>> hello, good afternoon and welcome to gb news. we are live on tv , online and on digital on tv, online and on digital radio. i'm nana akua and for the next few hours, me and my panel will be taking on some of the big topics hitting the headlines right now. this show is all about opinion. it's mine, it's

theirs. and of course it's yours will be debating, discussing and at times we will disagree, but no one will be cancelled. so joining me for the next few hours. broadcaster and journalist danny kelly and also political commentator susie stride. coming up in my great british debate, i'm asking is a sad, fleeing syria a good thing for the uk.7 russia sad, fleeing syria a good thing for the uk? russia has confirmed the syrian president resigned and fled syria early on this morning following a lightning offensive by the jihadist led opposition forces, who quickly seized the cities of aleppo, hama , homs and now damascus with hama, homs and now damascus with little resistance. but this is a good thing for the uk. i've got to pull up on x asking you that very question. then coming up in my i'll be discussing virtue signalling. is starmer's government choosing net zero over defence as they push ahead with plans to use electric vehicles for combat on the battlefield, despite warnings from military grandees that they should maybe, maybe consider that again . and in my interview, that again. and in my interview, i'll be speaking to former strictly come dancing star kristina rihanoff, who has joined a special campaign to

help tackle the issue of sophia wenzler. >> nana. thank you. good afternoon. it'sjust >> nana. thank you. good afternoon. it's just gone. 3:00. these are your headlines from the gb newsroom . people are the gb newsroom. people are emptying the streets as rebel forces impose a curfew in damascus. after taking control of the capital, marking a dramatic turn in assad's regime and forcing him to flee here, the deputy prime minister,

angela rayner, says the focus must now be on stability and a un led political resolution warning of potential regional fallout. the foreign office has been evacuating british nationals ahead of the offensive, though exact numbers remain unclear. leader of the liberal democrats, sir ed davey is calling for the uk to work with allies to make sure assad faces justice for his crimes. he says the conflict's end must bnng says the conflict's end must bring peace, democracy and security to syria and the region . security to syria and the region. strong winds are hammering the uk just days after storm dara left two men dead and thousands without power. a yellow weather warning is in place with gusts of up to 70 miles an hour threatening more blackouts and travel chaos. flooding fears are rising too , with over 200 alerts rising too, with over 200 alerts issued across england, wales and scotland. travel is heavily disrupted. train services are delayed and the severn bridge remains closed. 250,000 homes

are still without electricity after the storm brought 93 mile an hour winds on saturday. in other news, the leader of edinburgh city council has been suspended by the labour party after claims he sent inappropriate sexual messages to ukrainian refugees , including ukrainian refugees, including through a dating app. police are now investigating a report of cammy day's behaviour , made cammy day's behaviour, made through the council's whistleblowing service . whistleblowing service. opposition leaders, including from the snp, are calling for his immediate resignation, describing the allegations as beyond shocking. the leader of scottish labour, anas sarwar, says the claims are deeply distressing and insists the party acted swiftly when alerted on saturday. mr day, who denies any contact from police, has not commented on the allegations. now a march against anti—semitism is taking place in london today, with demonstrators gathering outside the high court. the route will pass

through westminster and whitehall, ending with a rally at parliament square. it follows at parliament square. it follows a reported quadrupling of anti—semitic hate crimes over the past year , making jewish the past year, making jewish people the uk's most targeted minority faith group. the rise is linked to the hamas attacks on israel in october and subsequent strikes on gaza . the subsequent strikes on gaza. the snp is on course for a pro—independence majority at holyrood, according to a poll in the sunday times. the survey puts support for the snp at 37% for constituency votes and 32% on the regional list, with backing for independence at 54%, the highest in four years. analysis by sir john curtice suggests the snp would win 59 seats with labour at 20 and the conservatives on 19, leaving a pro—independence majority of three seats. labour's support has fallen nine points since august, with votes shifting to

both the snp and reform uk. sir john blamed the decline on the prime minister's unpopularity, with his approval rating now at —32 and the prince of wales has met us president elect donald trump during a ceremony to mark the reopening of notre dame cathedral in paris, five years after it was devastated by a fire. prince william joined world leaders including french president emmanuel macron and ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy for the landmark event . zelenskyy for the landmark event. kensington palace described the prince's meeting with trump as warm and friendly, with discussions focusing on uk—us special relationship and global issues. trump praised william as a good man, doing a fantastic job and shared fond memories of the late queen, which the prince was said to appreciate deeply. president macron, in his speech, called the restoration a lesson of fragility, humility and will.

those are the latest gb news headunes. those are the latest gb news headlines . now it's back to nana headlines. now it's back to nana for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone , sign direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gbnews.com/alerts . gbnews.com/alerts. >> good afternoon and welcome to gb news. we are britain's news channel. i'm nana akua. it is fast approaching seven minutes after 3:00. coming up. syrian rebel forces in the syrian capital damascus have said that they have ended bashir assad's rule with rebel leaders saying the future is ours. i will speak with the defence editor of the telegraph on this and what it means for the world and indeed the uk then for the great british debate this hour. i'm asking, is assad fleeing syria a good thing for the uk? russia has confirmed that the syrian president resigned and fled syria early on this morning,

following a lightning offensive by the jihadist led opposition forces, who quickly seized the cities of aleppo, hama, homs and also now damascus with very little resistance. but this is a good thing for the uk currently. i've got to pull up on x asking you that very question. please cast that vote. then in worldview, we'll be crossing live to tel aviv to speak with mr varne performer uri geller, to get his thoughts on the current situation in the middle east. all of that on the way, as even east. all of that on the way, as ever, send me your thoughts, post your comments gbnews.com/yoursay . so world gbnews.com/yoursay. so world leaders congregated in paris to mark the reopening of the notre—dame cathedral. i was there, not at that, but i was there, not at that, but i was there that day. and then i came back on the eurostar. glad i didn't fly. crikey, the weather was horrendous. this was to mark the reopening of the notre dame cathedral five years after that fire, which destroyed parts of the building. president elect donald trump took the

opportunity to meet with prince william, where they discussed global conflicts and the us, uk special relationship. well, joining me now is gb news political correspondent katherine forster. catherine, thank you very much for joining me. you were there as well. >> i was there luckily on friday and saturday, came back on the eurostar yesterday i didn't realise you've been there too, but yeah, it was quite something. and notre dame, i mean i didn't see the inside. i saw it on the tv like we all did, because 1500 very lucky people that were invited inside. but i did see it from the outside and it is incredible what they've managed in five and a half years. it is rebuilt, the roof completely rebuilt. the spire as well and transformed inside because it's been cleaned and it looks incredible, but first of all, it made me think, why can't we manage to get things built in any sort of good time frame? i mean, look at hs2, these things drag on and on, but also it was a huge diplomatic

coup really, for president macron yesterday, getting trump and zelenskyy there. and together. but president macron is domestically in a, in a very, very bad place indeed. >> but it's a real bromance. i thought now of course, prince william was sent presumably by keir starmer to go. and that's as i understand, the protocol. do you think he's kind of saving his bacon in a bit? keir starmers bacon a little bit by doing this? because keir starmer i'm not sure how welcomed he would be at that event. >> well, certainly i've been in touch with a number 10 a couple of times about this. to clarify . of times about this. to clarify. so the reason the prime minister was not there is because 1498