an american delegation has arrived at a venue in damascus for the first, formal diplomatic talks in syria in more than a decade. the diplomats will meet representives of the group which is effectively in charge of the country after overthrowing president assad. washington still designates hts as a terrorist group. but delegations from the un and countries including the uk, france and germany have already been in damascus to meet the new leaders. the united states has set conditions before it will consider delisting the group. our middle east correspondent lina sinjab has more on this. it is very significant, not only for the leadership that is in charge of syria now but also for the country and the people inside the country because it's sending serious messages of willingness to engage with this new government, and also perhaps other hidden messages that it depends on how this de facto government led by ahmed

al—sharaa are going to perform in terms of granting minority rights, having an inclusive government and also protecting women's rights. these are the main issues that everyone is looking at now, especially after they have appointed an interim government, a transitional government that mainly is representative of the muslim islamic group, the salvation front, that is affiliated with hts. so this visit today is sending a message, both to the leadership of ahmed al—sharaa and giving assurances to people that the whole world is watching how this new government is going to perform. let's speak to mina al—oraibi in abu dhabi. editor—in—chief at the national newspaper.

ijust wonder how i just wonder how the region ijust wonder how the region is looking at what is happening in syria and how much confidence does the region have in hts if they are able to govern syria in a democratic way? figs they are able to govern syria in a democratic way? as many caitals in a democratic way? as many capitals around _ in a democratic way? as many capitals around the _ in a democratic way? as many capitals around the world - in a democratic way? as many capitals around the world looki capitals around the world look at the developments in damascus, there are questions whether hts is trying to rule syria on their own. it is important to recognise there are other opposition groupings that have been in opposition to basher al—assad for many years and they need to be given space. the background of hts, we have definitely seen a lot of statements from the head of hts saying we want to reel in a way that is democratic or at the very least open to others. however, there is concern as to what that will mean in place,

given that the cabinet is largely formed of members of hts. they have gone ahead and started to appoint governors of different provinces in syria which are very much aligned to hts. it is wait and see. it is interesting to see american diplomats in damascus and previous to that british diplomats and the un envoy at meeting with hts. the overall thinking is to try to bring in the leaders sitting in damascus today and press upon them the importance of being, not only inclusive but also looking forward to rebuild the years and decades of damage inside of syria. we know that hts were in control of large parts of the ad—libbed region of syria, what did we learn from the way they ruled and governed over that area? there wasn't much tolerance for those who didn't adhere to what hts put out there, so there is some concern

about that. but there was also about that. but there was also a sense they were able to govern idlib province despite being isolated and in a constant state of war with at least two other groups. so they were able to govern but idlib was much smaller than syria and they were under great strain there. the question is, with a first of all moderate their previous islamist positions? and will they govern in a way that allows people to live the way they want? syrians have taken to the streets demanding that it remains, not necessarily secular but a civil type of governance, rather than one that is ruled by a religious decree. one that is ruled by a reliuious decree. _, ., ., religious decree. good to get our religious decree. good to get

your input- — religious decree. good to get your input. many _ religious decree. good to get your input. many lines - religious decree. good to get| your input. many lines coming from that meeting in damascus, we will bring that to you. to the united states, and president—elect trump is mounting pressure on congress to pass a federal spending bill in an attempt to avoid a government shutdown within hours. the first attempt to pass a federal spending bill was heavily defeated in congress but donald trump has since taken to social media to urge congress to scrap what's known as the debt ceiling, or extend it to 2029. despite donald trump originally backing the bill, 38 republicans broke rank and voted against it. it failed to reach the required two—thirds majority. now we are waiting to see if a second vote on friday, which would requirejust a simple majority, will happen, and if it does — will it receive enough support to pass with such a slim republican majority. here's speaker of the house mikejohnson speaking after the first vote. it is, i think, really irresponsible for us to risk a shutdown over these issues

