welcome to the programme. i'm lewis vaughan jones. the un 5 special envoy to syria has warned that unless the country gets urgent support it could be plunged back into conflict. geir pedersen, called for "free and fair elections" in syria and urged humanitarian assistance to the country more than a week after the downfall of president assad. there are a few challenges. one is that the conflict isn't over yet. yes, there is stability in damascus, but there are challenges in some areas, and of course, one of the biggest challenges is the situation in the north—east. we need immediate humanitarian assistance but we also need to make sure that syria can be rebuilt, that we can see economic recovery, and that we can hopefully see

the beginning, where we start the process to end sanctions. of course, it is the importance of making sure that we have a political transition that will be credible, inclusive and includes the broadest range of the syrian society. the international organisation for migration says the country is not yet stable enough for the large—scale return of refugees. the agency says about a 100,000 people have already returned. the head of that organisation — amy pope — told me what she had found on her trip to damascus earlier this week. we picked up that the caretaker government is serious about trying to create a more stable situation in syria, but that the task ahead of them is monumental. they do not have a lot of experience governing such a complex situation. much of the country is still devastated by the war that

has gone on for years. and the country itself still faces some fairly significant humanitarian needs that must be met if it is going to recover effectively. if you add on top of that, movement of people, lots of people within the country and coming back potentially into syria, what kind of consequences could that have? 0ur concern is that if there is a large—scale movement of people back into the country at a time when basic infrastructure is missing in parts of the country, frankly, it will put a lot of pressure on a very fragile system. it also risks increasing the regional instability, it risks further movements, further displacements of people. it risks conflict between communities. so we are hoping the international community and our partners around the world will take seriously the need to provide humanitarian support and begin the rebuilding effort for the country before there are large movements of people back there. what does it mean?

we will come to the situation on the ground in different parts of syria in a moment, but given what you just said there, what implications does that have for governments of countries in the region but also across europe, and lots of areas that are receiving applications of asylum, applications potentially historical and current from people from syria? many have paused those processes. is your message to those governments to continue to process them and accept people from syria or not? there are two different pieces here. the first is for people who are now currently coming to a country and seeking asylum, and there it is really, as our colleagues at unhcr would share with us, it is important people have a case—by—case consideration to determine whether or not they have a need for asylum at this moment in time. the situation on the ground is very volatile, it is not clear it is safe for everyone to go back so that decision still needs to be made based on individual circumstances. there is a different matter

in terms of the people who are already living and working, or who have had refugee status around the world, and certainly the issue there for many countries, is it time for those people, those syrians, to go back home? the answer to that question is, not quite yet. there may be individuals who can go home because of where they are going, it may be more stable. but in terms of a large scale return of syrians, the situation on the ground there remains really unsuitable for large numbers of people to go home. thank you for clarifying that. let's move to the situation on the ground in syria. can you give us an idea of the numbers of people who are internally displaced in syria? the numbers of people who have potentially left and therefore a potential figure of people who could be returning? there are over 5 million people who have been displaced inside the country. around 2 million of those people are inside camps, so in very, very fragile circumstances. another 3 million or

so have been displaced to other parts of the country. likewise we know there are millions of people who have left the country over the years and they are now living in the surrounding countries, jordan and turkiye and here in lebanon where i am calling from. as well as in europe. the numbers of people are well over 10 million who could be returning to their place of origin. in the uk a man has been found guilty of stabbing amie gray near bournemouth pier in may. the persecution said nasen saadi was fascinated by true crime and may have gone to the town to find out what it was like to kill someone. here is our correspondence duncan kennedy. we have a chilling tale of a young man who not only researched and planned a murder

