in the post—assad regime era. this is the scene in the capital damascus right now. syria's opposition raises its flag at the embassy in moscow. russia has given bashar al—assad and his family political asylum and they are believed to be in the city. syria celebrates the downfall of a family dynasty that ruled for more than half a century. a historic moment in every sense of the word. ahmed al—sharaa, abu mohammad al—jawlani here for the first time in the great umayyad mosque. and rapperjay—z is accused of raping a 13—year—old girl. he's named with sean "diddy" combs in a civil lawsuit. both deny the claim.

we start with the monumental events in syria. the rebel coalition that toppled the brutal regime of president bashar al—assad and his father — that had controlled the country for more than 50 years — says it's working to form a transitional government. islamist fighters took the capital, damascus, yesterday, after sweeping through the country in less than a fortnight. people poured into the main square, chanting "freedom," after the rebels seized control. this is the scene live in damascas where it isjust gone 1:00pm. as we can see, people are once again out on the streets digesting the news that the assad regime is no more. they are cheering, clapping, and taking pictures. syrian civil defence workers have deployed to the ousted assad regime's notorious

saydnaya prison to investigate reports that people are still trapped in cells hidden underground. the united nations security council is to hold an emergency meeting later today to discuss the fall of the regime. let me show you the live pictures from the border between syria and lebanon. there are long lines of cars and other vehicles. many thousands of syrians who fled during president assad's rule have been returning both from neighbouring lebanon and jordan. nearly 1.5 million of lebanon's 5 million population are syrian refugees. they are trying to make their way in from lebanon to syria. we have also seen similar scenes on the turkey syria

border. in russia we've seen the syrian opposition flag raised on the syrian embassy. according to russian state media the deposed syrian president, bashar al—assad, and his family have been granted asylum in russia. in the last hours the kremlin declined to confirm those reports. a spokesman did say that what has happened has surprised the whole world and in this case we are no exception. the us has led international reaction to the fall of the assad government with president biden describing it as a "fundamental act ofjustice" after decades of repression, but also a moment of risk and uncertainty. we'll have the latest from syria shortly but first this report from our middle east correspondent, hugo bachega. tears of happiness. gunfire. gunshots to celebrate the moment many in syria

waited for decades to see. they are free of the assad regime, and their country is at a turning point. it was an astonishing campaign by rebels. they advanced quickly. last week they took aleppo. on the weekend, homs. and in a matter of hours, they were in damascus. in some places, they faced no resistance. the army was unable — and apparently unwilling — to stop them. this is the end of a brutal regime that didn't tolerate dissent. the assads crushed any kind of opposition. they killed, arrested and tortured their critics. when the rebels arrived in the capital, they went straight to a well—known prison to set the inmates free. this is their leader, abu mohammad al—jawlani — head of the islamist group hayat tahrir al—sham. he took a victory tour

of damascus, visiting the historic umayyad mosque. my colleague feras kilani was there for bbc arabic. a historic moment in every sense of the word. ahmed al—sharaa, abu mohammad 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. the president fled as the rebels closed in, a statue of his father was pulled down, and his residence in damascus was stripped bare by looters. people carried what they could, without anyone to stop them. for assad himself, russian state media says he and his family are now in moscow, and that they will be granted asylum on humanitarian grounds. his fall is a major setback for his allies, russia and iran, but has been welcomed in the west.

we will engage with all syrian groups, including within the process led by the united nations, to establish a transition away from the assad regime. we have taken note of statements by the leaders of these revolutionaries and they are saying the right things now, but as they take on greater responsibility we will assess notjust their words but their actions. syrians are hoping for peace, but they fear chaos and even more violence. this is a fractured country. different groups with different goals control different areas. many are celebrating now, but the road ahead is far from clear. hugo bachega, bbc news, on the turkish—syrian border. the syrian civil defence group known as the white helmets as people are still trapped in

underground cells in the notorious saydnaya prison, in the capital of damascus it was one of several that saw political detainees freed as rebels took control of the country. posting on social media the white helmets said they had deployed five specialised emergency teams to the prison who are being helped by a guide familiar with the layout of the building. joining me from aleppo is a white helmets volunteer. what can you tell us about what is happening in that prison?— in that prison? good morning. the specialised _ in that prison? good morning. the specialised five _ in that prison? good morning. the specialised five teams, i in that prison? good morning. | the specialised five teams, the they are asking everyone and calling on the whole world, to go to the prison, or anyone who was working in there. we need to see if there are detainees or bodies in there, underground or bodies in there, underground or anywhere else. h0???

