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been in contact with countries in the region. >> the rebels have faced little opposition in the offensive so far. the syrian military is demoralized and exhausted after more than 13 years of conflict. this could change. iran ss it will send missiles, drones and advisors. >> everyone in syria at the moment are bad actors especially the islamists trying to gain control over syria. if they do, think whatould happen if isis had control over iraq. ♪ >> so the lightning advance by islamist rebels in syria gathers pace as they close in on the city of homs. we will consider implications for president assad and the

wider region. the search for the killer of the u.s. insurance ceo has wide into the states of new york and connecticut. e front runner in romania's presidential election, the ultranationalist labels as a coup a court's decision to rerun what it means for the tussle in the region between those wanting to embrace europe and those favoring russia. we start in syria where tens of thousands are fleeing the city of homs as islamist rebels close in. they may be five kilometers away. the leader of the rebel says he wants an end to the regime of assad and has told minorities they will be respected. the speed at which the armed opposition is advancing across the country appears to have taken everyone by surprise.

in just 10 days they have swept into aleppo, syria second city, and major city hammer fell yesterday and know their sites are on homs. if they take that, it could cut off the main road from the capital damascus to the syrian coast which is a stronghold of president assad. 's chief ally russia has urged citizens to leave syria. the nation says at least 370,000 people have been displaced by fighting in syria in the past 10 days. most of them women and children. though rebel advance has been facilitated by assad's allies including russia, iran and hezbollah involved in fighting other conflicts. with the latest from the turkiye syria border, here is hugo but shade. >> the rebels -- the rebels advance has been swift but astonishing. yesterday they captured a town almost unopposed. there were celebrations as they enter the city.

>> i cannot describe my joy this man says. we wish every honor will syrian can experience these happy moments. the rebels said they would not stop there and they did not. today they continued to make progress towards homs. they have not taken the city as the military tries to slow their progress. the civil war in syria started in 2011 when president bashar al-assad crushed protests against his regime. the rebel stronghold, homs was under siege for three years. the last opposition forces left the city in 2015 under a deal brokered by the u.n. >> if the rebels take homs, damascus, the capitol would be quite an easier target. the syrian army has fallen. the escape capacity has been degraded a great deal.

the writing on the wall. >> frozen for years, the front lines in syr are changing fast. this is an insurgency led by islamist rebels from a group known as hts. they have roots in al qaeda. and are trying to rebrand themselves as a nationalist force. from their base in ad lib. in the northwest, they launched a surprise lightning campaign last week. they took aleppo, the second largest city and continued to push south. this is their leader. in this interview to cnn he said the goal was to topple the assad regime and bring syrian refugees back home. >> people will return to their homes. many refugees in turkiye will likely return as well a significant number of refugees in lebanon and jordan. refugees in europe may reap -- may return to rebuild their country. >> they are vowing to reach damascus and assad is struggling to stop them.

in the past he relied heavily on russia and iran to fight the opposition but both allies are preoccupied with their own affairs. the rebels have the momentum and the regime is increasingly under threat. >> that was hugo reporting. in the past hour, the white house press secretary karine jean-pierre gave the perspective on the situation in syria. >> we are closely monitoring the situations in syria and have been in contact with the countries in the region. the embassy put out a statement last weekend. the assad regime's ongoing refusal to engage in the political process outlined in unsc are 2054 and its reliance on russia and iran created the conditions unfolding including the collapse of the assad regime alliance in northwest syria. the united states together with its partners and allies urge the escalation, protection of

civilians and minority groups and a serious and credible process that can end the civil war once and for all with a settlement consisted with 2254. >> the white house press briefing coming in to the bbc a few moments ago. . the white house monitoring what is happening on the ground. let's pick up on this with caroline rose who is from the new alliance think tank. you researched defense security and illicit trade acrosthe middle east. you were previously in charge of the power vacuums program. is that what we are seeing on the ground in syria? this grouping filling in where hezbollah and russia have left that vacuum. >> absolutely and thanks a much for having me on to discuss events in syria. i think absolutely that is what we are seeing. we are seeing the weakening of a syrian regime.

the absence of full-fledged support from russia, iran and iran aligned elements that have different degrees of their own agencies that have ultimately really denied substantial support to the syrian regime to fight this offensive and defend regime held territories. also there is a partial vacuum that is left by the united states. of course the united states is in northeast syria but of course there had been recent windows for i since resurgence and -- for isis resurgence and this has caused a widespread scramble to consolidate as much territory as actors can particularly before trump takes office in january and there is an expected withdrawal of u.s. forces from northeast syria. >> that is interesting in terms of hts, we know at one point the u.s. had put them on a terrorist list. they had organically they have been affiliated previously with

