the post—assad regime era. this is the scene in the capital damascus right now. 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. relief and delight across the country following the downfall of a dynasty that ruled for more than half a century. a historic moment in every sense of the word. abu mohammed al—jolani here for the first time in the great mosque. and rapperjay—z is accused of raping a thirteen 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 — a dynasty 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 1pm. as we can see, people are once again out on the streets digesting the news that the assad regime is no more. you can see a lot of people on the streets. syrian civil defence workers have deployed to the ousted assad regime's notorious sud—nar—yah prison to investigate reports that people are still trapped in cells hidden underground. and these are live pictures

from the border between syria and lebanon and you can see there are long lines of cars that are queued up. many thousands of syrians who fled during president assad's rule have been returning from lebanon and jordan. it is worth remembering nearly 1.5 million of lebanon's 5 million population are syrian refugees. there have been similar scenes on the turkey border. in russia we have seen the syrian opposition flag raised on the embassy. a kremlin spokesman said republican was as surprised as anyone else. according to russian state media, the deposed syrian president bashar al—assad and his family have been granted asylum in russia. in the last hour the kremlin declined to confirm those reports. a spokesman did says

"what 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 fundamentalact 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—jowlani — 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. our middle east correspondent lina sinjab — who is herself syrian, is in damascus. she had to leave eleven years ago and continued to report on syria and the region from beirut. but she's now been back forjust over 2a hours. i asked her to give us a sense of the mood in the country. 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 5a 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. here are some picture prs the syrian/lebanon borders as thousands of those who fled to other countries are trying to make their way back into syria. i mentioned they fled to lebanon, but they have gone to turkey and jordan. we have seen similar scenes on the turkish border. but that causes

problems as well, because they are, as they are beginning theirjourney, there is a risk to life from unexploded mines and ordnance, especially in northern syria. mouiad alnofaly is the operations manager for the halo trust — which is dealing with landmines clearance and joins me now from amman. he's also preparing for his own journey back home to syria. could you give our viewers on idea of how many mines and ordnance we are talking about in syria? ordnance we are talking about ins ria? n ., ordnance we are talking about insria? ., , ordnance we are talking about insria? ._ in syria? actually there is a lot mines — in syria? actually there is a lot mines and _ in syria? actually there is a lot mines and unexploded i lot mines and unexploded ordnance has been in syria. i will give you some numbers about our previous war. the trust has been operating in syria since 2017 and has cleared nearly 2,000 ordnance and mines. we are operating in the north of syria, under the opposition army group control.

we have in syria a0 mixed gender staff. they are working in north—west syria and they're well trained. so during that period we destroyed more than, or nearly 2,000 mines and explosive ordnance. but after the fall of assad regime, the area of operation was expanded area of operation was expanded a lot. we are facing millions of millions of mines and we don't have an accurate numbers about the contaminated area. but we are sure that from the videos that were published and the social media and from our teams who is collecting some information, from the hazard

area, we found a lot and we have some documents and record for an area that was fully mined. ~ ., mined. we mentioned the refugees _ mined. we mentioned the refugees that _ mined. we mentioned the refugees that are - mined. we mentioned the refugees that are now - mined. we mentioned the l refugees that are now trying mined. we mentioned the - refugees that are now trying to come back into syria. those mines may cause them a huge risk? , . , , risk? yes, absolutely. the refugees _ risk? yes, absolutely. the refugees and _ risk? yes, absolutely. the refugees and those - risk? yes, absolutely. the refugees and those who i risk? yes, absolutely. the - refugees and those who return to their original village or city, they're not aware about where is this mine field and where is this mine field and where is this explosive ordnance. here is the risk. here we are start to plan to expand our operations in the whoem of the country. —— whole of the country. because we have to start delivering the safety messages for the refugees even if they're refugees going from outside or internally displaced.— outside or internally dislaced. ., ., , outside or internally dislaced. ., . , ., displaced. you are preparing to no home displaced. you are preparing to go home to _ displaced. you are preparing to go home to syria. _ displaced. you are preparing to go home to syria. i _ displaced. you are preparing to go home to syria. i wondered l displaced. you are preparing toj go home to syria. i wondered if

i could ask you personally, how does that feel to you?- does that feel to you? actually i'm very happy _ does that feel to you? actually i'm very happy and _ does that feel to you? actually i'm very happy and excited - i'm very happy and excited about the fall of assad regime after 30 years of systemic killing and destruction in syria. i am excited to go. looking forward to return to darragh, which is my original city to see my family at the beginning and then start to give assistance to give my organisation a clear picture for our expansion plan. we wish ou well for our expansion plan. we wish you well with — for our expansion plan. we wish you well with that _ for our expansion plan. we wish you well with that journey - for our expansion plan. we wish you well with that journey back| you well with thatjourney back to syria and your work in clearing those mines. thank you forjoining us. coming up at 12.30 gmt, we'll bejoined by our experts — security correspondent frank gardner and diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley to answer your questions on syria — live. so get in touch using the hashtag #bbcyourquestions — or email yourquestions@bbc.co.uk.

