hello, i'm lewis vaughanjones. the un's 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 organization for migration says the country is not yet stable enough for the large—scale return of refugees. the agency says about 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. so 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's going to recover effectively. ok, so 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's 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're 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. 0k, and 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 who are receiving applications...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's really, as our colleagues at unhcr would share with us, it's really important that 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's not clear it's safe for everyone to go back, so that decision still needs to be made based on

individual circumstances. there's a different matter in terms of the people who are already living and working or have refugee status around the world, and certainly the issue there for many countries is is it time for those people, those syrians, to go back home? and the answer to that question is not quite yet. there may be individuals who are able to go home because of where they're 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. 0k, 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 or indeed the numbers of people who have potentially left and therefore a potential figure of people who could be returning? well, there are over 5 million people who have been displaced inside the country.

about 2 million of those people are inside camps, so in very, very fragile circumstances. another 3 million or so who've been displaced to other parts of the country. likewise, we know there have been millions of people who have left the country over the years, and they're now living in the surrounding countries, jordan and turkiye and here in lebanon, where i'm calling from, as well as in europe. so the numbers of people are well over 10 million who could be returning to their place of origin. there is a question over the russian history of syria after the fall of assad.—

the fall of assad. there is a naval port _ the fall of assad. there is a naval port here _ the fall of assad. there is a naval port here at - the fall of assad. there is a naval port here at targus i the fall of assad. there is a i naval port here at targus and if you are a bit further north, the airbase here as well. experts think the evidence suggests that moscow is preparing for at least a partial withdrawal from syria. let me show you a bit about how they have come to those conclusions. this image here is from the 15th of december, if you have a look here, you can see, dozens of russian vehicles have parked on the tarmac next to this plane appear. experts say this is a strong signal that russia is preparing for that russia is preparing for that partial withdrawal syria. it also analyse other satellite images which show large russian planes which could be used to transport military assets out of syria. they were there on friday and had left by tuesday then on wednesday, two aircraft were back at the base, all signs of sustained activity. there is also been activity at the targus port as well for

some this the 10th of december before the fall of the assad machine. if you have a look there in later, you can see large warships. but they are not there any more. this picture is from yesterday. if you focus in here, that is where they were and are not there any more, they have now been moved out at sea. and there is another activity at this naval base as well. have a look at all of these vehicles, hear, hear, hearand look at all of these vehicles, hear, hear, hear and hear. look at all of these vehicles, hear, hear, hearand hear. we counted more than 100 parked around the piece. when export pointed out we can't see any cranes or loading ramps that could suggest that they are being stored here rather than being stored here rather than being prepared for an immediate evacuation, but again we are seeing signs russia as at least ready for a withdrawal of significant resources. let me show you this map. focusing in on a major highway

between damascus and homs. we've geo— located this video to their ants in this, you can see lengthy columns of russian vehicles heading north. that is thejourney vehicles heading north. that is the journey the military would be expected to take if it were for moving equipment or personnel from other russian outposts across syria to its basis. we've put all this to number of experts for their views and let me bring you two of them. firstly have a look at this and intelligence manager at mckenzie describing the activity as unusual and although he says russia would have had an evacuation plan given how quickly the assad regime felt he says this, what we are seeing is likely to be signs of preparations to withdraw certain elements of military kit and personnel. 0ne military kit and personnel. one of their opinion to bring you, a former naval officer and defence analysts agrees and says we are seeing the early stages of a russian withdraw from syria with clear signs of an error based evacuation. so

signs of sustained activity, something we at bbc verify will be keeping an eye on. amy gray was a physical trainer who was stabbed on a night out in may near bournemouth peel. the prosecution said he was fascinated by true crime and they have gone to the town what it was like to kill someone. let's speak to duncan kennedy who was outside winchester crown court. in who was outside winchester crown court.— who was outside winchester crown court. in the words of the crown — crown court. in the words of the crown prosecution - crown court. in the words of. the crown prosecution service and the police this is a chilling case of someone actually planned a murder. he researched murder in the months leading up to the attacks of may this year. he was a criminology student at the universes of greenwich london south london he even asked his selector is about how police