and things they have already agreed upon. i think you need to be asking them the questions about that. we will regroup and we will come up with another solution. as for the democrats,— they're blaming what they call the maga republicans — who they say went back on an agreement. one or two puppet masters way in and _ one or two puppet masters way in and extreme maga republicans decide _ in and extreme maga republicans decide to — in and extreme maga republicans decide to do the bidding of the wealthy, — decide to do the bidding of the wealthy, the well off, the well—connected millionaires and billionaires, not working—class people — billionaires, not working—class people. all across america. the bill that— people. all across america. the bill that is— people. all across america. the bill that is before us today is part— bill that is before us today is part of— bill that is before us today is part of an _ bill that is before us today is part of an effort to shutdown the government. unless we, as representatives of the american people — representatives of the american people bend to the will ofjust a handful of millionaires and billionaires. it a handful of millionaires and billionaires.— billionaires. it is a race against _ billionaires. it is a race

against time _ billionaires. it is a race against time with - billionaires. it is a race against time with the l billionaires. it is a race - against time with the hours ticking away. if there isn't an agreement by the end of friday the government shutdown would start at the beginning of the weekend. that is the last thing many americans wanted to hear, the weekend before christmas and especially those federal workers who may still have to go to work but face the prospect of not being paid. and who knows how long this would go on for? but there is still some hope, there is still the possibility that there could be an agreement. it would likely involve some compromise perhaps on both sides, republicans and democrats. this was the second version of a bill that there was initially some agreement on. it was a bipartisan bill so there was an agreement on both sides. the donald trump and especially elon musk spoke out very strongly against it. then came along the second version duck, donald trump insisted on this extra clause that would involve the suspension of the debt ceiling, that is the

amount of money that the federal government can borrow to fund services. the democrats say that they believe donald trump want this to give him a free reign over the first couple of years of his administration to cut taxes, which democrats they would benefit the better off in this country and would lead to an increase in the federal deficit. so there is still some hope, but it will involve potentially compromise that won't look good for donald trump if that clause is dropped. it also doesn't bode well, perhaps been a sticky start in terms of donald trump's next administration and his relationship with congress. fascinating insight and lots more on our website. france's president macron has praised the dignity and courage of gisele pelicot following a mass rape trial in which her ex—husband and fifty other defendants were found guilty. in a social media post this

morning, mr macron said she had "moved and inspired france and the world." dominique pelicot was jailed for twenty years for organising the repeated drugging and rape of his then wife by dozens of strangers over a decade. under french law the men have ten days to decide if they will appeal against the convictions. let's speak to rokhaya diallo, a frenchjournalist and activist. i know you have been writing about this and that shifting of shame that gisele pelicot was able to do from the victims of sexual assault to the perpetrators by waving her anonymity?— perpetrators by waving her anonymity? perpetrators by waving her anon mi ? , ., ., anonymity? yes, thank you for invitin: anonymity? yes, thank you for inviting me- — anonymity? yes, thank you for inviting me. her— anonymity? yes, thank you for inviting me. her husband - anonymity? yes, thank you for inviting me. her husband is . anonymity? yes, thank you for inviting me. her husband is a i inviting me. her husband is a face in france. she decided to have the trail open to the public as well as to the press

so she became a symbol of sexual violence. we have been able to witness what she has been enduring for over a decade. it is something very important that happened yesterday. important that happened yesterday-— important that happened esterda . . , , yesterday. something incredibly otent and yesterday. something incredibly potent and she _ yesterday. something incredibly potent and she was _ yesterday. something incredibly potent and she was the - yesterday. something incredibly potent and she was the victim i potent and she was the victim that because she was so heavily sedated, she was comatose, she was absolutely innocent in all of this, what does this mean in terms of future rape cases when you look at victims? because obviously she was a very specific person in all of this, the victims, it was so difficult when it comes to these types of rape cases? indeed, what gisele pelicot and a lot of victims don't have it in video recording, her husband recorded all the acts. there