but went on to carry it out. his two victims were two women, amie gray and leanne miles, who were out on a night out on the bournemouth beach last may when along came nasen saadi, a 20—year—old student from london, who literally walked up to them and started stabbing them. amie gray was declared dead at the scene. leanne miles suffered serious injuries. in the past few minutes nasen saadi has been found guilty of murder and attempted murder. amie gray lived for football, family and life. fix, amie gray lived for football, family and life.— family and life. a kind and energetic _ family and life. a kind and energetic soul, _ family and life. a kind and energetic soul, as - family and life. a kind and energetic soul, as friends | family and life. a kind and i energetic soul, as friends put it. especially to the players and staff at dorset cross futsal club where she was head coach. but in may this year, nasen saadi, a 20—year—old student, came to bournemouth wanting to know, said the prosecution, what it would be like to take a life and make women feel afraid. the court

was played at cctv pictures of nasen saadi prowling around the town. he had only asked a lecturer at his college about how police traced dna. the lecture had said to him, you're not planning a murder, are you? to which he replied, no. but amie gray on a friend, leanne miles, were about to become his victims. this is him walking near bournemouth pier. 0n the right, amie gray and leanne miles are sat chatting near a campfire. he first goes past them and then turns back. he lingers before moving towards them to carry out his attack. it was, said the prosecution, both savage and random. the two women were stabbed repeatedly. amie gray was later pronounced dead at the scene. leanne miles said she had pleaded with her attacker not to kill her because she had children. she also said that amie gray had saved her life. amie gray's

wife, sharon, on the left here, said she was the most loving wife and mother and the words can't describe the pain we feel. nasen saadi, who called himself the ninja killer on snapchat, had used the internet to buy these knives, but the murder weapon was never found. and under police questioning he denied playing any involvement. i have no reason to attack someone for no reason. but i'm wrongly accused of mistaken identity. wrongly accused of mistaken identi . ., , wrongly accused of mistaken identi . ., , identity. nasen saadi will be sentenced — identity. nasen saadi will be sentenced later. _ identity. nasen saadi will be sentenced later. his- identity. nasen saadi will be sentenced later. his visit - identity. nasen saadi will be sentenced later. his visit to | identity. nasen saadi will be | sentenced later. his visit to a seaside town leaving a devastating sequence of violence, loss and family grief. studio: duncan, there was a lot of interest in this case, not least because the men had been studying criminology at university. had been studying criminology at university-— at university. yes, that very much came _ at university. yes, that very much came un _ at university. yes, that very much came up during - at university. yes, that very much came up during the i much came up during the evidence. there was this period in october and november of 2023 when he was in lectures at his

couege when he was in lectures at his college at the university of greenwich in london and he was asking the lecturer they're all about police methods, about dna, how easy it was to trace somebody. all these questions that lead his lecturer to ask him, you're not planning a murder, are you? to which he replied, no, i'mjust doing research for a paper. but clearly several months before these attacks in may of this year, nasen saadi had something in mind, he was planning something. he checked out where the hotels in bournemouth had cctv cameras. he checked out whether it was easier to run across a pebble beaches or sandy beaches. he even bought whilst he was in bournemouth, because he had directly to the place for three days before committing the murder and attempted murder, a pair of nail clippers in a bournemouth chemist. the police think he might have been up to cutting his nails off to stop them finding any dna under his fingers should he be caught. he was that meticulous in his

planning. he got rid of all his clothes on, the murder weapon was never found, clothes on, the murder weapon was neverfound, the shoes clothes on, the murder weapon was never found, the shoes were never found. was never found, the shoes were neverfound. there was never found, the shoes were never found. there was a degree of meticulous planning to this which makes it chilling, makes it terrifying. it was a case based on circumstantial evidence, from cctv footage and all these planning materials the police found on his computer, but at the end of the day there was no forensic evidence, there was no clear—cut direct evidence leading to him, but thejury went out yesterday afternoon and have come back afterjust five hours of deliberation to find him guilty of murdering amie gray and the attempted murder of leanne miles. thank ou to murder of leanne miles. thank you to duncan _ murder of leanne miles. thank you to duncan kennedy - murder of leanne miles. thank. you to duncan kennedy speaking to us earlier. a court in london has ruled that police can seize more than $3 million from the controversial influencer andrew tate and his brother, tristan, after they failed to pay tax. the court heard that the brothers hadn't paid a penny in tax, on earnings of more than $25 million. the brothers are currently in romania where they face charges of human trafficking and rape. they deny wrongdoing. to moscow, where authorties

