geeta: let's catch up with what sports are looking like.he latest. >> we will start with manchester united, their manager says marcus rashford wants to play for the club amid speculation the stryker wants to leave. rushford has missed the last three games after saying he was ready for a new challenge after their 3-0 defeat to bournemouth. united are 13th in the premier league. they go to walls on boxing day. he says he wants all his players to meet the challenge ahead. >> like any other player, the best they can be. if you have big talent, big performance, big responsibility. big engagement. push forward everybody. some guys have a big responsibility here because they are here for a long time, so this is maybe one of the lowest moments in our club. so we have to face it and be strong in this moment. that is what i want for every player on the team. >> low moment for united. that is the case for their neighbors, too. manchester city are at home to everton in the early kickoff. the 2-1 loss to aston villa was their ninth defeat in 12 matches

hello, i'm geeta guru—murthy.rol 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 daeva 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. they keep up the pressure for nine days.

(tx sot) and that's all the sport for now, back to you, geeta. some breaking news now from syria.atement from the united states central command saying that the leader of is — abu yusif — has been killed in an air strike, alongside another operative. the strike took place on thursday in deir ezzor province in eastern syria. we know the troops have had —— we know the us have had troops in that area and we don't know whether donald trump will keep us troops in syria once he takes office, but there has been a big operation of air strikes chilling to ias operatives including the isa leader, abu yusif, in syria. that news just leader, abu yusif, in syria. that newsjust coming leader, abu yusif, in syria. that news just coming to us and it comes as a us delegation is also in syria and they have met the hts leader, we are expecting a news conference in the coming hours with an update from them as well. we will keep you updated on that, there is more online. let me also just bring you breaking news from the uk, because the list of people nominated to become a peen people nominated to becom

hello, i m geeta guru—murthy, welcome to bbc news now, 3 hours of fast—moving news, a us government shutdownng. president—elect donald trump is mounting pressure on congress to pass a federal spending bill in an attempt to avoid the shutdown. the first attempt to pass such a bill was heavily defeated in congress but mr trump has since taken to social media to urge congress to scrap what's known as the debt ceiling, or extend it to 2029. this would mean there'd be no limit on the amount of money the us government can borrow to pay for services, such as social security, medicare and the military. but there are concerns that would make it more difficult to contain the country's budget deficit, which is how much a government's expendture exceeds its revenue by. in the us this has reached $1.8 trillion for the year 202a. 38 republicans voted against trump's efforts to suspend the federal debt limit for two years, and his

i'm geeta guru—murthy in london. also coming up...omania and bulgaria are set to become full members of europe's schengen free—travel area. south korea's president vows to fight to the end, as members of his party plan to vote on whether to impeach him this saturday. it's the death that shocked the nation — the chidren�*s commissioner for england says the murder of sara sharif by her father and step—mother shows "profound weaknesses" in the child protection system. you join us here in damascus. day four has begun for the new order in syria. these are truly momentous times and syrians are still reeling by the extraordinary developments of the last two days. the new interim authorities are trying to put in place the structures that can make good on their promises to all syrians to establish security and calm right across the country. in their latest announcement is their latest announcement is the new authorities say they will now shut down the notorious prisons where tens of thousands were killed and tortured. there have been heartbrea

having me- _ we also have plenty of coverage on our website including this piece from my colleague geetathe region when the tsunami hit, she recounts her story and the stories of those she met in the weeks following the devastating tsunami. ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy says a christmas day attack on his country's energy system was "inhumane." moscow launched more than 170 rockets and drones in the early hours, hitting power plants and electricity infrastructure. at least one person was killed. in a statement, us president biden said the purpose of this outrageous attack was to cut off the ukrainian people's access to heat and electricity during winter and to jeopardize the safety of its grid. five people have also died in russia after strikes from ukraine. 38 people were killed in the azerbaijan airlines plane crash near the city of aktau, khazakstan. officials say the aircraft had been trying to make an emergency landing when flames erupted at the front. almost half the 67 passengers and crew survived. the plane was en route to the city of grozny in russia's chechnya region b