were 20,000 videos to prove she was drugged and unconscious during those crimes. the fact she was strongly sedated she is unable to be accused of being part and be one of the reasons of what she enjoyed, which unfortunately happens to many women who come public to accuse people who perpetrate a sexual assault against her. she is somehow the perfect victim because there is no way she can bear any responsibility from what she has had to face, even if it is unfair to accuse the victims of being the reason from what they endure. but even if the focus is on her, that shouldn't make us look away from the thousands of other victims who do not have any way to prove what they have had to

face. ., , .. , face. he wrote while this case was going _ face. he wrote while this case was going on. _ face. he wrote while this case was going on, in _ face. he wrote while this case was going on, in france - face. he wrote while this case was going on, in france 9196 l face. he wrote while this case | was going on, in france 9196 of was going on, in france 91% of the victims know their abusers and in 96% of cases they were male and home is where the place is most likely to be where people are exposed to violence. do we need to stop talking about degrees of rate, does that blur and complicate our understanding of rate? especially when we're talking about a victim when it is not potentially clear—cut and people are questioning that victim? , , . ., victim? definitely. we need to net rid victim? definitely. we need to get rid the _ victim? definitely. we need to get rid the idea _ victim? definitely. we need to get rid the idea of— victim? definitely. we need to get rid the idea of the - victim? definitely. we need to get rid the idea of the pervertl get rid the idea of the pervert monster who assault strange women, women that are unknown to them. because most of the victims of rape and sexual

assault of the victims of crimes committed by people they already know, mostly in their families. we need to shift the way we think about rape. is something that doesn't come from someone who is unknown, but that comes from the very closest relatives. i think the trial has shown with the wide range of men who were accused alongside her husband, ordinary men that those kind of crimes. thank you so much. as we were saying at the beginning, these men who have now been found guilty and sentenced, they have around ten days to appeal. chris bockman is live in avignon. how many of the men might appeal?

overnight two have announced they are appealing, which means they are appealing, which means they would have a retrial within two years. they had ten days and with christmas and new year coming up their defenders are talking to them and i suspect there will be more making appeals as well. they have ten days to do it. the risk for them in france, if they do appeal and they lose then the sentence can be raised. so far, since the verdict and sentencing yesterday, two have said they are not rapists and the judges were under pressure from the media and from women's groups and basically gave them sentences that they said was unfair. they said they were not rapists and they were lured to the house and were told his unconscious wife agreed to have sex. of course, that is something which the court did not agree to and all 50 were found guilty and charge. at

least two so far have decided to appeal and they will be a retrial. , p, ., to appeal and they will be a retrial. , ., ~ , ., retrial. chris, thank you so much for _ retrial. chris, thank you so much for bringing - retrial. chris, thank you so much for bringing us - retrial. chris, thank you so much for bringing us up i retrial. chris, thank you so - much for bringing us up today. much more on our website on that extraordinary case that gripped france and indeed the world. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

welcome back. lord mandelson is expected to be formally confirmed as the uk's next ambassador to the united states today. peter mandelson was a former cabinet minister in the governments of tony blair and gordon brown, and is seen as the architect of labour's landslide victory in 1997. he'll take up his new role as donald trump enters the white house. here's our political correspondent helen catt. peter mandelson has been a familiar face in the labour party for decades. he was one of the driving forces behind the creation

of new labour in the i990s, a trusted adviser to tony blair with a reputation as a master of spin. he'd been rumoured as a potential candidate for a while, but had been cagey when asked about being the ambassador. would you be interested if you were asked? - i would be very interested, indeed, in giving advice about trade to whoever is appointed. elected as the mp for hartlepool in 1992, peter mandelson went on to serve in tony blair's cabinet, but was forced to resign twice. in the noughties, he went to brussels as the european trade commissioner before returning as business secretary under gordon brown. it's his experience of trade that is one of the reasons behind his appointment as ambassador. donald trump has talked of imposing big tariffs on imports into the us, which the prime minister yesterday told mps the uk needed to avoid. it won't come as any surprise to you that i'm not a fan of tariffs. and, therefore, we have to make

