streaming in their hundreds to the jail, where opponents of the regime were said to be tortured and executed. after years of not knowing, a frantic search in the bowels of the prison, for any signs of the living. nobody knows exactly what they might find or who might be underneath the ground. but many, many people are hoping that some of their loved ones will be found. also tonight... i'm looking for someone to stab someone. a court hears how a 15—year—old girl was fatally stabbed in a dispute over a teddy bear. in the us, a man is arrested in connection with the shooting of a health insurance boss in new york. the huge manhunt and police appeal has led here, to a roadside mcdonald's in pennsylvania. and the battle of the brits for best male actor, as the nominations are released

for the golden globes. on newsnight at 10.30pm, we'll bring you fresh insight on the stories of the day, with big interviews and our regular panel of newsnighters, and of course look at what the papers are saying about tomorrow's news. good evening. the seismic events in syria after the fall of the assad regime have been causing shock waves in the country and abroad. huge crowds gathered today at the notorious saydnaya prison near damascus, with people desperately hoping to find evidence of loved ones who went missing under president assad's rule. this is the prison — north of the capital — where efforts to free inmates jailed by assad have continued. we'll have a special report from inside the jail from our correspondent barbara plett—usher, who was in damascus as it fell. the country succumbed to the rebels�* advance at lightning speed. it's less than a week since the city of aleppo was captured

in a shock offensive, then horns and finally damascus, where rebel forces met almost no resistance. we'll also hearfrom yogita limaye in damascus, with more on the rebels who are now in control, and steve rosenberg will be reporting from moscow on president assad's escape to russia. our international editor, jeremy bowen, and political editor, chris mason, will also be on the programme with their analysis. first though, here's barbara's report from damascus. the saydnaya the sayd naya prison, the saydnaya prison, a symbol of some of the darkest abuses of bashar al—assad's rule. thousands of opposition supporters were tortured and killed here. now there is a rush to find those still missing. for the first time, but also open white to a country traumatised by of repression. everyone has a desperate

story to tell of loved ones jailed for years. this man is looking for his brother—in—law. for years. this man is looking for his brother-in-law._ for years. this man is looking for his brother-in-law. i came here like eve one his brother-in-law. i came here like everyone to — his brother-in-law. i came here like everyone to point _ his brother-in-law. i came here like everyone to point him, _ his brother-in-law. i came here like everyone to point him, a _ his brother-in-law. i came here like everyone to point him, a light - his brother-in-law. i came here like everyone to point him, a light at. everyone to point him, a light at the end. ., everyone to point him, a light at the end. . ., the end. (all me the wounded mother, she sa s, the end. (all me the wounded mother, she says. because _ the end. call me the wounded mother, she says, because of— the end. (all me the wounded mother, she says, because of the _ the end. (all me the wounded mother, she says, because of the children - she says, because of the children she says, because of the children she is lost. may god take revenge on bashar al—assad. just days ago, rebels freed thousands of prisoners here on the rush to damascus, amazed at the sudden recovery of their lives. the empty cell is a striking image of how much has changed. but many believe this isn't the end. people still trapped, they think, in an underground prison. the syrian civil defence group, the white helmets, hasjoined the civil defence group, the white

helmets, has joined the search. translation: we helmets, has joined the search. translation:— helmets, has joined the search. translation: we believe there is network of cells _ translation: we believe there is network of cells beneath _ translation: we believe there is network of cells beneath the - translation: we believe there is network of cells beneath the jail i network of cells beneath the jail but we haven't found the entrance. we have no details on how many people underground.— we have no details on how many people underground. family members had reached the _ people underground. family members had reached the present building, - had reached the present building, pushing at the gates to get in. we squeezed through on a surge of excitement. fora moment squeezed through on a surge of excitement. for a moment but they thought they'd made a discovery. they are searching the bowels of the present, looking for tunnels leading to hidden cells. we went down to see for ourselves. frantic efforts to break through to anyone who might still be alive. this is where they think they may have found an entrance to an underground prison. they've been looking for more than a day but not found anything. nobody knows exactly what they might point or who might be under the ground but many people are hoping that some of their loved ones will be found.

sifting through a litter of documents for any evidence of their loved ones or clues to an underground prison. no sign of it yet, but the hunt will continue. after the pot two weeks, syria has entered a new era. the people are still caught in the dark of the old one. translation: , ., one. translation: ., translation: our parity are our sons, translation: our parity are our sons. who _ translation: our parity are our sons. who are — translation: our parity are our sons, who are the _ translation: our parity are our sons, who are the future - translation: our parity are our sons, who are the future of - translation: our parity are our sons, who are the future of this | sons, who are the future of this country to dip we don't believe that we can do much now. we want our sons back and we want our country back to. ., . . , back and we want our country back to. ., , back and we want our country back to. how can this country move forward without _ to. how can this country move forward without dealing - to. how can this country move forward without dealing with l to. how can this country move l forward without dealing with the horrors of its past? this is a very brutal legacy, and this is the most at risk of detention centres and its victims need justice, resolution, detention centres and its victims needjustice, resolution, closure. when they get that, there are steps

