the nation celebrates its first full day in 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—jawlani here for the first time in the great 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. hello, i m lucy grey welcome to bbc news now.

we start with the extraordinary events in syria over the last 2a hours. the rebel coalition that toppled the brutal regime of president bashar al assad says it's working to transfer power to a transitional government, as it faces the task of running the country. the rebels say they want to build a new syria together. thousands of people who had fled the country during mr assad's rule have been returning from neighbouring lebanon and jordan. cars queued at the main masnaa crossing on the lebanon—syria border. at the syrian embassy in russia 7 the country that kept mr assad in power 7 staff have raised the flag of the opposition above the building. iran, also a major backer of the assads, says it has opened direct communications with the rebels. efforts are also continuing in syria's capital damascus to free prisoners after former president bashar al—assad's regime was overthrown by rebels on sunday. 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. russia was a key ally of syria's ousted president, bashar al—assad. our russia editor steve

rosenberg is in moscow. he described russian reaction to what's happening 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. one 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 can go to damascus and our correspondent. what is damascus like today? correspondent. what is damascus like toda ? ~ . , , like today? well, the city is really feeling _ like today? well, the city is really feeling like _ like today? well, the city is really feeling like picking i like today? well, the city is| really feeling like picking up and going back to some sort of

normality. you know, where we are standing, we are close to the mosque that is still filled with people celebrating. rebels are in the area. we are still hearing some gun fire in the air, celebratory one. but we took a drive to different parts of the city and cars are driving out and about, there are a lot of families out. we have reached the central command for the barthe party and see the rebels were stationed there. we spoke to them and they said they have been ordered to protect public institutions. that was the case institutions. that was the case in another square in the city centre, where the central bank is located. there also the rebels were stationed and we spoke to them and they said theirfirst priority spoke to them and they said their first priority was to topple the regime, now it is their duty to protect the

public institutions, because they belong to all syrians and should be protected until there is a new government in charge. elsewhere bakeries are open, some food, supermarkets are open. i have seen at least one coffee shop that is open and people are having their coffees. it seems people are gaining confidence, going out and about and going around for their daily lives basically. in terms of more generally how people are feeling, we have seen the scenes of celebration, do you feel a sense of trepidation, concern about how things will go from here? definitely that is a question in many people's minds, a priority for stability, for safety for the rule of law. but there seems to be a lot going in behind closed doors. i have spoke on the some christian rest dannatts in one

neighbourhood —— residents and in one area and there was a meeting with the christian leaders to reassure people that this is a revolution for everyone, this is a victory for everyone, this is a victory for everyone and that there they will be protected a and they have asked to have some sort of civilian watchdog from the community to stop looters. because of course many mobs and looters are taking the advantage of the situation you know what we have seen since yesterday, families and people, ordinary people breaking into public institutions and hts is sending forces to protect public willed buildings and co—ordinating with different communities to protect them. thank you. and lina willjoin us at 12:30, along with 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. let's speak to dr rim turkmani — director of syria conflict research programme at the london school of economics. thank you forjoining us. it is such a crucial time for syria. what is your feeling in terms of where this is going, whether it is going to be a peaceful transition of orderly power, or whether syria will descend into a libya—style situation with with a civil war going on for years? i with a civil war going on for

ears? ~ years? i think while we celebrate _ years? i think while we celebrate to _ years? i think while we celebrate to see - years? i think while we celebrate to see the i years? i think while we l celebrate to see the back years? i think while we - celebrate to see the back of assad with not much bloodshed, we have reasons to be concerned. there is a possibility of bloodshed that doesn't seem very likely. this is notjust credit to the armed groups, but the civil society and those people who stepped in, forming civic peace initiative, there was a good spirit and no one wants to fight any more. this is one reason why the regime collapsed so quickly. nobody wanted to fight on its behalf. but we have to worry about what type of governance will emerge. there is a real concern about sgs leading this. the fact they succeeded militarily doesn't mean they will succeed politically. if we look at all

examples around the world, seizing control in a coup style, we have a lot of reasons to be concerned about everyone's rights. especially women's rights. women's right is usually the first casualty of this kind of transfer of power. they will have a share in power, but i don't think they should be allowed to lead, because that will put off many leading figures in civilian society who are important for them to step forward and blay a role during this very, very sensitive time.— sensitive time. hold on a second. _ sensitive time. hold on a second. we _ sensitive time. hold on a second, we have - sensitive time. hold on a second, we have to - sensitive time. hold on a i second, we have to pause. i have got to say goodbye to viewers on bbc two. we will take a short break. goodbye to people watching on bbc two. this is bbc news.

let's go back to our guest from the syria conflict research programme. sorry to interrupt you. if we could focus on what you. if we could focus on what you think the international community can be doing to try to ensure that this does go ahead peacefully, this transition of power? what do you think the world could be doing? 50 you think the world could be doinu ? ., , doing? so right now this new transitional _ doing? so right now this new transitional body _ doing? so right now this new transitional body that - doing? so right now this new transitional body that has - doing? so right now this new. transitional body that has been formed will be desperate for international recognition, for any sign of recognition, like the statement we heard from biden, opening embassies. remember, they will need the international community to rebuild syria. i think that recognition should not be given for free, recognition should not be given forfree, should not be recognition should not be given for free, should not be given easily, but it should be conditioned by having an inclusive body that represents