sure that we avoid tariffs. we've got very good trade with the us as we've got very good trade with other countries around the world. i want to improve on that. a government source said that lord mandelson was close to the prime minister, with unrivalled political and policy experience, particularly on the crucial issue of trade. it's also thought his political nous will help him handle what could be a tricky relationship with an unpredictable president. one thing that is a certainty with the trump government is in that sam tweet storm that comes most mornings of the week. at some point, trump will say something, will tweet something that will be quite a story in the uk — he did so several times in his first term. so peter mandelson, i am sure, will be prepared for that and be prepared for a bumpy and difficult ride. but he clearly wanted thejob very much, so i'd say good luck to him. not everyone is going to welcome this appointment. peter mandelson remains

divisive within labour, particularly for those on the left of the party. but it is how he gets on with donald trump and his administration that will really matter. he and the white house had already been told about the appointment. helen catt, bbc news. let's speak to our political correspondent ben wright. so not a civil servant being appointed, this is a political appointment. but as we heard in that report, this is potentially divisive, especially within the labour left? , .,, especially within the labour left? , ., ., left? yes, those on the left of the labour — left? yes, those on the left of the labour party _ left? yes, those on the left of the labour party don't - left? yes, those on the left of the labour party don't like - the labour party don't like peter mandelson. they set anything he was a svengali that modernise the party, ripped it away from its roots. he would have argued that he made them electable again in the mid—90s. but he is a divisive figure within the labour party. but as you say, it is a political

appointment. that is what is interesting, the prime minister could have chosen a serving career diplomat. this is the big job on bass and does around the world working for the uk would love to have. but keir starmer has decided to appoint peter mandelson to the role. it is the first time since 1977 when peter callaghan appointed peterjay to washington that we have seen a political appointment like this. that reflects peter mandelson's own experience as a trade minister, as an eu trade negotiator. as helen said, the issue of trade and tariffs and what the trump administration is going to do will be a crucial part of his early work in washington, but i think for president trump he really values personal relationships, sending someone to washington who is clearly very, very close to the key people in number ten within downing street, will, i think, look to them like a smart move,

it will help to curry favour with the trump white house and i think it might make communications between lord mandelson and number ten and the crucial trade with china that bit easier. it is not an unblemished political record peter mandelson has. he did, in quick succession clock up two big political resignations in the early years of the blair government. 0nce because he was accused of trying to help an indian billionaire access a british passport. he was later cleared in a subsequent investigation but he also resigned after accepting a loan from the paymaster general to buy a house in notting hill in west london. peter mandelson loves the good life, he's got lots of money very wealthy friends, he's very well connected. all of that, all of that past be looked at again by people as he is made ambassador to washington.—

to washington. thank you very much and _ to washington. thank you very much and we _ to washington. thank you very much and we are _ to washington. thank you very much and we are expecting - to washington. thank you very l much and we are expecting that formal confirmation later on. just going to ukraine now, these are live pictures coming into the bbc. this is the aftermath of a russian missile attack. these are details coming in from the reuters news agency. we are being told at least one person has been killed in this russian missile attack on kyiv on the ukrainian capital. the head of the kyiv military administration is just giving us that initial information on this. this is morning in the capital and it has sparked a number of fires across the capital as well, damaging an office building. we are keeping an eye on that situation in ukraine. still in the uk, as tomorrow's deadline to qualify for winter fuel payments looms,

there are calls for the cut—off to be extended, over fears that many will be made to wait for their money. age uk has warned tens of thousands of pensioners are unlikely to receive the payment before the end of the year, because of a growing backlog of claims. 0ur correspondent aruna iyengar has more. since 1997, the winter fuel allowance has been a lifeline for many pensioners. but after the government announced in july that the payment would go only to those receiving pension credit, there's been a surge in first time applications. now there are calls for the government to extend tomorrow's deadline. the government have made this awful decision to slash winter fuel payments. what we're saying is that the least they can do is to make sure that everybody possible who could qualify for pension credit and qualify for winter fuel payments has the opportunity to do so. and we're saying it's a very straightforward thing. let's just extend the deadline just to make sure that nobody is missing out due to lack of time. the charity age uk states it's already too late. they say there's a three—month wait for pension credit claims to be processed, and has been inundated