being taken to trying to move the country forward in this new period. the leader of the islamist group which took over damascus met today with the former prime minister to discuss a coordinated transfer power of the dip members of the group met with christian minorities and other groups that promised they would respect their rights, despite their islamist leanings. so the message is that this is going to be a syria for all its people, for the diversity of its people. i think there is scepticism about that, but at the moment the focus is on trying to get a government system set up to keep things moving in the city and the country. the rebel leaders who ousted bashar al—assad say they've begun the process of forming a transitional government, and the current prime minister says he's assisting the transfer of power. the rebels say their forces have established order across almost all of damascus, and that they've granted an amnesty to military personnel

who were conscripted into service by the assad regime. our correspondent yogita limaye has been assessing the mood in the syrian capital. a jubilant people pour into the capital's central square for a second day. a street party—like atmosphere. this might seem like a dangerous way to celebrate. but not in a country that has endured years of bombs and bullets, finally rid of a brutal dictator. anyone who wants to celebrate is coming here, to the central square in damascus. every couple of minutes we are hearing celebratory gunfire. the ground here is literally strewn with bullets that have been fired. and it's notjust members of the rebel group hts, it's lots of civilians. i've seen women and children

bringing their families along. stories of horror, too easily found amidst this joy. mohammed is a5, but looks older because he has no teeth. he says bashar al—assad's soldiers broken because he belonged to a rebel militia. they also cut off part of his tongue and gave him mice to eat in prison. "we are the people of damascus," he says, "though they accused us of being terrorists. thank god, i can't believe what's happened." hayat tahrir al—sham's fighters, heroes for those here for liberating them. but can a group that has a jihadist past deliver the democratic rule that hani told us he wants? i think, based on the last 13 years, hayat tahrir al—sham has changed

they started maybe as part of al-anda, but now they are syrians, purely they are syrians. i think in the coming days we will see good things from these guys. noor is a nurse. she believes hts won't impose hardline rule, especially on women. "they are from our country, they are not islamic state. "we're not afraid of them. "i don't think they will force us to cover ourselves from head to toe." today, the man at the centre of it all, dressed in his usual military attire, hts leader mohammed abu al—jolani, met the interim prime minister to discuss the way forward. so far, there is little clarity on what that could be. damascus is still largely shut down, and there is a curfew from dusk till dawn. at a police station, we met hts men brought in to protect it. we asked what would happen to the men who fought for assad. translation: our revolution

is not for revenge. _ any policeman who does not have blood on their hands, we will work with them. the looting and vandalising that was seen on the first day, that appears to have stopped today. what we've seen at government buildings, public places, markets, is that rebels from hayat tahrir al—sham have been moved from idlib, the region which they control, en masse to damascus, to secure these places. but as of now there isn't a proper, functioning government in place. that vacuum can breed instability. who will run this country? an answer is needed quickly. yogita limaye, bbc news, damascus. what of the former president assad, syria's deposed

leader, who's reportedly sought asylum in moscow? well, today the kremlin refused to say where he was, adding there were no plans for a meeting between him and president putin. our russia editor steve rosenberg has the story. at the syrian embassy in moscow, it was all change. up went the flag of the syrian rebels to mark the ousting of bashar al—assad. ironically, syria's leader had fled to russia, although his exact whereabouts are unknown. the man who has reportedly given assad asylum was giving out medals to russian soldiers who'd fought in ukraine. from vladimir putin, no mention of syria. events there are a huge blow to the kremlin. that is because, for nearly a decade, president putin had poured resources into keeping assad in power. he became moscow's man in the middle east, shored up by russian firepower. and i'd better stop there, because it's about to get very loud indeed. a few years back, we visited

russia's airbase in syria, khmeimim. from here, fighterjets were conducting airstrikes on rebel positions. russian bases in syria gave it a foothold in the eastern mediterranean, but, without assad, would it lose that? today, i asked president putin's spokesman what would happen to its bases. dmitri peskov told me that would be discussed with syria's new leaders. losing its staunchest ally in the middle east, that is painfulfor the kremlin. vladimir putin had invested heavily in assad, determined to keep him in power. in the end, it wasn't enough. the russian public too has questions about the last few days. "i was surprised our military didn't step in to help syria's army," alexander says. "but it's good assad's in moscow

and that we don't abandon our guys." "of course, it would have been better if the situation had turned out differently," says yelena. "but things don't always go the way you want them to." vladimir putin is used to getting his own way. he hasn't in syria. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. our international editor, jeremy bowen, is in beirut. the overthrow of assad has come out of nowhere, with huge potential consequences. could we be seeing a reshaping of the middle east? undoubtedly. it is of course very early days to come to any definitive conclusions, but here are some examples of how things have changed. with iran, angry scenes today in the parliament in tehran because they'd invested a vast amount of money, oil