investigating the killing of russian general igor kirillov say they've arrested a 29—year—old suspect. kirillov and his assistant were blown up as they left an apartment block, just a few kilometres from the kremlin, in the early hours of tuesday. a warning, some viewers may find the pictures we're about to show you upsetting. the explosives were attached to a scooter parked on the street. moscow says the arrested man is an uzbek, who confessed to having been promised $100,000 to kill the general, and then travel to a european union country. ukrainian security sources have said they planned the attack, insisting the general was a legitimate target because he was responsible for russia's use of chemical weapons on the battlefield. the bbc�*s vitaliy shevchenko has been monitoring the response from the russian authorities. what we know is basically these two statements, one issued by the russian federal security service, the fsb, and also the official investigations committee, they are saying that a man, an uzbek men, aged 29, has been arrested on suspicion of killing general igor

kirillov yesterday. and the russian security services issued a video of a man, apparently this uzbek citizen, basically confessing to what he did. he's shown handcuffed and saying what those two security agencies said. he is saying that he, several months ago, he bought a scooter, then later he received parts for the bomb, which he assembled and attached to the scooter. then he parked it outside general kirillov�*s house. and also he apparently rented a car, also parked it outside the house, placed a camera inside the car, which was basically livestreaming from the site. now, importantly, the russian

security services and this man are saying that he was acting in the interests of the ukrainian security services, he had been recruited by the ukrainian security services, allegedly, and was livestreaming from outside general kirillov�*s house to his ukrainian handlers, apparently, based in the ukrainian city of dnipro. so yesterday morning when they saw general kirillov and his aide emerge from the house, the uzbek man pressed the button and the bomb went off, killing the general. now, he also speaks about why he did it. he said he had been promised $100,000 and a place of residence in the eu. now, whether any of that is true is of course another matter, but it's really important that the russian

security services are basically saying that ukrainian agents had been able to organise an assassination of a key russian generaljust miles outside of the kremlin. the uk has not ruled out sending british troops to ukraine to help train the country's armed forces. on a visit to kyiv, the defence secretary. john healey announced that the government would provide an additional £225 million package of military aid to ukraine. he's been speaking to our defence corresponent jonathan beale. we have developed at each stage the training that we have done for ukraine with ukraine. we have also done it with allied nations that have rallied behind the leadership the uk has offered. we will continue

to do that throughout 2025. fix, to do that throughout 2025. a simple question, could that involve british troops, boots on the ground inside ukraine training ukrainians? the detail of ourjoint _ training ukrainians? the detail of ourjoint ukrainian - training ukrainians? the detail of ourjoint ukrainian plan - of ourjoint ukrainian plan will have to remain, let's say... unavailable to president putin. but the important thing is we are stepping up both uk leadership in coordinating other nations. we are stepping up other nations. we are stepping up the uk support for ukraine. we are determined we will put ukraine in a stronger position in the weeks ahead and throughout 2025. we are also a country that will step up the pressure we put on putin. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

concerns are mounting that the cyclone that hit the french indian ocean island of mayotte has caused great loss of life. a surgeon said the emergency

department at his hospital had seen worryingly few patients, given the scale of the destruction. there are reports that many people had disappeared in shanty towns where thousands of illegal immigrants lived. many homes were flattened by winds and mudslides. 0ur correspondent mayeni jones reports from reunion. the reason why efforts were set up here is because there is only one airport in mayotte. the runway has been partially damaged by the cyclone. at the moment only military aeroplanes are able to land there. commercial aeroplanes can't yet land there. and even military aeroplanes can only land at night. it has completely cut the island off from the rest of the world. french authorities have set up an air corridor between reunion and mayotte. they plan to bring 120 tonnes of food today as well as have about 50% of the island back having running water by the end of today, so they are working hard to try and address this. we have to bear in mind people haven't had food and water for the most part

