towards a transitional government days after they toppled bashar al—assad. prosecutors launch a murder charge against luigi mangione in connection with the killing of a healthcare ceo in new york. concern in seoul over who is in control of the country as president yoon is barred from travel. hello and welcome to newsday. i'm steve lai. we start in the middle east, where seismic events in syria have been causing shockwaves in the country and abroad. work is under way in damascus to build a transitional government, currently no—one is officially in charge of the country but power appears to be consolidating into the hands of one man, abu mohammed al—jolani,

the islamist rebel leader widely seen as the mastermind of assad's downfall. on monday he met with the prime minister, who has now been replaced but says he will still help with the smooth transition of power. while the victors turn their attention to politics, the syrian people are trying to reclaim their lives. 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. our correspondent sent this report from inside the 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's a rush for a chance of finding those still missing. for the first time, the doors have been opened wide to a country traumatised by decades of repression. everyone has a desperate story to tell of loved ones

jailed for years. munther tariq is looking for his brother—in—law. we came to here, like everyone, to find maybe a light at the end of the door, maybe. "call me the wounded mother," she says, because of the children she's lost. "may god take revenge on bashar al—assad." just days ago, rebels freed thousands of prisoners here on their march to damascus, amazed at this sudden recovery of their lives. the empty cells 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 has joined the search.

translation: we believe there's a network of cells. with prisoners beneath the jail, but we haven't yet been able to find the entrance. we do not have any details on how many people are underground. family members have reached the prison building, pushing at the gates to get in. we squeezed through on a surge of excitement. for a moment, they thought they'd made a discovery. they're searching the bowels of the prison, looking for tunnels that lead to hidden cells. we went down to see for ourselves the 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 they haven't found anything so far. 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. 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 past two weeks, syria has entered a new era, but people are still caught in the dark grip of the old one. translation: our priority - is our sons, who are the future of this country. do you believe that we, the elderly, can do much now? we want our sons back and we want our country back, too. how can this country move forward without dealing with the horrors of its past? the rebels say their forces have established order across almost all of damascus and they have granted an amnesty to military personnel who were conscripted into service by the assad regime.

our correspondent has been assessing the mood in the syrian capital. music plays. a jubilant people poured 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 literally is 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 broke them 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 a lot. they started maybe as part of al-qaeda, 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 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. as the new groups in control of syria attempt to find theirfeet, global and regional powers are trying to make sense of what has happened and what could come next. germany and france have said they are ready to work with the new regime but the group is still considered a terrorist organisation by the eu and uk as well as the united states.

it is not clear if that will change. israeli warplanes have reportedly carried out dozens of strikes around damascus, a military air base and a research centre suspected of links to chemical weapons production were among the sites hit. israel says it is acting to stop weapons falling into the hands of extremists. then there is russia, bashar al—assad deposed leader is reportedly in moscow but on monday the kremlin refused to say where he was, adding there were no plans for a meeting between him and president vladimir putin. for more on events in syria and joined by aaron, —— we arejoined byjohn —— we are joined byjohn as the institute of singapore. in light of what has happened, do you see a political shakeup in the region?— the region? definitely with reuards the region? definitely with regards to _ the region? definitely with regards to everyone, - the region? definitely with regards to everyone, this i the region? definitely with | regards to everyone, this is the region? definitely with i regards to everyone, this is a major setback that adds to what happened with hezbollah in lebanon, which was the biggest non— estate partner of iran. it

also adds to the situation in gaza where hamas was the other big nonstate partner of iran. the fall of syria leaves iran with another major failure and it will make difficult for everyone to get access to lebanon through syria, which was for decades its major gateway to ii on. was for decades its ma'or gateway to 11 omi was for decades its ma'or gateway to 11 on. when we talk about hts, _ gateway to 11 on. when we talk about hts, the _ gateway to 11 on. when we talk about hts, the militant - gateway to 11 on. when we talk about hts, the militant group. about hts, the militant group now in charge of syria, who holds sway over them? from what we know is — holds sway over them? from what we know is they _ holds sway over them? from what we know is they have _ holds sway over them? from what we know is they have received - we know is they have received support from turkey in terms of diplomatic or military training but beyond that it is very unclear how the new leader, al—jolani and hts as a group will position itself and will position syria in the regional power plays. we don't know much about how they consider the future serious relations with russia, which will be critical because you still have military

bases of russia inside the country and also israel, which has been intensifying its military airstrikes in syria as a result of what is going on so it is very unclear so far how the new government will position itself with all of those different agendas. if position itself with all of those different agendas. if we sta with those different agendas. if we stay with israel _ those different agendas. if we stay with israel a _ those different agendas. if we stay with israel a bit _ those different agendas. if we stay with israel a bit longer, l stay with israel a bit longer, what you think this means now that bashar al—assad has fallen, given the knock—on effects to iran and hezbollah in lebanon as well and what that might mean for israel? the israeli calculus _ that might mean for israel? tue: israeli calculus had that might mean for israel? tte: israeli calculus had changed over the years. initially when the civil war started israel preferred aside to anything else because there was this idea that it is the devil you know but over the years, the assad regime left iran taking more and more positions inside syria that threatened the israeli security so they intensified their airstrikes even before the fall of bashar

