the results of the election. so there was a... it's hard to explain in a couple of minutes, but, uh, that but we have actually gathered the different kinds of evidence that proves that the election has been falsified through various means, including... and the most important part of our, uh, claim

was that the election was not, uh, was not, uh, it was open like everyone knew who the people have voted for, which is one of the gravest breach of the constitutional, constitutional right to vote. and therefore, uh, that's why we demanded from the national courts to declare the results of the election null and void, which sadly, that didn't happen because of that, because all the state institutions, including the justice system, is captured and not independent. but, uh, we have provided all those information to the international observation missions as well as audience so that proves that, uh, the georgian dream actually, uh, actually falsified, uh, the elections. just want to bring you a line coming from our washington, dc bureau. the abc news organisation has agreed to pay

$50 million to donald trump, the president—elect after he sued them for libel. this is after an interview with an abc tv news host in which the host said the incoming president was found liable for rape in a civil suit, when in fact mr trump was found liable for sexual abuse. there was a distinct difference in new york law so in march this year, donald trump and his legal team raised that legal action, it was filed in florida against abc news, the case was sorted out earlier on and as i said the news now that the abc news has agreed to pay $15 million to donald trump following that libel action. prince andrew says he "ceased all contact" with a businessman accused of being a chinese spy after concerns were raised by the uk government. in a statement, the duke of york said the pair met through "official channels" and had never discussed anything of

a "sensitive nature". the man in question lost an appeal over a decision to bar him from entering the uk on national security grounds. graham satchell reports. once again, prince andrew is underfire. hisjudgment called into question after he was targeted by a suspected spy working for the chinese communist party. a statement issued by the duke of york's office said the duke of york followed advice from his majesty's government and ceased all contact with the individual after concerns were raised. the duke met the individual through official channels, with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed. he is unable to comment further on matters relating to national security. prince andrew has a long history of promoting trade links with china. the revelations that he was in a close working relationship with a man who worked for chinese intelligence have been made public after the man, known only as h6, was barred from the uk on national security grounds. when m15 became suspicious

of h6, they searched his phone. they found a letter from prince andrew's senior adviser, dominic hampshire. it said, "outside of the prince's closest "internal confidants, you sit at the very top "of a tree that many, many people would like to be on." and in a note he'd written to himself, the alleged spy said, "manage expectations. "really important to not set too high expectations. "he is in a desperate situation and will grab at anything." in what may be a significant escalation in this story, the times is reporting that the suspected chinese spy attended events here at buckingham palace, at saintjames's palace, and at windsor castle. it raises the question — how much influence did he have at the very highest levels of the british establishment? m15 has become more worried in recent times about china's influence and intelligence gathering in the uk. we see the chinese authorities playing the long game

in cultivating contacts to manipulate opinion in china's favour, seeking to co—opt and influence not just prominent parliamentarians from across the political landscape, but people much earlier in their careers and public life, gradually building a debt of obligation. the chinese embassy has called the allegations of spying a baseless smear, but there are now growing calls from some politicians for h6 to be named in the interests of national security. it was his girlfriend that was the key element in this. prince andrew stopped being a working member of the royal family after details were revealed of his friendship with convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein. ever since, questions have been asked about how the prince has been funding his 30—room mansion in windsor. and while there is uncertainty about the prince's finances, it is his judgment that has once again come under the closest scrutiny. graham satchell, bbc news. a landmark hearing at the international court

the united nations agency for children is warning that more children are dying in gaza, because they can't leave to get urgent medical care. unicef says two and half thousand children in gaza need medical evacuation, but since may, when the rafah crossing was closed, few have been able to leave. and those that do often have to make the journey alone, without their parents. 0ur reporter, ru abbass, examines the cases of two children scarred by the war. a warning that this report contains distressing scenes right from the start. it was meant to be a time of tranquil prayer at dawn. but on the 10th of august, 6,000 displaced palestinians in eastern gaza city woke to horror and carnage. among them was 14—year—old anas, who witnessed the devastation as dozens were killed in the israeli airstrike on the al—tabi'in school. when the missile struck, anas was hurled into cement columns. he sustained third degree burns covering more

than 50% of his body. israel said the school was a legitimate target, claiming hamas fighters were based in the compound. the impact left shrapnel embedded in anas' body and multiple fractures, injuries he continues to endure to this day. translation: i have severe pain in my right leg and hand, - along with these large scars which cause significant disability. touching or tapping them triggers immense pain. these scars require injections for treatment. but the hospital can't help because i need plastic surgery on both hands. anas has endured hours of surgery without painkillers or anaesthesia, but doctors now say they are unable to help him with the limited medical resources available. his family, who've been displaced ten times now wander from pharmacy to pharmacy, desperately searching for ointments to soothe his scars,