or bodies in there, underground or anywhere else.— or anywhere else. how many --eole or anywhere else. how many peeple are — or anywhere else. how many people are likely _ or anywhere else. how many people are likely to - or anywhere else. how many people are likely to be - or anywhere else. how many people are likely to be held i or anywhere else. how many| people are likely to be held in those underground cells, do you know? , , ., ., ., know? this question no one can answer because _ know? this question no one can answer because the _ know? this question no one can answer because the assad - answer because the assad regime... we don't have any specifics about this. just give me a sense _ specifics about this. just give me a sense of _ specifics about this. just give me a sense of how— specifics about this. just give me a sense of how you - specifics about this. just give me a sense of how you are i me a sense of how you are feeling having worked with the white helmets trying to help the people of syria during the assad regime, now it has fallen. . �* , assad regime, now it has fallen. . �*, fallen. yeah, it's something i can't describe. _ fallen. yeah, it's something i can't describe. now, - fallen. yeah, it's something i can't describe. now, after . fallen. yeah, it's something i | can't describe. now, after the last decades in power, knowing today there is no bombing, no fear, nothing. but this will

not be sending children to schools. now they can look for people who were lost in the last few years. we are doing it right now in the prison and anywhere else. it's time to rebuild, time to know our road, where we will go, what we will see in the future. and the celebration in all provinces, i was in damascus yesterday. i saw people on the streets celebrating after 50 years of the assads' regime, controlling, now it is time to put a new start. the syrian people need to start over with democracy, with human rights.

now it's time to care about us. everything needs to go back in syria to help our community, overcome those tough few years. we need to work in every area. we need to work in every area. we need to work in every area. we need everything to improve infrastructure. everything, everything. infrastructure. everything, everything-— infrastructure. everything, eve hina. , . everything. the un rights chief in the last _ everything. the un rights chief in the last hour _ everything. the un rights chief in the last hour has _ everything. the un rights chief in the last hour has said - everything. the un rights chief in the last hour has said there l in the last hour has said there needs to be accountability in the syria for the perpetrators of serious violations and the preservation of evidence. do you think that is possible? this is our hope, that the assad regime will be held accountable, his officers,

everyone, every part. in the coming days and years, in the future, justice for everyone, justice for all the victims, justice for all the victims, justice for all the victims, justice for the victims who were killed in the barrel bombs, killed in the prisons, who are disappeared. there are people vanished, we don't know where they are now. we didn't find them in the prisons, we didn't find their bodies, we don't know where they are. all those crimes, all perpetrators must be held accountable. fix, must be held accountable. a representative from the white helmets live in aleppo, thank you forjoining us on bbc news. coming up at 12:30pm we will be

joined by our expert security correspondent frank gardner and diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley to answer your questions on syria live. if you have a question about what has happened in the last 48 hours and what is possible to happen in the future, get in touch now by using the hashtag bbc your questions. you can also e—mail your questions to the address on screen. we will answer as many questions as possible at 12:30pm, just over two hours away. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

we can return to syria and show you live pictures again out of damascus. we have seen people on the streets of the capital after the rebel coalition toppled the assad regime. it says it is working to transfer power to a transitional government, but it is facing a monumental task of actually running the country. our middle east correspondent lina sinjab, who herself is syrian is in damascus. she had to leave 11 years ago and continued to report on syria and the region from beirut but she's now been back forjust over 24 hours. i asked her to give us a sense of the mood in the country 24 hours after the fall of the assad regime. i think we have seen and witnessed a surge ofjoy and happiness among many syrians yesterday. we have seen it for ourselves

here in the main square, umayyad square, we have spoken to people, and also if we watch the news across the country and outside the country, it's a really unprecedented moment for syrians, something they have been dreaming of for years, but it has taken 13 years to achieve. it's really something unbelievable for them, after 54 years of the assad dynasty there is no more assad in power. there is hope for a better future, despite concerns over how the islamist rebels are going to lead, if there will be immediate stability and safety. but people are still seizing the moment to enjoy this great victory as they see it. we have seen yesterday people being released from the prisons who had been held for a very long time under that assad regime. but there are reports today that there are still people in those underground cells.

