young people, by the way, when they first passed their driving test, do you reckon they should be allowed to carry passengers or not.7 all of that and lots more. but first, the 6:00 news. >> good evening. i'm sophia wenzler with your headlines just after 6:00. some breaking news to start with. israel's foreign minister has confirmed hamas leader yahya sinwar has been killed in gaza. meanwhile , killed in gaza. meanwhile, israeli tv stations are also reporting his death. the 62 year old's death marks a significant victory for israel , amid victory for israel, amid a series of high profile assassinations of enemy leaders in recent months, believed to be the architect of the october 7th attack on israel. that ignited the current conflict, sinwar has long been a top target for israeli forces. meanwhile , israeli forces. meanwhile, reuters is reporting hamas sources say indications suggest

he has been killed in an israeli operation in gaza. back in the uk, a tory councillors wife has been jailed for two and a half years after stirring up racial hatred against asylum seekers on the day of the southport attacks. lucy connolly married to conservative councillor raymond connolly, posted a violent message on x calling for mass deportation and arson against hotels housing immigrants . against hotels housing immigrants. she against hotels housing immigrants . she wrote the post immigrants. she wrote the post on the day three young girls were killed in a knife attack in southport. the post was deleted after two hours and she later apologised. but connolly was today sentenced to 31 months imprisonment at birmingham crown court . now it's being reported court. now it's being reported that simon cowell has stepped down from itv. britain's got talent following one direction star liam payne's tragic death. the sun newspapers reporting he will be replaced by bruno tonioli in the light of the news. it comes as liam payne's

family has expressed their heartbreak following his death at the age of 31. in a statement released through a spokeswoman, his family remembered liam as kind , funny and a brave soul. kind, funny and a brave soul. fans have gathered outside the hotel in buenos aires where he died , lighting candles and died, lighting candles and leaving flowers in an impromptu vigil to pay tribute to the music icon . liam rose to fame as music icon. liam rose to fame as part of one direction, one of the biggest pop groups in the world, before their indefinite hiatus in 2016. and thousands of migrants could be granted asylum in the uk. as the government pushes to clear a huge backlog of applications. the refugee council estimates the number of pending asylum claims could reach almost 120,000 by january, following labour's decision to scrap the rwanda plan. new analysis suggests that processing the backlog could see over 62,000 more people recognised as refugees in the uk. it comes as downing street says it's committed to ending

the use of asylum hotels, despite reports the home office may reopen some that were previously closed . those are the previously closed. those are the latest gb news headlines. now it's back to michelle for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gb news. >> dot com. forward slash alerts . >> dot com. forward slash alerts. >> dot com. forward slash alerts. >> hello there! i'm michelle dewberry and i'm keeping you company until 7:00 tonight alongside me. i've got my panel. kelvin mackenzie, the former editor of the sun , and tom editor of the sun, and tom buick, the visiting professor of education at the university of staffordshire. good evening to both of you. kelvin, you had strong opinions there on that hamas leader being killed in the bulletins. i heard you. >> yes, it's excellent news. i mean, he is a he was the organiser of the october the 7th massacre, which started off a chain of events through gaza, on

through lebanon , potentially through lebanon, potentially onto iran. and he has paid a price. it's a shame that it's a shame that he died so easily. i wish he'd he'd actually faced judicial procedure and actually faced a firing squad. but this is good news. and it's more likely to accelerate a peace arrangement between israel and gaza in some form or another, and that will lead to peace across the region . so but across the region. so but honestly, the speed at which israel is knocking off these military dictators in their, in their own lands is incredible. the intelligence that they must be given, by the way, by the by not only by israel finding it out , but the not only by israel finding it out, but the people of gaza shipping their addresses to these people, the people of lebanon , particularly shipping lebanon, particularly shipping the names of the directions of where the leaders of hezbollah live, it is astonishing,

incredible people dislike these military dictators. >> tom berwick and his strong opinions on that story. i've got to say, it's huge news. >> it is. well, look, i mean, my strongest opinion really is, is to ensure that we get those 101 hostages back. we shouldn't forget they've been in captivity now for over a year. you know, if you'd asked me a year ago, would this war still be going on.7 i would have said, probably not. it's extraordinary, really, that the so—called hamas, which is a terrorist organisation, still is purports to be the government in gaza. but what we know is a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in that part of the world. and the sooner it ends, the better. indeed. >> well , you guys, the better. indeed. >> well, you guys, i'm sure, will have very strong opinions on that. there's lots i also want to talk to you about tonight, whether it's about have you seen this? the amnesty essentially granted to 60 odd thousand migrants. really? i mean, certainly, you know, housing credit where it's due , housing credit where it's due, but is that the way of just clearing the backlog? i want to talk to you about that. that jailing. have you seen as well the wife of the tory councillor

jailed for 31 months for her post about the south, about the riots? do you remember that? anyway, look, lots. i want to talk to you about getting in touch with me all the usual ways. gb views gb news .com go to the website or you can tweet or text me. but look, big night tonight everybody. and if you're watching on telly, you will see. see the countdown clock in the corner. and there's just less than an hour to go. now before robert jenrick and kemi badenoch set to go head to head on our new exclusive tory leadership event. christopher hope, you are the man hosting, said event. he joins us now. good evening to you. what can we look forward to? >> well, michelle. yeah, welcome to the heart of westminster. where will be helping tory members and the wider, wider general to public decide who should be the leader of the conservative party. 85, 85 days so far of campaigning. 14 more days to go. the voting packs have arrived. members who watched gb news and 400 or so in this room maybe voted already or

poised to vote. but tonight we've got a leadership event between kemi badenoch, behind me and robert jenrick, and right now i'm going to toss a coin to find out who goes first. so back up here, kemi badenoch, will you call please ? call please? >> heads, heads, tails is kemi badenoch you want to go first or second? >> robert i'll go first. chris. >> robert i'll go first. chris. >> okay. and there we have it. michelle. robert jenrick first live on seven at 7 pm. here on gb news , decision time, the race gb news, decision time, the race to lead will hopefully or maybe shape the future of who leads this party. >> fascinating stuff. i'll be gnpped >> fascinating stuff. i'll be gripped to that as i know my audience will be too. but for now, i'll let you crack on. get yourself ready, do your warm ups, yourself ready, do your warm ups, your star jumps, your press ups. however, it is that those guys will be warming themselves up for that event. kelvin mackenzie just heard. then robert jenrick will be going first. what's your thoughts on this whole leadership race? >> well, frankly, with five years still to go , i'm not sure

years still to go, i'm not sure how much it matters very much . how much it matters very much. obviously, the tories need a leader. probably the strongest political leader of our time at the moment is nigel farage, who i see actually is now less unpopular than starmer, which must be. i mean, when you think only three and a half months ago, he won the most enormous landslide and now he's now he finds himself less, less, more unpopular than farage on the tory front. the thing that has helped jenrick tonight , helped jenrick tonight, actually, is an unexpected effect is that michael gove, now the editor of the spectator, having having called it a day on his politics, he was going to get slung out anyway, probably, and has, has endorsed badenoch now any nobody would want. michael gove's endorsement. after all, he was the one that was endorsing boris. look what happened there. he eventually turned round to him, stabbed him very neatly in the chest. so if i'm if i'm kemi, the last person

i'm if