deal with dna in their research in their investigations and the lecturer had asked him, you're not planning to carry out a murder, are you? to which he replied, no he's looking for a research paper but he did research paper but he did research on line how police deal with the dna, do hotels in bournemouth have cct cameras and even researched whether it is possible to run a walk across pebble beach is and sandy beaches and this may turns up randomly in bournemouth, skulked around looking for victims and this night, amie gray and leanne miles had a campfire chat and cct footage shows him walking past them and he turns back and stabs them repeatedly, amie gray described as dead at the scene and leanne miles with serious injuries he told please afterwards that it was not him and it was a case of mistaken and it was a case of mistaken

identity but a massive identity but a massive circumstantial evidence but by circumstantial evidence but by the prosecution during the the prosecution during the course of this trial in the course of this trial in the last ten days or so has last ten days or so has convinced the juryjust in the convinced the juryjust in the past couple of hours that he past couple of hours that he was guilty of both murder and was guilty of both murder and attempted murder. afterwards a attempted murder. afterwards a detective inspector from dorset police read a statement on detective inspector from dorset police read a statement on behalf of amie gray's family. i behalf of amie gray's family. i want to take this opportunity want to take this opportunity to think_ to think_ want to take this opportunity to think all dorset police, the want to take this opportunity to think all dorset police, the 'ury 'ury to think all dorset police, the jury medics and first response to think all dorset police, the jury medics and first response team — jury medics and first response team to — jury medics and first response team to each and every person team — jury medics and first response team to — jury medics and first response team to each and every person who _ team to each and every person who has — team to each and every person who has helped bring amie gray amie was a case of mistaken the justice she deserves. i particularly want to thank the jury medics and first response team to each am to /ery person jury medics and first response team to each am to thankrrson jury medics and first response team to each am to thank the n particularly want to thank the family— family— particularly want to thank the family liaison officer who have particularly want to thank the family liaison officer who have gone — family liaison officer who have gone above and beyond who gone — family liaison officer who have gone above and beyond who supporting us through such pain supporting us through such pain and tragedy. amie gray will and tragedy. amie gray will never— and tragedy. amie gray will never be _ never— and tragedy. amie gray will never be _ and tragedy. amie gray will never be forgotten. she touched and tragedy. amie gray will never be forgotten. she touched the lives — the lives — never be forgotten. she touched the lives of so many, the never be forgotten. she touched the lives of so many, the immense support and love shown immense support and love shown by everyone reflects just that. by everyone reflects just that. her life — by everyone reflects just that. her life — by everyone reflects just that. her life had been brutally taken, _ her life had been brutally her life had been brutally taken, _ her life had been brutally taken, but now she can rest in taken, but now she can rest in peace — taken, but now she can rest in peace her— taken, but now she can rest in peace — taken, but now she can rest in peace her— taken, but now she can rest in peace. her strength lives on in all of— peace. her strength lives on in all of— peace. her strength lives on in peace. her strength lives on in all of us — all of us — peace. her strength lives on in all of us. .,, peace. her strength lives on in peace. her strength lives on in all of us. .,, peace. her strength lives on in all of us. , , all of us. those sentiments were also _ all of us. those sentiments were also sure _ all of us. those sentiments all of us. , , all of us. those sentiments were also _ all of us. those sentiments were also sure _ all of us. those sentiments were also sure it's - all of us. those sentiments were also sure it's night - all of us. those sentiments were also sure it's night in| all of us. those sentiments l were also sure it's night in a were also sure it's - all of us. those sentiments were also sure it's night - all of us. those sentiments were also sure it's night in| all of us. those sentiments l were also sure it's night in a

video released to the bbc from video released to the

were also sure it's night in a video releasel and he were also sure it's night in a video releasel and extremely plants attack, and extremely rare event that ended in both a murder and an attempted murder of two is in both a murder and murder and an attempted murder of two is in both a murder and an attempted murder of two an attempted murder of two innocent women. innocent women. around the world around the world and across the uk, and across the uk, this is bbc news. this is bbc news.

