syrian rebels declare damascus is free as people take to the streets to celebrate the end of the assad regime. you can hear the sound of celebratory gunfire. people driving around in their cars and are giving me peace signs in the same that life will be so much better now that bashar al—asaad is gone. syria's former president, bashar al—assad, is reportedly in moscow, claiming asylum from key ally russia. western leaders welcome the end of assad's rule, but warn of uncertainty to come. welcome to newsday. the family dynasty that controlled syria for more than half a century is no longer in power

with president bashar al—assad having fled the country and rebel forces now in control of damascus. russian state media has announced that bashar al—assad and his family are in moscow and have been granted political asylum. in damascus, thousands of people celebrated in the main square, chanting "freedom," after the rebels seized control, seemingly bringing to an end a civil war that's lasted 13 brutal years. but when the end came, it came quickly, the speed of the rebel victory, astonishing.|t was only on tuesday, that the city of aleppo was captured in a shock offensive. then by the weekend, they had full control of homs, and the province of deraa was in their grasp. then the rebels entered the capital, meeting almost no resistance. barbara plett usher, who was the first western journalist to enter damascus as the city fell, sent this report.

this is an extraordinary moment, a seismic change in syria's balance of power. the strongman of damascus, bashar al—assad, is gone. rebels have declared victory. gunfire. we were the first western journalists to reach the capitaljust hours after it fell. this is where people are celebrating in the central umayyad square, civilians and rebels. you can hear the sound of celebratory gunfire. people are driving around in their cars, they are giving me peace signs. they are saying that life is going to be so much better now that bashar al—assad is gone. but there is a mix ofjoy and fear in the city. there are those who supported bashar al—assad, who felt they were protected by him, and now they're wondering what is going to happen. here, i spoke to people who have long been waiting for his downfall. "thank you, thank you", she says. "the tyrant has fallen, the tyrant has fallen!" many of her family died under president assad's rule, some in prison.

my cousin, my son, my family. all, all — all of them. how are you feeling? translation: it is an indescribable feeling. | we are so happy. after all the years of dictatorship we have lived through, we were imprisoned in 2014 and now we're out, thank god. we won because of our men, and our fighters and now, we're at the moment that we're going to build the greatest syria. the old syria has gone, with breathtaking speed, the army melting away in the face of the rebel advance. last week, it was aleppo. yesterday, the city of homs. last night, the outskirts of damascus. when they arrived, the rebels went straight to a notorious prison to set the inmates free.

today, their leader took a victory tour of damascus, visiting the historic umayyad mosque. abu mohammed al—jawlani, head of the islamic group hayat tahrir al—sham. my colleague was there for bbc arabic. all chant: allahu akbar! a historic moment, in every sense of the word — abu mohammed al—jawlani here for the first time, in the great umayyad mosque. the rebel commander has been playing down past links to al-qaeda, saying he wants to build a syria for all its people. from the syrian prime minister, also a message of calm. translation: we are all. concerned about this country and its institutions and facilities. i am here in my home, and i do not intend to leave it, except in a peaceful manner, in order to ensure the continuation of the work of public institutions. the president fled, as the rebels closed in.

reports in russia now say he's turned up in moscow, a statue of his father pulled down, shortly before he flew out of the country. his damascus residence now a tourist attraction, stripped bare of anything valuable — of anything at all. we saw people carrying out furniture with no one trying to stop them. the rebels may have brought freedom but not security. looters have been breaking into buildings here, too, deepening anxiety about this in—between time without a government in charge. definitely a freedom, but the transition has to happen super—quick. our president shouldn't have just left. he should have taken the proper measures that are needed for him to actually give at least the army or the police, you know, control over those areas until a new president comes in, but he was just purely selfish and he left.

the country is hoping for peace and fearing chaos. different groups control different areas. no—one knows how this will play out. but whatever happens here will be felt across the middle east. the assad family controlled syria for 53 years. president bashar al—assad took power in 2000 after his father had held power since the early 19705. russia propped up the assad dynasty for decades but, in the past few years, its focus had shifted. 0ur russia editor steve rosenberg has more on the news coming from russian state television. he is now in moscow. it was a brief announcement, quoting a kremlin source, saying that bashar al—assad and his family had arrived in moscow, had been given asylum on humanitarian grounds.