often leaving empty handed. translation: anas underwent a two-hour surgery last week, | but doctors revealed . they could do little due to gaps in the bones of his right leg. - they warned him not. to walk until he receives treatment abroad. gaza also lacks the medical capabilities to treat patients like seven—year—old ibrahim. in late april, he was helping his mother prepare breakfast when a severe airstrike hit the house next door. the force was so intense, it reached their home, engulfing ibrahim in flames. israel says it does all it can to minimise civilian casualties. translation: ibrahim screamed, "mama, save me, save me! - the fire, the fire!" i looked down and saw flames on my stomach and his head and face. i grabbed a prayer mat and wrapped it around him to extinguish the fire, then put out the flames on myself. he was deeply upset and terrified and kept repeating,

"mum, i'm disfigured." he would open his eyes and say, "i feel my face is ruined. "i feel like i've melted." ibrahim was taken to kamal adwan hospital in north gaza, which is now under siege. he has since endured many failed skin graft surgeries. translation: i can't move much, especially my neck. _ my feet hurt me so much every night and i can't sleep because of it. my sister is scared of me. she doesn't want to kiss me. i need to get medical treatment abroad so i can be handsome like my brother. with little access to medicine, ibrahim suffers with wounds that keep tearing open. translation: he feels | different from other kids. on our way to the hospital, children would pity him and point and say, "look at his face," making him cry. he would tell me, "mum, i used to be handsome." ibrahim is unable to cope alone.

his mother says despite being ajordanian citizen, she has been denied permission to accompany her traumatised son for his critical medical treatment abroad. but for now, there is no escape from the cage of this war as relentless dangers close in on the children of gaza. ru abbass, bbc news. the family of a former royal marine who took his own life last month is calling for the law to be changed so veterans are offered immediate mental health support. 36—year—old sam morgan from guisborough served three tours of afghanistan. he developed post—traumatic stress disorder after leaving the military but was unable to access face—to—face counselling. 0ur reporter stuart wincup has been speaking to his family. a warning, you may find some of the details in this report distressing.

sams family said he was loved by everyone who met him. the life and soul of a party, someone who could light up a room. after serving three tours of afghanistan, sam's mental health rapidly deteriorated. his family said he desperately tried to get help but was unable to get the face—to—face counselling he needed. he unable to get the face-to-face counselling he needed. he said to me one _ counselling he needed. he said to me one time _ counselling he needed. he said to me one time that _ counselling he needed. he said to me one time that more - counselling he needed. he said to me one time that more of i counselling he needed. he said| to me one time that more of his regiment had died through suicide than had actually lost their lives in afghanistan. and he really struggled with that, he really struggled with that, he really struggled with that, he really struggled with losing his friends. my he really struggled with losing his friends.— his friends. my son is suicidal. _ his friends. my son is suicidal. on - his friends. my son is suicidal. on the - his friends. my son is l suicidal. on the phone, his friends. my son is - suicidal. on the phone, they suicidal. 0n the phone, they said —

suicidal. 0n the phone, they said to — suicidal. 0n the phone, they said to him, don't advertise it. �* , said to him, don't advertise it. �*, ., , said to him, don't advertise it. sam's family and friends said his treatment - it. sam's family and friends said his treatment showed l it. sam's family and friends i said his treatment showed the lack of support available to veterans. lack of support available to veterans-— lack of support available to veterans. , ., ., ~' , veterans. everyday he woke up, he fought. _ veterans. everyday he woke up, he fought. he — veterans. everyday he woke up, he fought, he fought _ veterans. everyday he woke up, he fought, he fought to - veterans. everyday he woke up, he fought, he fought to try - veterans. everyday he woke up, he fought, he fought to try and | he fought, he fought to try and beat this, know, every single day, it was a struggle for him. and unfortunately the responsibility of this health and support has fallen on charities and that is just appalling. these charities are under resourced. the ministry of defence — under resourced. the ministry of defence said _ under resourced. the ministry of defence said it _ under resourced. the ministry of defence said it sympathies| of defence said it sympathies remain with sam's family and friends at this difficult time. we did everything, we loved him so much. but he needed that immediate help.— immediate help. there is nothina immediate help. there is nothing for _ immediate help. there is nothing for them, - immediate help. there is nothing for them, and i immediate help. there is i nothing for them, and they served _ nothing for them, and they served their country, they served _ served their country, they

