>>a >> a very good afternoon. it's 1:00 on sunday, the 29th of december. this is the weekend on gb news. now at least 179 people gb news. now at least179 people have gb news. now at least 179 people have died after a plane crash landed and collided with a wall at south korea's main international airport in the early hours of this morning. we're going to be on the ground in south korea this hour, and later in the show, i'll be joined by an airline pilot. how much of a risk is this? in britain, french authorities have

confirmed that three migrants died and dozens rescued after a small boat capsized in the engush small boat capsized in the english channel. this comes after gb news revealed yesterday that 1300 small boats had made the perilous journey since christmas day. and we'll be live on a farm as the prime minister's approval ratings are branded catastrophic, with a rural voters in the rural heartlands of our country actually condemning labour with actually condemning labour with a damning poll. and the fog that's covered large swathes of the country finally begins to clear up. but, well, don't get too excited. it's going to be replaced by snow and rain as we welcome in the new year. just how much of a damp squib will the start of 2025 really be? i'm darren grimes and this is the

weekend. now this show is absolutely nothing without you and your views. let me know your thoughts on all of the stories we'll be discussing today by visiting gbnews.com/yoursay and join the conversation now. keeping me company on today's show is the former labour advisor, paul richards, and the deputy editor of spiked fraser myers. but before we get stuck in to today's stories, here's your news headlines with sophia wenzler. >> darren. thank you. good afternoon. it'sjust >> darren. thank you. good afternoon. it's just gone. 1:00. these are your headlines. foreign secretary david lammy has offered his heartfelt condolences to the people of south korea and thailand after a plane crash killed 179 people. two crew members have been rescued, but all other people

are feared dead. the youngest victim was a three year old boy, according to local media outlets, and five of those killed were children under the age of ten. it's understood the boeing 737 800 jet was making a second attempt at a crash landing after its landing gear failed to open. the fire service says it believes a collision with birds and poor weather may be to blame. the azerbaijan airlines plane that crashed, killing 38 people, was damaged while over russia due to shooting from the ground. that's according to the country's president. president aliyev said he regretted that some circles in russia had tried to hush up the truth about the crash by sowing false narratives about the causes of it. it comes after russia's president, vladimir putin, apologised for what he called a tragic incident over russia, in which the azerbaijan airlines plane crashed after russian air defences were fired against ukrainian drones. the uk has rejected putin's apology and

called for a full and independent investigation. now at least three people have died attempting to cross the channel in small boats this morning, according to french authorities. a large scale rescue operation off the coast of calais began early this morning after reports around 50 people had struggled to board a boat. officials confirmed three people had died and 45 others had been rescued, with four being taken to hospital with hypothermia. it comes after news yesterday that 3500 migrants have now crossed the english channel. since christmas day, the prime minister has promised to smash the gangs behind the crossings, but more than 22,000 people have arrived since he took office. that's up 25% on last year. in other news, the uk has pledged millions of pounds more to ukraine to help investigate russian war crimes. the ministry of defence announced it will give bodies, including the ukrainian prosecutor general's

office, £4.5 million, to help bnng office, £4.5 million, to help bring russian war criminals to justice. the government had previously pledged £6.2 million to help prosecute war crimes. the un concluded in 2022 that war crimes had been committed dunng war crimes had been committed during the conflict, citing evidence of executions, torture and sexual and gender based violence. elon musk has endorsed the right wing alternative fur deutschland party. in a guest opinion piece for the welt am sonntag newspaper, prompting its opinion editor to resign in protest. in the article, the tech billionaire explained why he had posted on the social media platform x last week that only the afd can save germany. he wrote the portrayal of the afd as right wing extremists is clearly false, considering that alice weidel, the party's leader, has a same sex partner from sri lanka, he says does that sound like hitler to you? shortly after the piece was published, the editor of the opinion section, eva marie

kogel opinion section, eva marie kogel, wrote on x that she had submitted her resignation with a link to the commentary, and thick fog is set to cause further flight delays today, disrupting gatwick airports busiest day of the holiday period. flights at stansted airport were affected by the weather conditions yesterday, while live departure boards showed delays at heathrow, luton and manchester airports. the uk's main air traffic control provider said temporary air restrictions will continue today as airfields are affected by fog. those are the latest gb news headlines. now it's back to darren for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code or go to gbnews.com/alerts. >> thank you very much, sophia. let's get stuck into today's

topics. 179 people have died after a plane crash where it crash landed and collided with a wall at south korea's muan international airport in the early hours of this morning. now, according to local transport officials, the jet was arriving from the thai capital bangkok and was carrying 175 passengers and six crew members, only two of whom have been recovered from the wreckage. a miracle indeed. authorities have cited a malfunction of landing gear as a possible cause of the crash, but have also revealed a bird strike warning was in place at the time. the recovery effort continues with the yonhap news agency reporting that the search has now shifted to recovering the bodies. well, joining me live from the south korea caphal live from the south korea capital, seoul, is the journalist raphael rashid. raphael, thank you very much for

your company. just how much of a threat is the bird strike incident and this warning that came before the incident that's taken place today. how regular are these occurrences? >> yes, for the time being, the official cause of the accident has not been given. there is an ongoing investigation, but many signs seem to suggest that there was a certain bird collision. one of the two survivors who are stewards on this aircraft, one of them was able to communicate after the accident, saying that indeed, there was a bird collision and footage just before it landed shows that there was something that struck there was something that struck the side of the aircraft, and then there was fire. these

things, of course, are incredibly rare occurrences and do not happen frequently. but when they do happen, they can be deadly. think of it like a bullet hitting someone. it's going at such a rapid speed that the collision impact is of several tons. if it were even just a bird, just one or a few birds and they can cause significant damage. but we have yet to wait for the official conclusions from any investigation that come out in the next few days. >> and what is the feeling on the ground there? because i have no doubt that this will, of course, cause a great deal of anxiety in the country itself. what is the atmosphere? >> i think it's a very sombre atmosphere at the moment. i think everyone is mourning the loss of 179 passengers. the

acting president, choi sang mok, has declared a period of one week mourning for the next until early january. and i think it's , early january. and i think it's, you know, there was a crowd crush a few two years ago that killed over 150 people. and now we're having this absolute catastrophe. and i think many people will be remembering december 29th for a very long time for what has happened today. >> and the of course, the president is, is newly installed as president, given the political turmoil that's been going on in south korea. i mean, how much of a difficult wicket is this for the new administration? >> this is going to be a major test for the new acting president. he's only been in his role for two days. yeah. he's

inheriting a bunch of other cnses inheriting a bunch of other crises affecting the country, namely the political crisis that has completely plagued parliament over the past few weeks following a failed martial law declaration by president yoon suk yeol. but maybe this is a time for him to prove himself. it is maybe also a time for the rival political parties to put aside their animosity that has brought aside their animosity t