this is the scene live in the syrian capital damascus as work continues to build a transitional government. a man is charged with murder over last week's fatal shooting of a health care boss in new york. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu arrives in court to testify for the first time in his long—running corruption trial. this is the scene live outside the courthouse in tel aviv where crowds of supporters and opponents of mr netanyahu have gathered. and real—life succession — rupert murdoch loses his bid to change a family trust and give control of his media empire to his eldest son. in syria the main islamist rebel leader has said the country's new government

will pursue officials from president assad's regime who oversaw torture and war crimes and offer rewards for information about those involved. rebel fighters say they've found more than a0 bodies showing signs of torture at a hospital near damascus. this is the scene live in the capital. banks are expected to reopen and public transport services resume today. work continues to build a transitional government. the rebel leader abu mohammed al—jolani has named an interim prime minister and a small cabinet so that public services can resume. aru na ayengar reports. scenes ofjoy as syrians pour into the capital, damascus, for a second day. women, children and families joined with rebel soldiers... gunfire. ..to celebrate freedom from the regime of former president bashar al—assad.

syrian communities around the world are celebrating. these were the ecstatic crowds in london. look at all these people, how happy they are! now we should be able to go back home, see ourfamilies, visit the graves of our loved ones which were murdered by assad and his gang. back in damascus, stories of horror are not hard to find. this man is a5. he has no teeth — he says bashar al—assad 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. the sednaya prison has become a symbol of the atrocities committed by syria's former government. desperate relatives have been heading there, seeking loved ones — some of whom disappeared years ago. thousands of opposition supporters are believed to have been tortured and killed here. just days ago, rebels freed

thousands of prisoners here. hayat tahrir al—sham fighters are seen as heroes for liberating these people. but can a group that has a jihadist past deliver the democratic rule that many here want? this woman says, "they are from our country, they are not islamic state, we are not afraid of them." syria's stability depends for now on the man wearing military clothing — abu mohammed al—jolani, the leader of hayat tahrir al—sham. here, he was meeting the interim prime minister to discuss the way forward. he succeeded in uniting rebel groups and capturing the whole country in under two weeks. he said rewards will be given for information on assad officials involved in war crimes. meanwhile, these syrian refugees in turkey are facing the dilemma of whether to return home to syria. like germany, like france and like other countries, we have paused asylum decisions on cases from syria

while the home office reviews and monitors the current situation. what will syrian refugees return to, and how can those living in the country deal with the demons of its past? aruna iyengar, bbc news. let's pick up on some of those questions. nicholas hopton was the former british ambassador to iran between 2016 to 2018. he's now the director general of the middle east association. previuosly ambo to qatar, yemen, libya. we are seeing proof of how brutal this regime was. is it accurate to describe the regime like something like a mafia

film, like the godfather? i think it's hard to overstate the brutal dictatorship the assad family have exerted over half a century, and clearly from europe or the impact on the ordinary people of the people of syria has been appalling, and when we hearing about the release of political prisoners in the last few days, since the taking of damascus by the rebel opposition forces, it confirms all of that. calling them a mafia group would probably be too understated. understate it, we get the impression there that you agree, then, that it was just such a terribly difficult time for the people of this country, butjust going forward now, what happens next? what is your understanding? assad was a supporter of the palestinians, of his his brother mark, was it

to the detriment of his people? the assad rule was certainly to the detriment of the syrian people and i think there was a degree of stability brought by having a dictator who had control over a large part of the country with strong support from foreign allies such as russia and iran, and what we are seeing now is very fluid situation where rebel forces are trying to stabilise and take control in the territory, in damascus, that they have taken, but also we are seeing developments in the south to secure their own borders, so it is a very fluid situation. what iran and russia decide to do

next is also a great importance.- next is also a great imortance. ~ ., ., importance. what, from your experience — importance. what, from your experience previously - importance. what, from your experience previously as - experience previously as ambassador to iran, what do you think iran will want to do? there are hints of talks on a deal with donald trump once he takes office. is that something they would be inclined to do in order to get a grip on the situation?— order to get a grip on the situation? ~ . ., , ., , , situation? what has happened in s ria has situation? what has happened in syria has been _ situation? what has happened in syria has been a _ situation? what has happened in syria has been a great _ syria has been a great humiliation for the islamic regime in tehran, that was one of their greatest allies and assets in a way, because she allowed them to apply proxies, particularly in lebanon. that has been cut with the ceasefire in lebanonjust has been cut with the ceasefire in lebanon just over a week ago. that has left them in a very uncertain situation, probably unable to rebuild themselves soon, and that of

course is the long—standing iranian approach of putting pressure on their enemies to put forward the defence. at the same time, back on the ground, the irg c and the hardliners, this is a blow. they are looking at the regime to do, under the supreme leader's guidance, they've decided this is a time for engaging diplomatically while preparing for the worse case scenario if donald trump were to resume maximum pressure even ultimate pressure, as some are calling it, on iran and its economy once he takes power at the beginning of the year. qm. beginning of the year. 0k, thank you _ beginning of the year. 0k, thank you very _ beginning of the year. 0k, thank you very much - beginning of the year. 0k, thank you very much for i beginning of the year. 0k, thank you very much for talking to us through this fluid situation. appreciate your expertise.