served their country, they served their country, they served their country, and the country— served their country, and the country should do the same for them — country should do the same for them. �* , country should do the same for them, �*, ., , country should do the same for them. �*, ., , ., them. sam's family will now campaign — them. sam's family will now campaign for _ them. sam's family will now campaign for a _ them. sam's family will now campaign for a change - them. sam's family will now campaign for a change in - them. sam's family will now| campaign for a change in the law in his name. they want veterans who suffer from post—traumatic stress disorder to receive immediate support and treatment. and if you have been affected by any of the issues raised, you can find information and support at befrienders worldwide. there's confusion over repeated reports of drone sightings in the skies over the eastern united states. the governors of new york and newjersey say they're in touch with federal officials over the concerns. president—elect donald trump has posted on social media demanding either an official explanation orfor the objects to be shot down. but white house officials have played down the reports. barry caffrey reports. these are the drones that have been reported by people living in new jersey. loud, low—flying objects, with unusual lighting. it all started a few weeks ago with reports of a drone

flying over an army base, and in the days that followed, officials were inundated with reports of mysterious objects in the skies. it didn't concern me at first. i just didn't think anything of it until it started becoming, like, every night, the same time, same places, so i figured, "0k, they must be doing some kind of military drill." i've seen clusters. last night, i saw a cluster of about eight up over here, but normally i see them a little spread out, and they're sporadic. the low—flying objects are often reported to be flying very close to each other. on thursday, the white house said these sightings were probably unmanned aircraft or helicopters, and said they're confident there is no risk to the public. we have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus. officials in newjersey are pushing for more

information to be disclosed to the public about the mysterious sightings. the question i believe the fbi and dhs needs to brief the public on right now is what do they know about where these drones are from? are they authorised or unauthorised? are they licensed or unlicensed? where are they from? speculation on social media has increased in recent days, with people wanting to know where these objects have come from and who they belong to. barry caffrey, bbc news. at least one person has been taken to hospital and a number of other people injured after a double decker bus crashed into a railway bridge in glasgow. part of the roof of the bus was torn off. the vehicle belonged to the operator first bus. a spokesperson for the company said they have launched an immediate investigation. asian hornets are an invasive species that pose a major threat to wildlife in the uk, with the insects capable

of killing 50 bees a day. rapid action to track them down and destroy their nests has been found to limit the spread across the country. to keep on top of the numbers, scientists are also using hornet dna to target hotspots where they might emerge next year. 0ur reporter sarah irving has more. it's bigger than the ruler. would we say the biggest we've had this year? do you think? this asian hornet�*s nest is being dissected in laboratories just outside york. all stages of the hornet�*s life cycle are ta ken from the nest for analysis. we've got cells here where we've got eggs. so we know the queen's active. she was active in the last day or two. we have the eggs developing into larvae. they're then capped over and pupate. the scientists here are hunting for clues, information that can help build a picture on the scale of the threat of the asian hornet invasion in the south—east. those clues are hidden in the hornet�*s dna.

what we're looking for with the genetics, we're looking to see whether we've got males and females. and the thing we're really trying to get at from that is, has this nest bred? so, in the life cycle of the nest, it produces workers, and then as we get towards autumn, it starts to produce the next generation of males and then the next generation of queens. and we want to know if this nest here was destroyed before that happened or not. they're also looking at the hornet family tree. from dna testing, they know that a nest discovered in rye last year produced at least three queens that successfully survived the winter. emerging this spring, they were caught only a few miles from where they had hatched the year before. but what scientists don't know yet is if second—generation queens, like those ones, have gone on to establish nests and breed themselves in the uk. what we would be interested in, for example, is knowing whether the queen who made this nest was the offspring of one of the nests from 2023,

because if she successfully survived from 2023 in the uk, made the next nest, then we've got that direct link that says they are capable of breeding in the uk. the science done here on the yellow—legged hornet is unlike any happening across europe. the data they gather from the nest provides the inspectors on the ground with key information to help them in the fight against this invasive predator. the government believes this science—led approach is having an impact, with 23 nests discovered this year compared to 72 last year. but it says it still needs the public to be vigilant and keep a watch out for this yellow—legged invader. fiona irving, bbc news. imagine fleeing war—torn sudan and relocating to scotland. far away from your family and friends — a desperately lonely experience. one woman found that learning

to ride a bike around the city's streets — something which would have been illegal in her home country — is what made her finally feel at home. aileen clarke has this report. when nahla abdulla fled the war in her home country of sudan, she arrived here knowing no—one. at glasgow's kelvingrove, as the art project boxes of hope goes on show, she told me how it was learning to ride a bike that gave her hope of a brighter future. when i arrived it was difficult. i was alone, i don't have family here. ijust i left my family in sudan. the bike, it helped me to see the beauty of this city and to discover the life here. i was not a cycle person or i start from the scratch as our culture is forbidden for girls to cycle.