i think that these extraordinary events that we have been witnessing are a major blow to the kremlin. after all, russia — russia's intervention in the syrian war was driven, to a large extent, by russia's desire to protect itself as a global power, shoring up assad was seen as a way of challenging the west and now, in a matter of days, this kremlin—syria project has sort of unraveled in dramatic circumstances. i think that russia's priority now will be the fate of its two main military bases in syria — one air base, one naval base — which had given russia a foothold in the eastern mediterranean. meanwhile, tonight, russian state television is telling russians this — let me just tell you. this tv said, "of course, we are not "indifferent to what is happening in syria "but our priority is russia's own security in the zone "of the special military occupation — "russia's war in ukraine".

that language, "we are not indifferent to what is "happening in syria," ifound it quite extraordinary in russia — a country which, for years, has done everything possible to keep assad in power, but has failed. so, with the assad regime out, who are the rebels now in control of syria, and what does their victory mean for the country? 0ur security correspondent frank gardner explains. everything now depends on hts — that's the main rebel group that's ousted assad — because this could go either way — a successful transition to a democracy of sorts, or a descent into chaos. the words of their leader here, abu mohammed al—jawlani, are encouraging. he says he wants a government for all syrians. so, is that really what's going to happen? hts, the main rebel group, does have a murky past. until 2016, it was linked to al-qaeda, and it's still a prescribed terrorist group by many governments. the dark red on this map shows how

they burst out of their northwest stronghold to come south — that's the dotted line — and take damascus. the orange and yellow areas are other smaller rebel groups. the purple is the kurds. and up on the coast, the pink area shows the alawite heartland — that's assad's former power base. as if this wasn't complicated enough already, you've also got the outside nations, russia and iran, who'vejust lost an ally in bashar al—assad. there will be looking to salvage their interest in the new uncharted syria. for more on what might be next for syria, we can speak now to a senior opposition figure. dima moussa is vice president of the syrian national coalition — the country's main opposition abroad — based in istanbul. she's also a member of the un—facilitated syrian constitutional committee. many thanks for coming on the programme today. the snc is

internationally recognised by the arab league and others. what role do you hope to play in this new syria?— in this new syria? first of all, in this new syria? first of all. good _ in this new syria? first of all, good morning - in this new syria? first of all, good morning all- in this new syria? first ofl all, good morning all good afternoon. and ijust want to send a huge congratulations to the syrian people, wherever they are. we have turned and amazing dark page in the history of syria and we have only now to look forward. and you know today, i'm a little hesitant to call myself opposition because the main body, the main government, the main person that we were opposed to is gone. so today, we're looking forward the next step and this involves all the syrian political forces coming together and sitting together and looking forward and drawing the plans for the future syria. i know a lot of people are today celebrating the results of the departure of the head of

this regime but a political process is very much still relevant in terms of we need to draw the plans for how we transition from this area before to this area that we want to see in the future, the syria that we all had in our minds when people took to the streets in 2011.— streets in 2011. there are so many questions _ streets in 2011. there are so many questions around - many questions around transition and constitution. will it be presidential, will it be parliamentary? how are you expecting the transition to work and how do you think the rebels will be able to ensure an orderly transition?- an orderly transition? well, that requires, _ an orderly transition? well, that requires, of— an orderly transition? well, that requires, of course, i an orderly transition? well, | that requires, of course, the coming together of all syrian people. this includes the people. this includes the people who are carrying arms. of course, part of the of course, part of the transition requires and i think immediately, and this came across from what i heard from your report and this is what we are hearing and seeing happening in many of the cities

inside syria, especially damascus, people are still in sort of a celebratory mood and, of course, in these kind of cases, there is still a little bit of chaos so the priority right now is to ensure that there is security on the ground, that things don't get out of control and until now, we are not seeing anything getting completely out of control. even during this very quick military operation, we saw very limited plundering, looting. of course, civilians very minimal to almost none were killed in these operations, so the security, ensuring security now is established in all of syria is of the upmost importance. and working together as syrians.