if you have a question about what we have been talking about, do get in touch. in around 75 minutes our correspondents will be here answering your questions. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

more from syria now. the syrian civil defence group known as the white helmets says it's investigating reports that there are people still trapped in hidden underground cells in the notorious saydnaya prison.

the prison — in the capital damascus — 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 building's layout. ismail alab—dullah is a white helmets volunteer in aleppo and explained what is happening in the prison. after the deploying the teams the specialised find teams and the specialised find teams and the search and rescue and asking everyone and calling for people who were in the prison before, orsomeone people who were in the prison before, or someone who was working in there. now now we don't have any news about there are detainees in that prison. underground or anywhere else. until now, we don't have concrete information. how many eo - le concrete information. how many peeple are _ concrete information. how many people are likely _ concrete information. how many people are likely to _ concrete information. how many people are likely to have -

concrete information. how many people are likely to have been i people are likely to have been held in those underground cells, do you know? this question. _ cells, do you know? this question, no _ cells, do you know? this question, no one - cells, do you know? this question, no one can - cells, do you know? this- question, no one can answer, because the assad regime kept in these prisons thousands of people and now we don't have any statistics about this. just cive me any statistics about this. just give me a — any statistics about this. just give me a sense _ any statistics about this. just give me a sense of _ any statistics about this. just give me a sense of how you're feeling having worked with the white helmets trying to help people during the assad regime now that has fallen?— now that has fallen? yeah, it is something _ now that has fallen? yeah, it is something i _ now that has fallen? yeah, it is something i cannot - now that has fallen? yeah, it l is something i cannot describe. now, after those, the sense knowing today after 2a hours, no bombing, no killing, nothing, no one can, mothers who do not fear sending their

children to schools and they're looking fore ward to those who lost in the past years. doing right now in the prisons and anywhere else. time to rebuild, time to know our road, where we will go, what we will see in the future. syrian embassy staff in russia — the country whose military helped keep mr assad in power — have raised the flag of the syrian opposition above the building. the kremlin says president putin had granted asylum to bashar al—assad but had no plans to meet him. 0ur russia editor steve rosenberg is in moscow. he told me about the reaction in russia to what happened in syria. it's difficult for russia to sugar—coat what is happening. effectively this is a blow 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, kommersant, 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 minimize 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 in moscow. we did get some more detail, in that daily briefing it was said vladimir putin made the decision to allow president assad there and declined to confirm his whereabouts. if you scan the qr code on the right—hand side of your screen, that will take you to our live page on the syrian, the latest from damascus and from steve in russia. you can scan that qr code. now some other news. the rapper, jay—z, has been accused in a civil lawsuit of raping a 13—year—old girl. he is accused along with sean �*diddy�* combs. the lawsuit — which was initially filed in october against mr combs — says the alleged rape happened at a party in the year 2000. the legal case was refiled last night, naming jay—z. both men deny the allegations. 0ur los angeles correspondent

emma vardy reports. sean combs — also known as p diddy — has been facing a string of lawsuits accusing him of violence, drugging victims, sexual assault, and rape. a number of the claims have been made in connection with parties thrown by the hip—hop star. but now jay—z — the prominent rapper and billionaire entrepreneur — is the first celebrity to be accused in connection with cases involving sean combs. the woman, who has anonymity, says she was 13 when she was raped by both the rappers at an awards afterparty in the year 2000. she says she began to feel drowsy after being given a drink at the event, and that she was raped by the two men in a nearby bedroom, before she ran out of the party. the civil lawsuit was previously filed against sean combs in october, but now jay—z — whose real name is shawn carter — has been added as a defendant. in a statement, jay—z called the civil lawsuit a blackmail attempt, and said the allegations are heinous.

sean combs has denied all the allegations he is facing, and pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges against him. he's currently injail in new york, awaiting a criminal trialfor sex trafficking next year. emma vardy, bbc news, los angeles. let's return to events in syria. these are the live pictures from damascus, where you can see people are again on the streets, the rebel coalition that toppled the assad regime said it is working to transfer power to a transitional government. but it faces a monumental task of running the country. the rebels say they're hoping to build a new syria together. the country's divisions of course run deepment you can get more on the bbc news web—site. ben is up next with business today. hello again. a bitterly cold start

to the day across parts of scotland and northern ireland with a widespread frost. whereas for england and wales we have had more cloud around and 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 there will be overnight frosts and fog, some of which will be freezing fog. you can see how the high pressure is building in the north. the isobars are still quite close together as we come further south so still blustery winds coming in from the north sea. north—easterly direction, that's 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 winds in the north but gusty winds 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 a degrees. 7 in birmingham but 9

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 in the highlands so a widespread frost and again some freezing fog forming. into tuesday, high pressure really establishes itself across the uk, but a weather front draped across the northern isles will at times bring in more cloud but also some spots of rain. come 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 there will be more breaks than today, not as many showers and it won't be as windy. temperatures, though, only1 degree in glasgow up to 8 in plymouth. as we head on through the week, into wednesday, high pressure 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 milderfurther south.