but here it helped me to to feel a sense of belonging. let me feel like there is many things to discover here in this city. and it pushed me to go out. it was a glasgow cycling group who got nahla peddling and it's touching for them to know the huge difference they've made. people don't realise just the impact of something so simple as teaching someone to ride a bike, but it's really great to know and just really kind of heart—warming to think that that's the impact that you've had on someone. and as a group, that that's what we can do and can help other people do as well. out on the bike, nahla's confidence was built up and it gave her a community. meanwhile, she was granted refugee status. she's able to work and she's working with a charity helping ethnic minority women. and guess what? she's asking them to get on their bikes. it made me be happier.

it helps physically and mentally, emotionally, giving my friends, of course. all from a bicycle? yes, all from the bicycle. aileen clark with that report there. more on the bbc website and the bbc news app. i will be backin and the bbc news app. i will be back in a few moments time with the latest headlines, do join me then. bye—bye. hello there. well, finally some blue sky and some sunshine for many parts of england and wales through the day on saturday. and it was a beautiful end to the day — lots of red skies around, including here in gosport in hampshire with our approaching weather front. but it's that weather front that's introducing a lot more cloud as we head through sunday so it's not such a nice day of weather. there'll be a brisk westerly wind, many places will stay dry

and the air is going to turn a lot milder. and that's because it's a warm front marked here, with the red circles gradually slipping southwards and eastwards for the rest of saturday night, introducing that milder feeling air, marked here in yellow, squeezing the blue, colder air well out of the way. we're staying in that milder air for the next few days. and here it is on sunday morning. a lot of clouds, some coastal, some hill fog around, gales across the northern isles. and it's breezy with that brisk westerly wind further south too. heavy rain pushing into northwest scotland, but elsewhere largely dry away from these northern and western coasts. the best of any breaks in the cloud will be to the east of high ground, so eastern scotland, northeast england, eastern wales should see at least some brighter spells. temperatures will be mild, 12 to 1a celsius and the best of any brightness. and it's just more of the same as we head through sunday night and into monday, the rain continues across northwest scotland. a few breaks in the cloud, perhaps further south with the strength of the breeze, but temperatures won't drop much below nine or ten celsius as we kick off the new working week.

and if we just take a look at the pressure chart, then you can see that this rain is just set to continue across north west scotland. there is a met office yellow weather warning in place for heavy rain here. there could be some localised flooding because the rainfall totals will really start to rack up, particularly as we head through monday and into tuesday. and because of the snow melt, with that milder air, there could be some localised flooding, the rain gradually pushing across caithness and sutherland later on. a few more breaks in the cloud, i think further south on monday. it does stay breezy, but i think we'll stand the chance of seeing more sunshine across east anglia and parts of the east midlands in particular. as we head through monday and into tuesday we look out towards the southwest, it's turning really very wet and windy, with this deep area of low pressure starting to sweep through. the winds turn more south—westerly and it will be very blustery, unsettled as we head through the middle of the week, and then it will turn cooler with a northwesterly wind developing on thursday. so a drop in temperature again. bye— bye.

live from london, this is bbc news. nearly a week after bashar al—assad's fall, the bbc visits a military base in syria, uncovering evidence of torture being carried out there. the former manchester city footballer mikheil kavelashvili is elected as georgia's new president amid mass protests by the opposition. france warns of a potentially "heavy" number of casualties after cyclone chido

hits mayotte. and a "spectacular" meteor shower is expected to light up the night sky this weekend all around the world. hello, i'm rich preston. very good to have you with us. let's begin in the middle east. leaders from the arab world, along with the us secretary of state antony blinken, have been meeting injordan to discuss the future of syria. more on that in a moment. first, nearly a week after the overthrow of the syrian president bashar al—assad, more details are emerging about the extent of human rights abuses committed under his rule. the bbc has visited a military base, bombed earlier this week by israel, which revealed evidence of torture being carried out there. 0ur middle east correspondent, lucy williamson, went to the base in damascus — and just to warn you, her report contains details you may find distressing.