since saturday, particularly those outside the main capital. they have been struggling and nobody knows exactly how many people might be buried under mud. there were fears there were mudslides in some areas where a lot of informal settlements were built. it's a really worrying picture at the moment and authorities say they are concerned and want to try to get in there as soon as possible. new photos released by maxar technologies give us a clearer understanding of the cyclone damage. meghan 0wen can take us through them. these satellite images taken before and after the cyclone lay bare the scale of the destruction. this wider image shows dzowdzi and western pamandzi — a commune in mayotte — clear water submerged with murky water and boats missing from jetties.

but if we go to the after pictures we can see it is completely submerged and the boats have gone from the sea. this is a closer look at the port and if we scroll through the before and after you can see the boats have disappeared. the greenland is replaced completely by mud. mamoudzou, the capital, before the storm — with a population of 50,000. this is the picture afterwards — the destruction widespread, with schools, hospitals, restaurants and offices in ruins. roofs were ripped from homes, and electricity pylons ruined. this is a view of a university building in mamoudzou with what looks like sports buildings flooded. you can see the weather conditions are very unclear.

and a closer look at some of the buildings in the capital, completely destroyed, cars strewn across the street, with thousands unable to access water and hundreds feared dead. so that's the view from above, giving a stark look at the devestating aftermath below. meghan 0wen, thank you. here in the uk, not guilty pleas have been entered on behalf of a teenager, axel rudakubana, who is accused of killing three young girls at a dance class. elsie dot stancombe, were killed at her taylor swift theme dance class injuly. 0ur correspondent gave the latest from liverpool crown court. this was a fairly short hearing. axel rudakubana, who is now 18 years old and comes from west lancashire, he appeared on a video link, sat in a room, in video link room

one in belmarsh prison in south london. he was wearing a grey sweatshirt and sweat pants. he was able to hear proceedings but he didn't speak during the proceedings and rocked from side to side. he faces 16 charges in total, three of murder, eight of attempted murder, eight of attempted murder, possession of a knife and two other charges, all relating to events on the 29th ofjuly this summer in southport. pleas of not guilty were entered on all charges, although he didn't speak. those pleas were put to him, the charges put to him and the plea is entered by the judge on charges put to him and the plea is entered by thejudge on his behalf. to the charges in full, he was charged with the murders of their bacon, he was six, elsie dot stancombe, who was seven, and alice da silva aguiar, who was nine. at the

beginning of the summer holidays in southport, there was a dance class, when an incident took place, when their deaths happen. eight of the children... five of the children... five of the children were critically injured. he was charged with the attempted murders of all of them as well as the attempted murder of two adults who were there as well, who suffered from critical injuries. he was also charged with the possession of a kitchen knife with a curved blade and a production of a biological toxin, namely ricin, and possession of material likely to help someone in the preparation of a terrorist act. namely a preparation of a terrorist act. namelyajihadi training namely a jihadi training manual. namelyajihadi training manual. they were added to the charges in october this year put up the case is listed to come forward justice goose at liverpool crown court on january 20th was that we are

told the trial will last up to quarter weeks. told the trial will last up to quarterweeks. mr told the trial will last up to quarter weeks. mr rudakubana has been remanded in custody until the time the trial gets under way. the chinese space agency says two of its astronauts — or taikonauts — have broken the world record for the longest single spacewalk, spending a total of nine hours and six minutes working on the outside the tiangong space station. they installed space debris protection devices and inspected external equipment and facilities. the previous record for "extra—vehicular activity" was set at 8 hours and 56 minutes in 2001 by nasa astronauts. the tiangong space station is china's first long—term space station. in may this year, beijing announced its plans to become a space superpower within 20 years. 0ur correspondent martin yip in hong kong says chinese state media's giving the story prominence. this piece of news at least, is being published on page two, in page two of today's people's daily, the national flagship newspaper. of course, it's the key propaganda mouthpiece,