you know, when you talk about the constitution, it different probably when we talked about it when the constitutional committee was formed at the end of 2019, a little over five years ago, and this is something for syrians to decide and today, there isn't the pressure of somebody holding onto power. no, it is something about we are altogether going to decide what the shape of our country is going to be, what kind of system we want, what is best for in this phase and, of course, there is going be a transitional period just to ensure all of these things happen smoothly and in terms of, you know, there is still a roadmap in security council resolution 2254 talks about the steps and what is supposed to happen and in what order. briefly, if you can because we are running out of time, i mean, i hearwhat are running out of time, i mean, i hear what you are saying. there are signs that it may be a peaceful transition

but i'll dulani is a gerhardie at the end of the day and you are a liberalfeminist at the end of the day and you are a liberal feminist to argue going to have to fight for basic democratic freedoms? 0f basic democratic freedoms? of course we're all going to have to fight for what we want and we want to do it a peaceful manner. we want to do it a peaceful manner-— we want to do it a peaceful manner. �* ., ., , , ., ~ manner. i'm not here to speak on anybody's _ manner. i'm not here to speak on anybody's behalf _ manner. i'm not here to speak on anybody's behalf but - manner. i'm not here to speak on anybody's behalf but at - manner. i'm not here to speak on anybody's behalf but at the | on anybody's behalf but at the end of the day, i have to look at what happened over the last 13 years as a symptom and i have to look at the root causes and try to fix those root causes and we can do that peacefully because we want to do things differently than the way they were done since 1970, since a sad popping father took over control in syria and we will have to sit at the same table and i think today there is that desire, there is that ability for syrians to sit together and, you know, we'll just have to see what happens. we have very tough days and

times ahead of us but i think we at least have the will to want to get to a better syria so we will see what happens. and very quickly, yes or no, are you planning to return? {131 are you planning to return? of course. great. _ are you planning to return? of course. great. many— are you planning to return? of course. great. many thanks i are you planning to return? 0f| course. great. many thanks for cominu course. great. many thanks for coming on. _ course. great. many thanks for coming on, dima _ course. great. many thanks for coming on, dima moussa, - course. great. many thanks for coming on, dima moussa, vice| coming on, dima moussa, vice president of the syria national coalition, great to have you on the programme. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

you're live with bbc news. there has been reaction from leaders and officials around the world. the un security council says it will hold closed consultations on syria on monday, at russia's request. the uk prime minister sir keir starmer welcomed the fall of bashar al—assad's "barbaric regime" in syria, he called for the restoration of "peace "and stability". similarly, us presidentjoe biden called the fall of the assad regime "a moment of historic opportunity"

but said there remains "risk and uncertainty". the pentagon said the us carried out strikes against over 75 targets linked to the islamic state group in syria. earlier, i spoke with joel rubin, former deputy assistant secretary of state in the 0bama administration, who gave me his take on the us response to developments in syria. syria affects the entirety of the middle east, and it affects europe as well as the united states. we have had syrian refugees here from this war and for american strategic interests, for our allies in the region — israel, jordan, lebanon, turkey, iraq, the list goes on and on — we need to be stepping in diplomatically to make sure that the transition, as you've been discussing tonight, is stable, and that a new government comes in that provide stability inside syria and reduces the role

of extremism, terrorism and tyranny in the middle east. so, no, he's really unable to convince, i think, most observers that the united states should not be engaging right now diplomatically in this issue. it is a unique situation in the us with president biden still in position and president—elect trump coming in injanuary. i mean, who is calling the shots and what should washington be doing next? yes, you know, in many ways it is a parting gift from joe biden to donald trump that onjoe biden�*s watch, we have seen the deposing of bashar al—assad, the murderer of damascus, and we have seen a deep weakening of iran and hezbollah as well. so, joe biden is calling the shots, but only for six more weeks, and then it's donald trump's turn,