hello, i'm geeta guru—murthy.sts have erupted in syria over the burning of a christmas tree in a christian—majority town near hama. demonstrators took to the streets of the capital damascus, calling for the new ruling faction, hts, to punish those who are responsible. the islamist hts movement has promised to protect minorities since toppling president bashar al assad earlier this month. lina sinjab reports from damascus. chanting. "we will sacrifice our souls for our cross," these men chant as they demonstrate through the streets of damascus. they are christians. many fear life in the new syria. despite promises made by the country's latest leaders, these protesters and other minorities are not so sure. and this was the catalyst of the christmas eve protests — masked gunmen setting fire to a christmas tree in the main square of suqaylabiyah, a christian majority town in central syria, the incident captured and shared on social media. a spokesperson from the country's new leaders said foreign fighters were respons

hello, i'm geeta guru—murthy.

we also have plenty of coverage on our website, including this piece from my colleague geeta pandey,hen the tsunami hit. she recounts her story and the stories of those she met in the weeks following the devastating tsunami. a number of fires are burning across the australian state of victoria on thursday, with emergency services on edge. the entire state is under a warning of extreme fire danger, with temperatures of up to 40 degrees celsius and winds of around 90kph making it a challenge for firefighters to contain blazes. earlier i spoke with jason heffernan — chief officer at the country fire authority. he's also spokesperson for victoria's state control centre. he gave me the latest update on the fires burning across the state. the fire conditions across victoria are as you describe in your opening piece, extreme. we are seeing those 40—degree temperatures and right now we're starting to see a westerly push come across the state, averaging 50km/h or, yeah, 30 miles an hour in the uk speak. to give peek a bit of perspective of the fire we're dealing with in the grampians national

. —— geeta guru—murthy. welcome to the syrian capital damascus. as the city slowly resumes its normal resumes after the sudden reserves on sunday that toppled president assad's regime. we understand about 40% of people did show up at the desk. you may hear the sounds of the traffic in damascus, even though there is a curfew. the streets had been quiet for the last few days, but people now feel confident enough to come out of their homes, even though we can still hear the sounds of celebratory gunfire and some of the main squares of the city. in the last few hours, the caretaker prime minister has been announced. his name is mohammed al—bashir. he was ahead of what was called the salvation government. now the challenge is to run an entire country. israel says it has destroyed syria's naval fleet as it continues its attacks on syrian military installations for a third day. israel's defence minister said its forces were operating to destroy strategic capabilities that threatened threatened israel and had acted with what he called �*great success�*. d

hello, i'm geeta guru—murthy.oing i am going to take you straight to paris, i am going to take you straight to paris, because i am going to take you straight to paris, because president macron is holding a ceremony at the elysee palace with a minute's silence for all of those affected in mayotte after a cyclone devastated the french indian ocean territory. france is holding a day of national mourning and emmanuel macron has called for nationwide remembrance after he was visiting the island last week. he was jeered by some islanders who criticised the slow delivery of aid. that is the elysee palace, president macron and his wife who have come for and his wife who have come for a minute's silence to commemorate those who have lost their lives. we will be back for more on the latest developments on mayotte in a few moments. now our other menus. —— main news. figures on the state of the uk economy show it failed to grow at all in the third quarter of this year. the revised official figures for gross domestic product —

i'm geeta guru—murthy in london.the last hour the european union has made a decision on romania and bulgaria. they have been confirmed as full members of europe's schengen travel zone. the countries partly joined schengen in march, after an agreement with austria, which had initially opposed theirjoining on the grounds they needed to do more to prevent illegal immigration. the deal has been years in the making. romania and bulgaria joined the european union in 2007 and have been trying to enter schengen for more than 10 years. their full entry to the zone would leave ireland and cyprus as the only eu countries outside it. there are currently 29 countries in the schengen area, which allows 400 million people to move freely between them. for more on this, let's speak to our correspondent nick thorpe — he's in nadlac on the romania—hungary border. tell us about the significance of today. inaudible i am sorry, we don't seem to have the sound. we will get that audio back and go back to nick thorpe on the romania hungary b