if you like, of the communist party, so it's definitely a big thing that they are celebrating. it's precisely 50 minutes that they've managed to stay outside in the space for this spacewalk, longer than the record that the united states have kept since 2001. remember, back injune this year, china sent an unmanned space mission, the change 6 mission, to the dark side of the moon to collect rock samples. that was already a big breakthrough because nobody has ever done that, not even the us. now, the next thing would be whether they can finish sending people onto the moon itself, and they are planning to do it by 2030. if they succeed, china would become the second country on earth ever to do that since the us did that back in the 1960s.

so it's a thing that china is very keen to work on and make sure that that would become a success. stay with us here on bbc news. all the business headlines and a couple of minutes. hello. some of us have seen some pretty strong winds so far today. there are further bouts of windy weather to come over the next few days. 0n the satellite picture, one curl of cloud, one area of low pressure moving away northeastwards, but our next frontal system approaching from the southwest. some wet and windy weather with that. we have seen some very mild air tucked up into these weather systems, but some colder air is now starting to dig its way down from the north, so temperatures dropping through the rest of the day across scotland, northern ireland, northern england, some clear spells and some showers to take us into the first part of the evening. it stays milder for

longer further south, but with thickening cloud. heavy rain into south west england, wales, that running eastwards through the evening with a swathe of very strong winds running up through the english channel. those winds easing a touch through the second half of the night, but it's going to stay very windy across the north of scotland. here we will see some wintry showers with that colder air tucking in. and for all of us, well, it's not going to be as mild as last night. into tomorrow, a very different feel to the weather, all of us into the colder air. but we will see quite a lot of sunshine showers blowing of sunshine, showers blowing in on the strong northwesterly winds. it's going to be windy for all of us. some of those showers wintry over high ground. temperatures down in single digits, 5 to 9 degrees covers it for most of us. but when we factor in the strength of the wind, it will feel even colder than that. now into friday, here comes our next frontal system. another band of rain pushing in from the west, some showers following on behind. some slightly milder weather tucked in with this

frontal system for a time. and then as we head into the start of the weekend. but it could turn very windy once again, a deep low hurtling towards the northwest of scotland. a lot of isobars on this chart. we could well see gales, maybe severe gales across the north and the west of scotland, the north coast of northern ireland with gusts potentially up to 80mph — that could cause some disruption. a real rash of showers working in here, some of those wintry up over higher ground. i think we'll see some more of those wintry showers as we go on into sunday. it's going to be a widely windy end to the weekend. things do, though, quieten down on the approach to christmas. christmas itself at the moment looks largely dry and very mild.

a cut today but that could be it — for now. the us federal reserve is set to ease the cost of borrowing in the next few hours. 0n the rise again — uk inflation rate hits highest level for eight months. and re—modelling japan's car giants — shares in nissan soar over reports it's in merger talks with honda. welcome to business today, i'm ben thompson. we start in the us where it's the big day

investors have been waiting for. in just a few hours' time it will be the last roll of the dice for the year for the federal reserve — the us central bank — on its interest rate cutting journey. it began in september — the first cut to the cost of borrowing for over four years — as inflation subsided. it was cut again in november and is widely expected to be trimmed again today. ritika gupta is in new york for us. all eyes on the federal reserve, but the question is in the language, and about what we might get next year? it is widely expected - might get next year? it is widely expected to - might get next year? it is widely expected to cut. might get next year? it 3 widely expected to cut interest rates for the third and final time of the year, and the market is pricing in a quarter point cut to the interest rate but what is more uncertain is the policy outlook for 2025, so

investors will be watching out for the comments, jerome