with requests for help. we know that many of those claims will be successful, but, unfortunately, some won't be. and for some older people, they still haven't heard about pension credit or the form is too overwhelming. and there is help available, but, of course, the system is overwhelmed at the moment. there were 91,000 unprocessed claims for pension credit in mid—november. the government brought in around 500 extra staff to process applications to help deal with demand. around 9,000 claims are being processed each week and that's double the amount being processed in august. the prime minister said most pensioners will soon be in a better financial position. a pensioner, as it were, a year ago, facing the winter, even with the winter fuel allowance, will not be as well off as a pensioner after the £460, £470 next april. but that is only because we can maintain the triple lock.

will this policy be a hit or miss? politicians talk of tough choices, but it's the elderly who are deciding whether to turn the thermostat up or down. aruna iyengar, bbc news. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. a band of rain is pushing its way eastwards across the uk today. the rain associated with an area of low pressure and this cloud on the satellite picture. it's not the only low, though, in the north atlantic. further west, we've got a more powerful system developing just here, and that's going to be bringing somevery strong winds to parts of the uk this weekend, potentially disrupting some of your christmas travel plans. now, we started off with rain today across scotland and northern ireland, but the afternoon here looking a lot brighter, sunshine and blustery showers as our rain band works its way eastwards across england and wales. temperatures around eight to ten degrees and it will be quite windy. gusts reaching around 40mph—odd for the western

side of scotland. that rain clears through overnight but then clear spells for a time. the next area of rain works in later in the night, accompanied by some really quite strong winds. and it's on saturday that we'll see this next area of low pressure really flex its muscles, bringing some particularly windy weather to north—western areas of the uk, and especially parts of north—west scotland, where for parts of the hebrides, the orkney islands, parts of highland, we'll likely see gusts of wind reaching around 70mph to 80mph, maybe even a bit stronger than this. winds this strong will cause some transport disruption and could bring down some trees as well. and elsewhere across the north west of the uk, the winds strong enough to cause one or two issues as well. weather—wise, elsewhere we see a band of rain clearing southeastwards on saturday, followed by sunshine and blustery showers. the showers most frequent across the northwest of the uk, and it will be cold enough for some hail and a bit of wintriness over some of the highest mountains as well. heading into sunday, the same area of low pressure is still on our weather charts. it's going to be another windy day.

if anything, the winds a little bit more widespread. gusts of around 50mph to 60mph, but still 70 for parts of western scotland. again strong enough to bring some localised disruption in terms of the fact that we could see some tree branches being brought down. still a blustery day with plenty of showers around, with hail and some sleet mixed in with those showers and temperatures six or seven celsius. it will be a colder feeling day, especially when you factor in those winds. once that windy zone of weather is out of the way, though, next week it turns very mild in the run—up to christmas, with temperatures often well into double figures.

welcome back. this is bbc news, the headlines: american diplomats are in damascus for talks with members of hts, the group now in charge of syria, which the us still designates as terrorists. a us government shutdown looms, as 38 republicans are among lawmakers who've rejected a spending bill backed by donald trump. england's local councils are to receive nearly £1.6 billion of funding set aside to fix potholes. a bbc investigation reveals that the myanmar military now only has full control of less than a quarter

of the territory, nearly four years after seizing power ina coup. a patchwork of resistance groups and ethnic armies now have full control over more than 40% and the rest is mostly contested. for over a year, bbc eye has been following one of the rebel units ? and reveals that spies in the military are helping the resistance. rebecca henschke reports. this pro—democracy rebel unit is preparing to attack. their leader has received intelligence from a spy inside the military — the enemy camp. translation: we've been told about their capabilities, - where their reinforcements will come from and which route they will use to withdraw. our strategy is to mentally pressure the enemy day and night.