al—assad. the two big issues are what is going to happen in regards to the occupied golan heights, the occupied territory that israel has been taking since the 19 —— since 1967 and also the chemical arsenal that the syrian regime still has in storage. so far israel has targeted these chemical weapons and deployed forces on the golan heights to ensure it is demonstrating its command of the area but we will have to see how the new actors, the new leaders in damascus will react to that. ., , ., , to that. not “ust new leaders in to that. notjust new leaders in damascus, _ to that. notjust new leaders in damascus, they _ to that. notjust new leaders in damascus, they will- to that. notjust new leaders in damascus, they will soon | to that. notjust new leaders l in damascus, they will soon be a new leader in the white house is well with president—elect trump lets take office in january. how do you see the us watching all of this and thinking, what role there is for them to play? president—elect trump made one major statement on acts a few days ago where he said very clearly that the us has no role

and should not have any role in the ongoing conflict. in saying that you still have about 600 us troops deployed in syria which are supporting the kurdish forces. trump and his team will have to cope with that. if we see, for instance, the growth of the islamic state operations in syria because you have instability in the country, this may push for an increased role of the us. that might be the way trump is forced to react, if you have the islamic state using the vacuum as a way to wage new attacks. apart from that i don't see trump contemplating any major role in what is going on in damascus.— on in damascus. what are you lookin: on in damascus. what are you looking out — on in damascus. what are you looking out for _ on in damascus. what are you looking out for now, - on in damascus. what are you looking out for now, what - on in damascus. what are you looking out for now, what are| looking out for now, what are you keeping an eye on to see which way syria will go forward? t which way syria will go forward?— which way syria will go forward? ~ ., , , forward? i think domestically what will be _

forward? i think domestically what will be important - forward? i think domestically what will be important is - forward? i think domesticallyj what will be important is how hts and al—jolani share or not the power in this transition. i they willing to open a new government to other actors? because you have in syria so many different groups and different communities so that will be a major unknown. the second big unknown is how the regional actors, turkey, russia, iran and israel will react to what is going on in damascus and how this affects the security priorities.- the security priorities. there is a lotto — the security priorities. there is a lot to keep _ the security priorities. there is a lot to keep an _ the security priorities. there is a lot to keep an eye - the security priorities. there is a lot to keep an eye on. . is a lot to keep an eye on. thank you for speaking with me today. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.

manhattan prosecutors have filed a murder charge against 26—year—old luigi mangione, who

was arrested in pennsylvania on monday in connection with the murder of united healthcare ceo brian thompson in new york city last wednesday. mr mangione was taken into custody after a customer recognise him at a mcdonald's in the town of altoona. it was later charged with carrying a firearm without a license and providing false identification to police. he is currently being held without bail after a brief court appearance. let's go live to our north america correspondence for more. what more can you tell us about the information about this charge now being filed against him? this has been a rapidly moving sequence of events over the last few hours and as you say, luigi mangione has now been charged with the murder of the united healthcare ceo brian thompson, who died last week. earlier, he appeared in court. at that stage he was facing weapons related charges. we now know the sum charges is a

murder charge plus four other charges which include forgery. he was found allegedly with a number of forged documents including forged id, also weapons charges as well. he was found with a gun, a so—called ghost gun, a gun that is difficult to trace. the kind of gun that could be made at home using a 3d machine. these are the kinds of items that were found with him, also documents, at least according to officials earlier, that relate to some kind of manifesto and his alleged views on corporate america. alleged views on corporate america-— alleged views on corporate america. ~ . ., ., alleged views on corporate america. . ., ., america. what reaction have you seen from _ america. what reaction have you seen from this _ america. what reaction have you seen from this case _ america. what reaction have you seen from this case now - america. what reaction have you seen from this case now that - america. what reaction have you seen from this case now that we | seen from this case now that we have someone identified for this murder charge given the brazen nature of this killing in new york city?— brazen nature of this killing in new york city? really the broad reaction _ in new york city? really the broad reaction is _ in new york city? really the broad reaction is relief- in new york city? really the

broad reaction is relief that l broad reaction is relief that someone has been arrested and has at least now been charged in connection with this. billings have been running high. this has been a very closely watched man—hunt over the last week or so here in the united states and the photographs of the suspect widely distributed and it seems the media attention that this case achieved was in large part of the reason why this person was apprehended early in the day, it was a customer at a mcdonald's where he was eating at the time that recognised him and alerted a member of staff at that particular restaurant who then called the authorities. police arrived and questioned him, noted that he was quite nervous when asked certain questions, asked whether he had been in new york recently and eventually he was charged. feelings of been running high because of the nature of what happened last week and the fact that the boss of a healthcare insurance

company was killed and people in this country have strong views about that, many say should be separate views from the alleged crime that has been committed. nevertheless, people have been talking about some of theissues have been talking about some of the issues and feelings they have about insurance and healthcare in this country because it has become a little complicated in that respect. nevertheless, i think the overwhelming sense as we speak right now is relief that the person has now been charged with this offence and disc in custody. with this offence and disc in custod . ., ~ , ., �* , custody. thank you. there's -len custody. thank you. there's plenty more _ custody. thank you. there's plenty more on _ custody. thank you. there's plenty more on this - custody. thank you. there's plenty more on this story i custody. thank you. there's| plenty more on this story on our website. also available on our website. also available on our app as well. let's take a look at some other stories and headlines. media tycoon rupert murdoch has lost his bid to give more control of his media empire to his eldest son for now. a nevada court ruled against his attempt to change his family trust in order to hand over control

of his empire to his son, lachlan. his company, including fox news and news corp, will now give equal say to all four of his oldest children. lawyers for tiktok are asking a federal court to pause a law people took to the streets in georgia after disputed elections are now demanding a fresh vote and a return to european integration. the pro—western opposition and the president rejected the ruling of a georgian dream parties claimed victory in october, parliamentary poles have