and human lives from their own soldiers into the war in syria to keep the regime going, and the regime has collapsed. what has also collapsed is the so—called axis of resistance, the way they had a network of proxies and analyse and crucial to that was syria, because that was the land connection with hezbollah in lebanon. that has gone. they will have to think again, and there are some people in tehran who want to have a nuclear weapon. next, israel is conducting scores of air strikes in the last couple of days against syrian army working spaces, ammo dumps, things like that, because they don't want the islamist led administration to get hold of those. they are now faced with the fact that they did have a quite malleable dictator on their border, and now they have a look of uncertainty and they have to think

again. they have taken some light as well in the occupied golan heights. turkey deny being behind what has happened, but they had a relationship with hts, the militia which overthrew assad and they have protected them effectively in the idlib province in northern syria, so now they have at least a militia that owes them something going up to the board of israel, at a time when turkey relations with israel are really bad. last, what about the people of syria? they lost individual agency over half a century because of the assad regime not letting them do what they wanted, not allowing them freedom. the country lost agency, control of what it could do, because of the war. many powerful countries intervened. if syrians get a chance to try and sort things out between themselves, between syrians, they might have a chance of getting

better lives, because history has shown that the way that foreign powers intervene in syria is not good for them. with thousands of syrian refugees now returning home from lebanon and jordan, it's been confirmed that the uk — like most major european countries — has, in the words of the home office, paused asylum decisions on cases from syria while it reviews and monitors the current situation. chris masonjoins me. what's the thinking behind that? two reasons are being given to me to explain the rationale. the first and principal one is that those in government to say that syrians have been applying for asylum in the last few years has been to flee the assad regime. now, therefore, that rationale has gone and therefore they want to pause and review. and, i think, take stock, really.

they want to pause and review. and, ithink, take stock, really. not least because there may be some who decide, given what has happened, that they may return. there is a second reason, numerically less significant, but still something that there is are conscious of, the security implications around potentially some people who are associated with the failed regime now seeking asylum. so that is the reason for the pores. clearly there will have to be a decision taken. the context of this is, in numerical terms, syrians by nationality where the fifth biggest group in the last year of those applying for asylum, the numbers running into the thousands. another dilemma for the government popping out of all of this in the last few days, how to deal with this group, hts, that we have been hearing a lot about. they are a proscribed terrorist organisation in the uk. the eu under us have a similar label. that means it's against the law to promote them or be a member of the organisation. it also means the government would not have conventional diplomatic relations with an organisation like

that. that's one thing if it is an organisation that is not running a country. if it turns to do that, what does the uk do then? they are not rushing to make a decision, government ministers, but at some point a decision will have to be taken. a jury at the old bailey has been hearing how a 17—year—old boy stabbed a girl to death in a dispute over a teddy bear, as she was on her way to school in south london. 15—year—old elianne andam died in croydon in september last year. hassan sentamu, who is on trial for her death, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denies murder. adina campbell reports. what's your name? john _ have you got any id on you, mate? i'm looking for somebody who's just stabbed someone. i need to see your name. what's it say on your oyster card? put your hands behind your back. the moment hassan sentamu is arrested in south london... ..less than half an hour after killing a teenage girl with a kitchen knife

in broad daylight. police say the 17—year—old had blood on his hands and trainers. urgent assistance, king henry's drive, near the park. unmarked. i've got this male detained. the victim was elianne andam, who was 15 and had dreams of becoming a lawyer. she was a close friend of hassan sentamu's ex—girlfriend, and in her last snapchat video, talks about their recent split and how he failed to return herfriend's possessions, including a teddy bear. and it's in that meeting when elianne decides to intervene, running off with a bag belonging to him. the chase is captured on cctv before she was cornered and repeatedly stabbed in the neck, legs and shoulders. one eyewitness, a bus driver called samuel sinclair, told the jury that he had heard screaming and had rushed over to help elianne andam in the final

moments of her life. he broke down in tears while giving evidence. hassan sentamu had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. his defence claim this led to diminished responsibility. he's admitted manslaughter, but denies murder. adina campbell, bbc news. us police have arrested a man in connection with the fatal shooting of the health insurance executive, brian thompson. 26—year—old luigi mangione was detained in pennsylvania on gun charges after a tip—off. officials said he was carrying a firearm consistent with the weapon used in the attack. nada tawfik reports from new york. after a five—day manhunt, police believe they have their suspect in the brazen, targeted killing of unitedhealth ceo brian thompson. luigi mangione has been identified as a strong personal interest, after an employee at a mcdonald's recognised him from these widely circulated images after the shooting

and alerted local authorities. the 26—year—old turned up in altoona, pennsylvania, a town more than four hour's drive outside of new york, and was eating when he was approached by police. responding officers questioned the suspect, who was acting suspiciously and was carrying multiple fraudulent ids as well as a us passport. one of the fraudulent ids was the same newjersey license used by the suspected gunman when he checked into this hostel on the upper west side before the shooting. the nypd is now o