al qaeda. they have had some contact with islamic state as well. they have since renewed themselves and they are now fighting. had previously fought al qaeda. th are sending messages to christian groups, to already groups. what kind of power structure and what kind of grouping will they be if they manage to hold these areas? >> the first question which is will they be able to retain control over these areas even after potentially posing a direct threat to the assad regime? potentially taking the regime out in its capital damascus. that is quite uncertain. while this was an offensive that had a lot of momentum, there still is a lot of fragility and a bit of fragmentation among the opposition forces. we have seen in fighting between the national army primarily

backed by turkiye. this could likely happen again. there is the question of will hts keep up this more moderate face that it is putting in areas like aleppo where they have tried to put to the electricity grid back on. they have resumed bus lines. they have assured religious minorities they would not be discriminated against and targeted should there is this question of whether they will be able to keep up that moderate face while trying to consolidate control and continue their own brand of political governance which is what we saw in northwest idlib. because of this, i think there is a lot of uncertainty syria faces even if it is going to be a poster regime security landscape. >> do you know the whereabouts, what is happening with assad? is this a potential of him using control of the country?

or is that too far in the future? >> surprisingly i think we are there. a week ago i would not have said this. i think this is an offensive that has snowballed into a movement that shows a consolidat momentum and unity for now against opposition forces in trying to drive out aside. -- drive al-assad. it was surprising this offensive was able to take over aleppo city. know we are starting to see regime forces withdraw from homs in preparation and with expectation this offensive will be there. we are certain to see up people in the south. which was considered the birthplace of the syrian revolution. in regime forces started to withdraw from posts in the northeast. it is very clear the regime is bracing itself for a direct

threat to its own security. i think the opposition now they are saying they are going to push into homs, i think we should believe it. they did the same in aleppo. they did the same in hama. it is likely the syrian regime could sk to evacuate from damascus, particularly assad family members and aside himself. there could be a direct challenge to their own political continuity in syria. >> when i was inresting you come i mentioned you were researching illicit traits across the middle east. you have been looking at the way the assad regime has been leveraging drug trafficking. give us an insight into that. >> certainly. so up to this point since the late 2010 in early 20 20's, we saw the regime adopt large-scale industrial scale production and trafficking of a drug which is an amphetamine type stimulant. .

it is established this industry as one of its primary revenue generation sources. they have established this as a way toypass the effects of international sanctions that have been placed upon both regime individuals as well as the regime and affiliated security companies and the different parts of the apparatus. because of this, i thi ultimately it is playing a large role not only in the offensive given it is a stimulant that will allow fighters to stay up and improve their own productivity in battlefield performance. also know that the regime is directly threatened, there comes this question of will they continue to try to rely on trafficking as a way to financially sustain themselves? it is likely too that as the offensive pushes further south as well as into the eastf syria that likely they will take over hotspots of production and trafficking. potentially shutting those down

and exposing the regime's involvement in illicit smuggling and trafficking. by sitting into something we don't often talk about. carolyn rhodes from the new alliance think tank. we have much more on the offensive in syria on our website. will be back with that throughout the program. let's turn to the united states because police in new york have been scouring cct footage and have gathered more than 200 images of the men they believe shot and killed the boss of a major health insurance company. brian thompson was arriving at a conference at the hilton hotel when he was shot in the back. the latest from new york. >> these are the clearest pictures of the suspected gunman. the image called on surveillance camera shows him standing at the check in desk at a hostile where he reportedly shared a room with two other men. in flirtatious moment, he pulls down his mask to show the receptionist his smile and reveals his fullface.

the breakthrough here at the american youth hostel at the uppewest side has provided new leads into the murder of united health care ceo brian thompson. these brothers from italy say they were staying on the same floor as the suspect. >> it was a coincidence it was exactly that night. it feels a bit crazy still. the next day, the whole night we had a police officer standing on our floor for our safety. we don't know. maybe he was waiting for him to come back. >> we know the person of interest in this case checked id.o this hostile using a fake after arriving here on a bus from a state south of the city 10 days before the shooting. this has turned into a multistate manhunt. the fatal shooting of brian thompson in midtown manhattan just as he was about to give an investor talk felt like a scene out of a hollywood movie. it has led other major corporations to reevaluate their safety. >> no one is going crazy

thinking immediately this is an attack against all ceos but it is making everyone reevaluate. >> new york officials insist the investigation is on the right track. for now, the suspect is still at large and his identity unknown. >> let's go live to new york because john joins us know -- joins us now. this investigation is spreading outside of new york city. >> that is right. at the moment, no breakthroughs. the suspect remains at large. it is clear from that announcement from of the police they have extended the search to two other states and they think there is a likelihood the suspect has left the city and indeed the state. you have to say in the past couple of days, the advantage in terms of tracking him down must be shifting toward the police. they have a huge body of

evidence. manhattan behind me is one of the most filmed and photographed places on earth. these multiple images they possess, in particular, the one mentioned in the report taken in the hostile where the suspect was believed to have been staying in the days leading up to the shooting, hugely significant. this talk of this moment of flirtation, the exchange between him and the receptionist turning out to be one of the most significant pieces of evidence they have. a clear identification of his face and even if they are still some time away from any arrests, they must surely you have to conclude be close to identifying who he is and knowing who it is they are looking for. >> what reaction from the insurance industry? >> obviously deep shock from united health care. mr. thompson had been chief executive since 2021.