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're 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's saying that he...several months ago, he bought a scooter, and 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 the country, the defence secretary, john healey announced an additional 225 million pounds of military aid for ukraine — around 285 million dollars. speaking in kyiv, to our defence corresponent jonathan beale, mr healey explained more about the uk's commitment to ukraine's defence.

we've developed at each stage the training that we've done for ukraine with ukraine. we've also done it with allied nations that have rallied behind the leadership the uk has offered. we'll continue to do that throughout 2025. and a simple question — could that involve british troops, boots on the ground inside ukraine training ukrainians? well, the detail of our joint ukrainian plan will have to remain... ..let�*s say... ..unavailable to president putin. but the important thing is that we are stepping up both the uk leadership in coordinating other nations, we're stepping up the uk support for ukraine. we're determined that we will put ukraine in a stronger position in the weeks ahead and throughout 2025. and we're also a country that will step up the pressure we've put on putin.

a developing story in india a major operation is under way to rescue people, these are passengers from a fairy which capsized off of mumbai after being hit by a navy speedboat so the details we have so far at least 13 people have been killed. the navy said its boat lost control during engine trials in mumbai harbour, crashed into the ferry heading towards a popular tourist destination. at least 99 people have been rescued. these pictures have just come into us here. this clearly the navy it seems circling around. we are not going to show the moment, i don't believe of impact, but this seems to be the navy speedboat which we understand then collided into the ferry

and we believe these pictures have been filmed from that fairy, the boat that was hit. so these pictures are the latest coming into us and i'm watching these for the first time just as you are and you can see the boat seemingly out of control there heading towards the ferry, and the moment of impact. so we have just received these pictures into us and we will try and get some more details about what has gone on here. we can speak to our guests who will talk us through what we know about what happened here. the through what we know about what happened here-— happened here. the navy has said that their _ happened here. the navy has said that their craft, - happened here. the navy has said that their craft, the - said that their craft, the smaller but that you seen the pictures was some engine trials and there was naval personnel on board as well as some people and they were carrying out some trials when this craft collided

with a passenger ferry and that is when this incident happened, the passenger ferry and is when this incident happened, the passengerferry and both the passengerferry and both the smaller boat both have been capsized and the number that we are getting, 30 people have died and 99 have been rescued so far. the search is still on, the incident happened around 4pm local time and the search is still on at 1030, that is what we know. local authorities and police have opened an investigation and are trying to figure out what went wrong, why this happened, but it does a very tragic incident and this is a very busy route, you just mentioned that the ferry was taking tourists to an island. that island was a unesco world heritage sites was often frequented by tourists that visit the city of mumbai often

from across the globe and that is why this is raising safety concerns for the tourist boards in the area as well.— in the area as well. talk us through — in the area as well. talk us through the _ in the area as well. talk us through the geography, i in the area as well. talk us - through the geography, where is this stretch of water and talk us through what we know about it us through what we know about |. , ., us through what we know about it some may have heard about the gateway — it some may have heard about the gateway you _ it some may have heard about the gateway you mentioned i the gateway you mentioned mumbai and this is around five nautical miles from that which is roughly nine km into the sea towards the eastern side, it is into the mumbai harbour area, there are smaller islands there and elephanta island is one of them. the boat was taking tourists from the gateway of india to elephanta island and somewhere in between the incident happened. this is considered to be a very safe water that is why did he harbour is there and we still don't know what went wrong and