what do we know about that? imprisonment and torture of people inside prison, even to death, has been one of the assad tactics, assad the father and the son. there are plenty of prisons across the country and in damascus, many detention centres have layers underground. the most notorious is saydnaya, outside the city to the south. it lies on a hilltop and many people know for a fact there are many hidden prisons there, many prisons built underground, for layers and layers. people broke into prisons yesterday with the rebels, thousands of families are there and are still there waiting to find their loved ones. human rights activists say more than 100,000 syrians have been forcibly disappeared

since the uprising began in 2011 so the search is still ongoing. the rescue group white helmets is joining forces in professional searching for prisoners inside saydnaya. they have maps of the prison based on witnesses, former prisoners. the search is still ongoing. the big question now is what happens next. the rebel group that has seized power saying it will work to transfer power to a transitional government. do you have any idea how that would work? so far what we have seen was really incredible in the smooth handover of power. for years many people thought that toppling the assad regime would bring a bloody battle to damascus and it would be a messy turnover. but what we have seen, it was a smooth and peaceful handover of power. of course bashar al—assad

fleeing the country. the prime minister came out to say he would be caretaker until a new government is in power and the public institutions would need to be protected. government employees should remain until a new government is formed. that was backed by the leader of the opposition, ahmed al—sharaa al—jawlani, who said it was important to work with the current government until a new government is formed and to protect those public institutions. he also came out yesterday after a surprise appearance out at the umayyad mosque to address people and say it would turn into a new syria, a syria that would be inclusive of all denominations of syrian society. but words are different to deeds, so everyone is watching to see how the rebels will deliver

on their promises, especially that the rebels are different groups in different areas, the ones in the south are different to ones in the north. it seems there is a big deal of coordination between all forces, including the former government. but there is a big challenge coming ahead, how to maintain security and stability, how to enforce the rule of law, and what kind of constitution is going to happen? the civil society has been really active over the past ten years to ensure there will be a syria that includes everyone following the topple of the regime. these are the days to test that these hopes will be implemented in a safe way. lina sinjab in damascus, one of many correspondence contributing to our live page “p contributing to our live page up and running on the bbc news website.

bashar al—assad is reported to be in russia where he has been granted asylum. russia has also requested an emergency meeting of the un security council to discuss what has been happening in syria. 0ur russia editor steve rosenberg is in moscow. it's difficult for russia to sugar—coat what is happening. effectively this is a blow to russia and russia are's to russia and russia's prestige when you consider the resources, the huge amount of resources that russia poured in to trying to make sure that bashar al—assad stayed in power over the last nine years, the financial resources, political resources and of course military resources. russia intervening in the syrian war in 2015 to shore up assad, sending thousands of troops and russian air power. keep in mind this intervention by russia was driven by russia's desire to project

itself as a global power and to establish itself as the key power in the middle east, a power that could speak to all sides. and what have we seen in recent days? we have seen this project, syria, unravelling for the kremlin in quite dramatic circumstances. so it is a blow and that's reflected by some of their headlines in today's russian papers. 0ne paper said that russia has lost its key ally in the middle east. another paper said the failure of assad's foreign allies to save him is a blow to their reputation. that's a reference to russia as well as iran. i think what we are seeing happening now is the russian papers this morning, a number of messages and a number of talking points are being emphasised, i think in an attempt by the authorities to try and minimise the embarrassment. one of the messages you pick up a lot of in today's russian

papers is that this isn't moscow's fault, this is the fault of the assad regime, the syrian authorities and the syrian army that didn't fight hard enough to keep power. the second message that is being pressed through the state media here is that without moscow's man in control the situation in syria could become more chaotic. the third key message you pick up on is that russians are being told the war in ukraine is much more of a priority now for russia than the war in syria. in other words, these dramatic events in syria don't matter that much. i think the hope is on the part of the authorities that by pressing these messages the russian public will not start to question what has been happening in syria over the last nine years. we have seen the syrian opposition flag being raised at the syrian embassy in moscow. do we have any idea where assad and his family are at the moment? not at the moment.