israeli warplanes are reported to have carried out more than a hundred air strikes across syria. loud explosions were reported in the capital damascas and smoke was seen rising over the city. a research centre suspected of links to chemical weapons production was among the sites hit. israel's prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, said the action was necessary to ensure his country's security. let's go live to damascas and our middle east correspondent lina sinjab. so the rebel leader is saying they will publish a list of names of those involved in torture. bring us up today, the fluid situation on the ground there. that has happened exactly after the leader of the rebel, mohammed al—jolani, appointed a prime minister in a small cabinet. he also announced the new authorities were going to be issuing this list with names and urged anyone who knows any

information about who has been involved in torturing syrians to hand this information. he also said those who fled the country will be chased and prosecuted. however, it's really hard to tell at the moment how this process is going to take place, because it's the early days of the toppling of the regime, the government, the new government, the interim government is expected to take authority of the former governments today, so things are going to take some time between handover, it's really unclear how the justice system will operate, and it's really hard to see when and if they manage to capture those people who have been involved in torture and killing of the syrians, how the process is going to be to bring them to justice.— process is going to be to bring them to justice. them to 'ustice. when it comes to them to justice. when it comes to those accusations _ them to justice. when it comes to those accusations of - to those accusations of torture, of course we have been

witnessing these scenes in that very notorious prison in syria, what has been the latest there, have they managed to access and find any more people, any more prisoners?— prisoners? the white helmets, which is the — prisoners? the white helmets, which is the rescue _ prisoners? the white helmets, which is the rescue group - prisoners? the white helmets, which is the rescue group thatl which is the rescue group that has been involved in the search operation along with many experts i made a statement that they have halted their search operation, mainly in sednaya prison, and they haven't found any more prisoners. at the same time, the rebels have announced they have found at least a0 bodies and body bags in a morgue in a hospital with gruesome marks of torture on their bodies. we believe these bodies belong to prisoners who were in sednaya prison. however, there are statements coming out with rewards for people who have information about any secret prisons they have not discovered yet, and still searching for people who

are missing. 0ver still searching for people who are missing. over the past decade, with the rule of the former president bashar al—assad, he used detention and torture to silence people and human rights activists documented over 100,000 forcibly disappeared that the families do not know their whereabouts, and they are still looking for them, while the observatory for human rights 0bservatory for human rights documented at least 60,000 people have been tortured to death inside assad's prisons. as always, thank you forjust bringing us up to date and bringing us up to date and bring across all of that. we are continuing to monitor the situation in syria, a fluid situation. to the united states now and a 26—year—old man has been charged with the murder of a health insurance executive, who was shot dead in a street in new york last week. luigi mangione was detained in pennsylvania after a member of the public recognised him at a mcdonald's. he has since appeared in court and our correspondent

jessica parker was there. luigi mangione — a 26—year—old computer science graduate from a top us university — seen yesterday in handcuffs, now in custody in pennsylvania. he's been detained on firearm and forgery charges in pennsylvania and, overnight, a murder charge has been filed in new york after health—insurance boss brian thompson was shot dead in the street by a masked man in manhattan, 280 miles away from altoona, where the suspect was found. a huge manhunt and a nationwide police appeal led here to a roadside mcdonald's in altoona, pennsylvania. the suspect, who was inside the restaurant, was recognised and an employee then tipped off the police. i want to begin by thanking our fellow pennsylvania resident who acted as a hero today. pennsylvania resident saw something early this morning at mcdonald's and said

something to our local police, and our local police here in altoona acted swiftly. didn't even think twice about it. we knew that was our guy, but he was very... uh... he was very cooperative with us. didn't really give us too many issues. once we found out his identity, we took it from there. the authorities say the suspect was in possession of items consistent with the new york shooting — allegedly including a firearm and a silencer — as well as a document expressing ill will towards corporate america. in court, luigi mangione stated he had no criminal history. now he's been identified as a strong person of interest in a case that's garnered worldwide attention. jessica parker, bbc news, in altoona, pennsylvania. let's bring you up—to—date with the very latest. cbs correspondent naomi

rakem is in new york. what more do we know about luigi mangione and the circumstances surrounding his arrest? a chance sighting led to the dramatic break in the shooting of brian thompson. a valedictorian and ivy league graduate, luigi mangione. he was about 200 miles west of the site of the shooting. a ceo, father of two, lost his life in a brazen attack. police believe they have their mine, and we are learning more about luigi mangione, an otherwise high achieving person in his 20s who ranted about corporate america. this morning he is behind bars. the 26—year—old was arraigned

and later charged with second—degree murder yesterday in the shooting death of brian thompson. police were called to the scene when the maryland man was seen, they approached him and asked if he had recently been to new york. police say he then became visibly nervous and shaking. he was carrying a fake newjersey id that matches the one that is used to check into a hostel in new york last week. they look at passport with his real name, along with a gun, suppressor and clothing they believe consistent with those used in the shooting, along with the handwritten three page document expressing ill will toward corporate america. luigi mangione is from a prominent family in maryland, they owned mo multiple country clubs, he was valedictorian of his high school class, he owned a

computer science degree from the university of pennsylvania, he spent time in hawaii in 2022 and 2023, and sources then said he suffered from back pain due to an injury. the the family said they were shocked, saying they offered their sympathy to brian thompson's family. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

welcome back to bbc news. i want to take your life to geneva where the un special envoy to syria is giving an address. we were and see what he is saying about the fluid situation in syria right now. including what we call the

turkish backed syrian national army in the north and the so for called group in the south, and other groups that erupted what i would call spontaneously as armed new formations. let me know emphasise this, it is really an essential point, for not much of syria is under control of a patchwork of groups who are coordinating well for now, but they are not fully or formally united. it is important that we don't see conflict between these groups. let me also say that by and large we have seen reassuring statements from the hts and

different armed groups, but there are still some issues of law and order, but we are hopeful that it will be possible to keep law and order, but also that we mention this, the conflict in the north—east is not over. there have been clashes between the syrian national army, the opposition group and the stf. we are calling for calm also in this area. then a calling for calm also in this area.