why the boat went out of control, we are still getting more details on that and just to tell you the geography, on the other side of this area there is a very busy port and it is one of the most important ports in india and even oil tankers and a lot of other services that come to india very often they anchor in that port so it is a very busy port area, a very busy harbour and thatis area, a very busy harbour and that is where the incident has happened. 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 have 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's only one airport in mayotte. the runway�*s been partially damaged by the cyclone, and at the moment, only military aeroplanes are able to land there. commercial aeroplanes can't yet land there, and even military aeroplanes, they can only land at night. so this has completely cut the island off from the rest of the world. the french authorities have set up an air corridor between reunion and mayotte. they say that they're planning to deliver 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're really working hard to try and address this. but we have to bear in mind that people haven't had food and water for the most part since saturday, particularly those outside of the main capital. so they've really been struggling, and nobody knows exactly how many people might be buried under mud. there are fears that there

were mudslides in some areas where a lot of informal settlements were built. and so it's a really worrying picture at the moment, and the authorities say that they're concerned and they want to try and get aid there as soon as possible. this is bbc news. hello. it's been a pretty blustery day across many parts of the uk. some more windy weather to come over the next few days. 0n the satellite picture you can see one curl of cloud, one weather system sliding away, but another one hurtling in from the south—west, bringing some heavy rain, some more brisk winds and then as that weather front clears through, well, we will continue to introduce some colder air from the north—west. so as we go through the rest of the evening, some quite windy weather for a time through the english channel coast, on the southern flank of this weather system that's sliding away eastwards. staying windy through the night

in the north of scotland and with that colder air digging in, we will start to see some wintry showers. particularly cold across the northern half of the uk, but even further south, not as mild as it was last night. and then into tomorrow, well, that weather system clears away. we are all into these cold north or north—west of the winds, brisk winds, gusts of 40mph or more, quite widely. one or two showers in these western and northern parts, some of those wintry over high ground top temperatures of five to nine degrees, but when we factor in the strength of the wind, it will feel a little colder than that. now another change on friday, we see another frontal system pushing in from the west. a band of cloud, some outbreaks of rain pushing quite erratically southwards and eastwards. some slightly milder air tucked in with this weather system — for a little while, at least ten or 11 degrees — and then into the start of the weekend, a deep area of low pressure approaches the north of scotland and see all the isobars, all the white lines here, squeezing together. we are expecting some very windy weather indeed. the north and the west

of scotland, the north coast of northern ireland, likely to see gales. gusts could reach 80mph, so that could disrupt some pre—christmas travel plans. a real rash of showers, some wintry ones over high ground in the north. briefly a bit milder down towards the south. but on sunday we're all back into the cold air. it's going to be very windy — widely gusts of 40, 50, 60mph, lots of showers, some hail, some sleet, some snow mixing in over the hills. and yes, it is going to feel quite cold out there. but then as we approach christmas, things should calm down. high pressure is likely to build. it is likely to turn largely dry by christmas day and we're expecting things to feel very mild.

this is bbc news. the headlines — a warning from the united nations that unless syria gets urgent support it could plunge back into violence. a criminology student is found guilty of murder and attempted murder after stabbing two women on a beach in bournemouth. inflation in the uk rises to more than 2.5%, going up for the second month in a row. and strictly sensational — we talk to blind comedian chris mccausland about representation and his dance floor delight.

now with all the latest sport, here's gavin. yes, sport, here's gavin. thanks very much. chelsea boss enzo maresca says the club "trust" mykhailo mudryk after he claimed he didn't knowingly take a banned substance that led to him failing a drugs test. the ukraine international has been provisionally suspended by the football association after a routine urine test provided by mudryk returned an "adverse finding". maresca hopes the forward is absolved of any blame. the club, the coaching staff and all the people there inside the training ground, we support and we trust him. when these kind of things happen, you need to support your player in all the aspects. ruben amorim wants marcus rashford to stay at manchester united after the forward revealed he was "ready for a new challenge". rashford has scored 138 goals

since making his debut in 2016.