hello, i'm geeta guru—murthy.ures on the state of the uk economy — suggest it failed to grow at all in the third quarter of this year. the revised official figures for gross domestic product — or gdp — coverjuly to september — the months after the general election, and the run—up to the labour government's first budget. and there are warnings too for chancellor rachel reeves — from the influential business groups — the british retail consortium and the confederation of british industry. they predict a difficult economic start to 2025 — with data suggesting concerns that the tax—raising autumn budget could affect sales. the government insists it's delivering stability for companies — and encouraging long—term investment. our business correspondent theo leggett explained the significance of the ons decision (pres)with me is.... weight the revision is a psychologically significant one and what lies behind it is the smaller businesses like legal firms and businesses and service sector have performed a bit more poorly

hello, i'm geeta guru—murthy.a. demonstrators took to the streets of the capital damascus, calling for the new ruling faction, hts, to punish those who are responsible.

i'm geeta guru—murthy. our other top stories.l's prime minister benjamin netanyahu testifies for the first time in his long—running corruption trial. president macron calls cross—party talks in an attempt to form a new government in france following a historic no—confidence vote last week. welcome to the syrian capital damascus. it's the second full day under syria's new rebel leadership. a night—time curfew is now in force, although you may also hear that some of the traffic is still flowing. that's new as well because the streets have been quiet on sunday and monday after the rebels suddenly seized control. five decades of rule by the syrian assad family. today, there are more signs of the city and returning to its normal leadership. the new interim government also had a cabinet meeting today, attended by members of the former government, trying to send a signal that they will be a smooth transition. —— it will be. let's look at the other top stories. israel says it has destroyed syria's naval fleet as it continues its attacks

i'm geeta guru—murthy.elcome to bbc news now, three hours of fast—moving news, interviews and reaction. a us government shutdown is just hours away unless lawmakers in washington can agree a spending plan for government funding. president—elect trump is putting pressure on congress to pass a federal spending bill and avoid the shutdown. the first attempt to pass a bill was heavily defeated in congress — after which trump took to social media, urging congress to scrap what's known as the debt ceiling, or to extend it to 2029. this would mean there'd be no limit on the amount of money the us government could borrow to pay for services, such as social security, medicare and the military. but there are concerns this would make it more difficult to contain the country's budget deficit, that's the amount by which government expenditure exceeds revenue. in the us this is currently running at more than 1.8 trillion dollars. 38 republicans voted againt mr trump's efforts to suspend the federal debt limit for two yea

hello, i'm geeta—guru murthy.an five decades of authoritarian rule by the assad family have come to an end in syria, after rebels took the capital, damascus, overnight. speaking on state television they said �*the city of damascus has been liberated. assad has been toppled'. the group hayat tahrir al—sham, who have their roots in al-qaeda, have been trying to rebrand themselves as a nationalist force. they say they've freed what they called hundreds of unjustly detained prisoners held injails in syria. the russian foreign ministry said president assad stepped down and left syria as a result of negotiations with "other participants in the armed conflict" but that russia was not involved in those negotiations and does not know where he is now. there were scenes of celebration on the steps of the presidential palace in damascus — within its walls, people can be seen picking through rooms and corridors apparently ransacked by rebels and many items from chairs to airconditioning units have been looted. many of the hund

hello, i'm geeta guru—murthy. five decades of authoritarian rule by the assad family have come to an end in syria, after rebels took the capital, damascus, overnight. speaking on state television they said, "the city of damascus has been liberated. assad has been toppled". in the last few minutes, we have received this leader of the main faction, abu mohammad al—julani, telling that the main faction, abu mohammad al—julani, tellin not |t the main faction, abu mohammad al—julani, tellin not involved in that russia was not involved in the talks and does not know a0 is no. 0ur correspondent barbara plett usher has reached damascus — the bbc is the only british broadcaster to do so — and has just sent this report. this is an extraordinary moment. the seismic change. bashar al—assad is gone. rebels have declared victory. we were the first western journalist to reach the capitaljust hours after it fell. this is where people are celebrating, and the central square. surveillance and rebels, you can hear the sound of celeb