so he is going to have this on his plate whether he likes it or not, and he is going to be the one to really determine the long—term position of the united states, regarding syria and this new middle east. but he has six weeks to get his thoughts together. in the meantime, as you have heard president biden speaking about the risks, engaging our allies and certainly trying to sound an optimistic note about where we are right now with syria. there are concerns about isis, and the us has been striking targets in the last few hours. do you see the group taking advantage of the situation? well, you know, ithink that is a direct reason why we have troops there. we have 900 american servicemembers in eastern syria, working alongside our allies, the kurds, to prevent isis from re—emerging. there are many isis fighters inside prisons is that the kurds guard. it is, of course, a serious concern but the syrian rebels don't have a great relationship

with isis, and i think this will be one of the interesting policy challenges probably for president biden in the near term, which is what to do about hts and its designation as a foreign terrorist organisation. that means that we can't really directly engage it in a robust way, that we can't provide aod or reconstruction, so will they be distanced from isis, can we verify that? have they turned really away from that or not? and i think these are critical questions because isis cannot be allowed to establish a real beachhead inside damascus. it has been denied that in iraq, it should be denied that in syria as well for the benefit of the syrian people. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the rapper and businessman jay—z, whose real name is shawn carter, has been accused in a civil lawsuit of raping a 13—year—old girl in 2000. the lawsuit reportedly claims that carter assaulted the girl along with sean �*diddy�* combs. in a statement, jay—z strongly denied the accusations.

the australian federal police say an arson attack on a melbourne synagogue last week is now being treated as a "terrorism investigation". an eyewitness to the attack said two people wearing masks spread liquid inside the synagogue before it was quickly engulfed in flames. members of the congregation were inside at the time. one person was injured. at least 110 people have been killed by gang members in haiti, who were targeting people suspected of witchcraft. the national human rights defense network says it happened in the notorious cite soleil slum, in the north of the capital port—au—prince. the group reports the leader of the viv ansanm gang ordered the killings over the weekend, after his child became sick. all of the victims were over 60. to south korea now, where the opposition has denounced a plan by the governing party to continue running the country with president yoon remaining in a much reduced role.

yoon suk yeol made a failed bid to impose martial law last week but survived an impeachment vote on saturday with the support of his ruling people power party. the party chair, han dong—hoon, said the president would resign early and until then would not be involved in either national or international affairs. however, the opposition says it would be unconstitutional for the ruling party to continue running the country and pledged to hold another impeachment vote early next week. i'm joined now by stephen haggard, director emeritus for the korea—pacific program at the university of california san diego. many thanks for your time on the programme. i mean, there has been talk of treason but it looks like yoon has avoided impeachment for now. what do you expect to happen next? the im ortant you expect to happen next? tue: important thing you expect to happen next? tte: important thing to understand about this vote is it is a quorum issue. the ruling party

actuallyjust didn't quorum issue. the ruling party actually just didn't show quorum issue. the ruling party actuallyjust didn't show up. so what we don't know yet is what the divisions are within the president's vempati and how many of those legislators may ultimately be willing to defect, and my sense from looking back at the park and carry case in her impeachment in 2017 at some part the party will split —— park geun—hye. the idea of stepping back from his duties, what shape make a role like that take and all the people accept that?- people accept that? no-one knows and _ people accept that? no-one knows and it's _ people accept that? no-one knows and it's not _ people accept that? no-one knows and it's not really - knows and it's not really called for under the circumstances. if he is impeached, if there is a vote to impeach and again, and impeachment hearing, and obviously there will have to be a decision taken about his role, and he could be suspended from the office. but that's not a choice of the president should make, that's a choice that should be in line with legal precedent.—

that should be in line with legal precedent. what do you think this means _ legal precedent. what do you think this means for - legal precedent. what do you think this means for south i think this means for south korea on the whole? international partners, what are they looking at and thinking about as the crisis rolls on?— thinking about as the crisis rolls on? ., ., , rolls on? there are two lines of thinking — rolls on? there are two lines of thinking about _ rolls on? there are two lines of thinking about this - rolls on? there are two lines of thinking about this right . of thinking about this right now. both of them have a grain of truth. 0ne now. both of them have a grain of truth. one is that korean institutions in some sense, the vote of the national assembly to suspend martial law, the president was more almost forced to accept that. but i think the longer this drags out, the more it brings into question the health of korean democracy. and polarisation, i want to mention, plays a role in this. i think one reason recruiter with willing to —— unwilling to step down is because the fear of his constituency of an opposition president —— one reason president —— one reason president yoon. fix, president -- one reason president yoon.- president -- one reason president yoon. �* , ., president yoon. a guest earlier said president _ president yoon. a guest earlier said president yoon _ president yoon. a guest earlier said president yoon did - president yoon. a guest earlier said president yoon did this - said president yoon did this because he did not think you did anything wrong. do you agree and why do you think he did what he did last week? t