as you heard in the report, clearly deep concern that this is a question of security for the. and we have seen in the last you days some of the big insurers taking down their leadership pages from their websites. the pages giving details and photographs of the senior management team. an indication of how worried they are. >> john sudworth live from new york. thank you veryuch on that ongoing been hot. around the world and across the u.k., you are watching bbc news. ♪

>> thanks for being with us. a large part of the u.k. braced for storm darragh with amber weather warnings meeting widespread disruption from southern scotland to wardwell and northern ireland. the storm is expected to bring

heavy rain over the weekend across the u.k. the most serious threat is to south wales and the bristol channel where air -- where a rare red warning has been issued meeting a danger to life. gusts of around 90 miles per hour starting in the early hours of tomorrow morning. the government says around 3 million people living in the area covered by the red warning have received a siren like alert on their phones warning them of the expected high winds. our correspondent thomas morgan reports. >> from penn off to porth call, along the welsh coastline, businesses have been making plans in reparation for the bad weather. >> we have deliveries for our customers. some of the elderly. we need to get out to make sure they are getting stuff. other than that, that is all we have in the cards. >>. although towns on welsh coastlines are familiar with bad weather, having to close shops and cafes on a saturday so close

to christmas will affect businesses. >> normally park run on saturday morning but they canceled that as well. there will not be many people about i don't think. >> it has been just two weeks since a storm ravaged parts of the south valleys causing severe flooding. residents and politicians were angry stronger warnings were not issued early enough. tomorrow's met office warnings in wells include amber for rain and a rare red warning for wind across the west and south coast as well as the bristol channel. >> they basically need danger to life. big impacts but not just that. also expresses certainty so that means the met office is confident these severe conditions will be affecting quite a large area. >> as wells gets ready to defend itself once more, miserable weather in run-up to the festive period continues. >> more details on our website

as well. in an unprecedented move, rimini is top constitutional court has canceled the presidential election idling the result of the first round days before the second round was due to take place. it means the process will be restarted from scratch with the government do to decide a date for a new vote. it comes two days before the final round was due to take place. surprise winner of the annulled first round had been tipped to win. he has described the decision as a coup. the announcement was made days after security services revealed details of what appears to be a major attempt to interfere with the intellectual touch with the elections using tiktok and a series of cyber attacks the town of romania's current -- in a televised address he says he will stay in his post till a

successor is elected. a lot to discuss with an associate professor at the european university institute. where the former foreign affairs advisor for the romanian presidential administration and the romanian scented. put this into perspective for us. this has never happened before. it is extraordinary. >> it is quite extraordinary. i think the events today show us two different things simultaneously we have to pay attention to. there are many authorities have revealed the full extent of the russian threat on democratic institutions. but also russia's ability to so this much confusion and with such great impact sows the progreive fragility of democratic institutions in european union member states. like you said, there is a declassified report from the remaining intelligence services that show a presidential candidate's campaign was supported by a foreign state

within inferred purpose to subvert romania's national security interests. this candidate whose social media campaign followed a similar passage of #usage to the so-called brother next to brother influencer campaign before its full-scale invasion of 2022. declared zero expenses for his little campaign even though he benefited from a very expensive campaign on social media that got him trending at number nine in the world in the days before the first round. taylor swift levels of popularity in a few days. in light of this report the court decided to cancel the elections the judges had previously certified. this gets me to my second point. even if russia did not minute is

to support an anti-nato candidate for high office, the kremlin still wins in other ways. the confusion, the anger, the strust in the establishment and romanian institutions will only grow sewing discontent with democracies -- is pop -- with democracy is part of the kremlin's. playbook the decision to cancel elections came late as people were already voting in the sizable romanian diaspora. >> it was expected to be on sunday. we have only got a few seconds left. i want to know, if this first around gets rerun, how on earth do romanians say they can safeguard and not have this interference happen again? >> the real question is what kind of tell a dirty the e.u. shows two romania. clearly the authorities were

caught by surprise and showed an impressive level of weakness. and better house associated this campaign was, allowing candidates that are pro-russian and supported by the kremlin to get this far is a serious oversight. >> former advisor to the romanian presidential administration. ank you for joining us on an unprecedented moment in rimini is political history -- in romania as polital history. lots more on our website. we are monitoring the beautiful shot of notre dame. the gothic cathedral is due to be opened officially on the weekend and lots of dignitaries including donald announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation.

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