all syrians and is not led by the head of terrorists organisations and is not only listed as a terrorist organisation, but until now still is imprisoning and torturing people. look at lebanon, it has prisons in lebanon, it has prisons in lebanon with a very bad history of torture. ourfriends have been killed under torture in this prisons. the good history they're referring to is now behaving well is only ten days old. everything we knew for more than ten years doesn't look good at all. so, they should have maybe a piece of this cake, but they should not lead, or we are writing another dark episode of history for syria. dark episode of history for s ria. ~ . dark episode of history for s ria.~ . , ., ., syria. what can be done to ensure the _ syria. what can be done to ensure the promises - syria. what can be done to ensure the promises are i syria. what can be done to - ensure the promises are kept? they seem to have had a

rebranding, who can ascertain whether they will stick to it. that is is question isn't it? if they are put in a leading position, leading political position, leading political position, there is no guarantee. what we know about this group is once they seize power they exclude everyone else. that is what they have done when they took over idlib. the insurance comes from having an inclusive transition group. and not have been one sole group. that would be representative of syrian city. the syrian don't relate to extremist mentality. in all of syria, i don't exclude any city. there is no way that would exclude so many people and would exclude women to start with. what is the history of women par is is par

ticipation with this group. google any report about this group and they're going to work with any head of governance from that organisation. ok, they played a role, by no means let them assume a leading position. let them assume a leading position-— let them assume a leading osition. ., ., position. thank you for your time. position. thank you for your time- in _ position. thank you for your time. in about— position. thank you for your time. in about ten - position. thank you for your time. in about ten minutes'| position. thank you for your i time. in about ten minutes' we will answer your questions on syria. so get your questions into us. 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. our 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. the chancellor, rachel reeves, says she wants a relationship with europe built on mutual trust and respect, ahead of a meeting with her counterparts in the eu today. she'll be the first chancellor to attend the eurogroup talks since brexit. she'll promise to reset what she's expected to call the "fractious" relationship, which developed between the uk and eu during the brexit process. one of the reasons why the uk and the eu are keen on an agreement is the threat from america under donald trump. on sunday, the president—elect gave his first major interview since winning last month's election. speaking to nbc news he reiterated his key campaign pledges, including the imposition of

tariffs on all imports from america's biggest trading partners. i am a big believer in tariffs. i think tariffs are the most beautiful word. i think they are beautiful. it is going to make us rich. we are subsidising canada to the tune of over $100 billion per year. we are subsidising mexico for almost $300 billion. we shouldn't be subsidising... why are we subsidising these countries? if we are going to subsidise them, let them become a state. we are subsidising mexico, we are subsidising canada and we are subsidising many countries all over the world. all i want to do is i want to have a level, fast but fair, playing field. donald trump has promised to slap 25% import duties on goods from mexico and canada as soon as he is in office, and an additional 10% on anything coming from china. many companies are now pushing through orders to avoid expected cost increases. our north america business correspondent michelle fleury when to meet an importer in philadephia. so these are some of the bags that we have in the warehouse. is it one of your

more popular ones? yeah, the backpack. handbag designer sherrill mosee tok action immediately took action immediately after the election, reaching out to her chinese manufacturer partner. she didn't want to risk delays, especially with chinese new year fast approaching at the end of january. after the election i am like, ok, we need to get these bags in before you go on your vacation. the rush wasn't due to a surge in demand, it was the looming threat of tariffs. i have got to be ready and prepared for it. by shipping her bags ahead of schedule, mosee is working to avoid the tariffs on chinese imports that donald trump has promised to impose on day one of his presidency. the idea behind tariffs is pretty straightforward, make imports more expensive so that products made in america and stored in warehouses like these seem like a better deal. it is all about pushing companies into manufacturing in the united states. but the big question is, will companies actually move production back here?

one american firm with no plans to bring manufacturing back to the us is steve madden, the well—known shoe brand. but it is speeding up its relocation efforts. just two days after the election, the company said it would cut its chinese production in half, to avoid trump's tariffs. our goal over the next year is to reduce that percentage of goods that we source from china by approximately a0 to 45%. the proposed tariffs are already changing how goods are being handled. warehousing giant prologis is seeing an uptick in interest in businesses looking for space to stock up. these types of requirements have been on a margin. you are seeing some goods coming into the united states, our customers are telling us that they are finding spare places to store goods. i can put my shoes in here, my work—out gear. sherrill mosee doesn't believe she can pass the added cost on to her customers,

instead she is now looking for new suppliers in cambodia and india. if we are talking about adding tariffs on everything that comes in, people are going to be more concerned about buying their kids clothes and things that they need in their home, not a bag. you can shop on the website now... with the disruption already being felt, the threat of these tariffs is already imposing real—world cost on businesses. after 149 shows across the world, taylor swift's record breaking eras tour has finally come to an end. her last show in vancouver wrapped up what has become the highest—grossing musical tour in history. the concerts which began in march 2023 have racked up over two—billion dollars in ticket sales, with fans dancing at her shows triggering seismic events. she's described the tour as "the most exhausting,

all—encompassing, but most wonderful thing that has ever happened" in her life. coming up at 12:30 we'll be joined by a number of experts to answer your questions on syria live. so get in touch using the hashtag #bbcyourquestions — or email yourquestions@bbc.co.uk. we will bejoined we will be joined by our middle east correspondent in damascus and frank gardner and caroline hawley and our correspondent from the bbc world service. you still have time to get questions in. stay with us here on bbc news. 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 4 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 genera