did what he did last week? i think it's natural for him to be quite frustrated about managing divided government and part of the presidential system is this problem which parliamentary ones don't, which is you can have a congress or legislator which is of a different party. some of the frustration is just grounded different party. some of the frustration isjust grounded in the difficulties in governing under those circumstances and reaching bargains. buti under those circumstances and reaching bargains. but i think it's important to point out the president himself — and particularly his wife have come under scrutiny for possible corruption charges as well. and that's a set of charges that has also been closing in somewhat on president yoon. so his frustration over policy but also some of these personal things which are idiosyncratic. briefly, if you can, because we are running out of time, the general mood on the streets seems to be — but i do apologise, we are running out of time. many thanks for joining us. that's all for newsday.

hello there. thousands of homes are still without power, particularly across northern ireland, thanks to storm darragh over the weekend. and with all the rain that fell over the weekend, and for the past few weeks, the ground does remain saturated, river levels running very high, so we have dozens of flood warnings still in force up and down the country. hopefully, though, those numbers will go down as we head into the new week, thanks to high pressure which will build in. that will bring lots of dry weather — very much needed dry weather — to our shores. but it will turn colder with overnight frost and fog making a return. high pressure already toppling into the north of the uk to start the new week so, monday, cold, frosty but bright and sunny with light winds across scotland and northern ireland. a bit of early mist and fog around. but as we move across england and wales, we've still got the influence of the remnants of what was storm darragh, so still quite breezy. a fresh east—northeasterly breeze could feed in a few showers, south east england, down towards the channel islands. we could see a bit of sunshine breaking through here and there but it will stay breezy.

much lighter winds across the north, where we've started off very cold and frosty. temperatures struggling to get much above three or four degrees in a few spots in scotland. otherwise, it's 7—9 celsius for england and wales but factor in the northeasterly breeze, it will feel quite raw. as we head through monday night, we'll see that cloud continuing across england and wales, streaming in off the north sea with maybe a few showers running through the channel. that'll stop temperatures from falling much below 2—7 celsius for england and wales, but it's a very cold night to come for scotland and northern ireland with quite a hard frost, down to —5, —6 celsius, and some freezing fog. into tuesday, that area of high pressure begins to exert its force across the country. it's a cold, frosty start in the north. plenty of sunshine. early mist and freezing fog. more cloud again for england and wales. the breeze beginning to ease but still a feature through the channel. maybe the odd shower but mostly dry at this point, but it could be quite grey and gloomy in the south throughout the day on tuesday. another chilly day to come here but cold in the north, struggling to get much above freezing across parts of

scotland. 0ur area of high pressure dominates the scene through the week. just a few weather fronts spinning around it. could affect the northern isles at times. and by the time we reach friday into next weekend, it looks like low pressure will start to push into northern and western areas off the atlantic. but the run—up to them, much of the week will stay dry. cloudy in the south, sunnier in the north, and it will remain cold for all of us. take care.

south korea's markets fall. we will be looking at what comes next. plus, how american businesses are preparing for donald trump's proposed tariffs. hello and welcome to business today. i'm suranjana tewari. we are keeping a close eye on developments in syria. rebel forces captured damascus over the weekend, toppling the regime of bashar al—assad. his family have been in power for more than half a century. the deposed president has fled to moscow and will be given asylum there, according to russian state media. uncertainty in the middle east and also here in asia, where the focus is back on south korea. its president, yoon suk yeol has narrowly survived an impeachment vote after a short—lived attempt to declare martial law.the benchmark kospi index is trading around 2% lower.

andrew gilholm from control risks consultancy says