all we have to go on as of now is this statement that was read out on russian state television last night and put out by a couple of russian state news agencies quoting a kremlin source as saying that assad and his family had arrived in moscow, had been granted asylum on humanitarian grounds. where exactly they are we don't know and what their plans are we don't know. there is due to be the daily conference call given by president putin's spokesman this morning so perhaps we will find out more details then. steve rosenberg speaking to us, talking about that kremlin spokesman conference. the

spokesman conference. the spokesman said that the family of president assad being granted asylum was personally made by president putin. but dmitry peskov declined to confirm the whereabouts of president bashar al—assad. he did not say when putin and assad met last and also added they had no plans to do so in they had no plans to do so in the near future. they had no plans to do so in the nearfuture. and dmitry peskov, the kremlin spokesman, stressed that russia is ready to maintain contacts with those who will be in power in syria. some lines coming from that kremlin briefing that steve rosenberg was mentioning, saying that president putin personally made the decision to grant asylum to president bashar al—assad and his family, but declining to give any detail, for example, where assad is at the moment. also wouldn't say when president putin and assad met last. we

mentioned that the un rights chief has been talking and he says syria needs to build a legal system for those who may have committed atrocity crimes including former president assad and his senior officials. i can take you to the live pictures from the border. the other issue is a lot of those refugees that fled during the assad regime, and there are millions of them, are now trying to make their way back. this is the syria lebanon border where you can see there are queues of traffic. and remember that in turkey as well there are around 2 million people who are syrian in one city in the south—east. the refugees that fled are now trying to get back into syria. we will have a lot more so stay with us on bbc news.

ella mccann, a bitterly cold start to across parts of scotland and northern ireland. with a widespread frost. where was for england and wales we have had more cloud around that has helped keep the temperatures up a little bit higher. high pressure is going to build as we go through this week, settling things down. it will feel cold at times, especially scotland and northern ireland, and they will be overnight frosts and fog, some of which will be freezing fog. you can see how the high pressure is building on the north. the isobars are still quite close together as we can further south so still blustery winds coming in from north sea. north—easterly direction, that is chilly for us. a lot of cloud and some showers and later some of the showers in the south—east and channel islands will be heavy whereas we hang onto some sunshine for scotland, northern ireland and northern england, cloud in the east breaking, and lighter wind in the north but gusty wind in the south. these white circles represent sustained wind speeds so the gusts will be that bit

higher. it will feel cold in glasgow, only 4 degrees for top seven in birmingham but nine in plymouth and st helier. through this evening and overnight we hang onto a lot of cloud across parts of england and wales. a few showers, some still heavy. the wind is not as strong but still gusty through the english channel. and under clear skies for scotland, northern ireland and parts of northern england it's going to be cold once again. potentially as low as -10 again. potentially as low as —10 in the highlands so a widespread frost and again some freezing fog forming. into tuesday, the high pressure really establishes itself across the uk but a weather front draped across the northern islands were the times bring in more cloud and some spots of rain. from south through the rest of scotland, northern england and northern ireland, we are looking at some sunshine, a bit more cloud at times in southern england and also east wales, but they will be more breaks than today, not as many showers and it won't be as many showers and it won't be as wendy. temperatures, though, only one degree in glasgow up

to eight in plymouth. as we head on through the week, into wednesday, high pressure is once again across us but by the time we get to the end of the week we do have a weather front making inroads in across the far north—west of scotland. that will introduce some cloud and some rain, but generally with brighter skies, with the coldest mornings will be in the north, a little bit milder further south.

this is bbc news. the headlines. a new dawn for syria. the nation wakes to its first full day in the post—assad regime era. this is the scene in the capital damascus right now. the the capital damascus right now. syrian oppositioni raised the syrian opposition flag is raised at the embassy in moscow. russia has given bashar al—assad and his family political asylum and they are believed to be in the city. syria celebrates the downfall of a family dynasty that ruled for more than half a century. an historic moment in every sense of the word. ahmed al—shar�*a abu mohammad al—julani here for the first time in the great umayyad mosque. and in other news... rapperjay—z is accused of raping a 13 year old girl. he's named with sean �*diddy�* combs in a civil lawsuit. both deny the claim. good morning if you havejust

joined us us here on