and us presidentjoe biden commutes sentences for 1,500 people — the largest single day act of clemency in modern us history. and the youngest ever champion in chess. we'll be speaking to the 18—year—old. welcome to newsday. i'm steve lai. now, we start in syria where parliament has been suspended, along with the constitution, for the next three months. the rebel leaders who ousted the long—time dictator bashar al—assad say the moves are necessary to allow for a smooth transfer of power.

but a spokesman says syria's religious and cultural diversity won't be threatened. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, arrived in the middle east on thursday for meetings withjordan�*s king abdullah and turkey's recep tayyip erdogan. the meetings are part of an effort by the biden administration to promote an inclusive syrian—led transition among neighbouring countries and avoid any additional conflicts in syria. it comes comes as syrians continue to search prisons and hospitals for news of missing loved ones who disappeared during assad's rule. from damascus, our international editor jeremy bowen has our top story. and a warning, there are some details you might find distressing. they have to find the missing and identify the dead before they can build a new syria. 35 more bodies of men killed in prison have arrived at the mortuary, and the hospital mortuary is full. the only way to find a missing son, father, or brother is to look for yourself. translation: it is painful. - at the same time we have hope. even if we find him between the bodies, anything,

as long as he is not missing. we want to find something of him. we want to know what happened to him. we need an end to this. the examination room is full of bodies too. if they can't be identified easily the medics take tissue samples, building up evidence for dna tests and future prosecutions. have you managed to find out how these men died? most of... sometimes because of fractures, the bodies are not good shape, hard to say the exact reasons, but they have suffered from fractures. so, they have been beaten? yes, we think so. i came here yesterday. this was very difficult for me. what future... we hope it will be better, but this is really hard.

the presidential palace built high on a crag above damascus where it can be seen across the city embodies the arrogance of the assads who broke syria to try to save their regime. it might not be possible to put this fractured country back together. in 2015, i met bashar al—assad at guest palace in the presidential compound. his successors need to act fast to undo the legacy of the war he chose to fight. the same corridor is now a patch of quiet, in a country full of weapons, anger, poverty and calls for vengeance with dozens of armed groups who want their own slice of the syria assad left in pieces. he was extravagantly polite in quite an old—fashioned way. coming into the room, he would leap up off the sofa, then on the way out he would say "after you", then they would hold back the door and walk out first.

the he didn't seem to be a guy who would be at home in a torture centre, but he certainly seemed to be a guy who would be very happy giving the orders to get people tortured and killed. on a wall outside mustahed hospital in damascus, the photos of dead men. it is hard to see the person they knew in a gallery of smashed and decomposing faces. the families of the missing get as close as they can, and often all they have are the names and places where they were last seen. mahmoud... sabar, 2012. ahmed, raqqa, 2013. ali, damascus, 2015.

50 years of the assads, 50 years of incarceration, of disappearances, of executions. 50 years of cruelty to the families, the prisoners, to the syrian people. these people want information. they want a body to bury, and they want a reckoning. "my husband ibrahim", she's saying, "taken in 2012." everyone had a photo, name and a date. the regime drilled so much pain into syrians that some here are terrified assad could even return. a new syria needs to deliver lives without fear. jeremy bowen, bbc news, damascus. an american who'd been missing sincejune has been found in syria after being released from prison by rebels as president assad's regime fell. travis timmerman from missouri was found by locals near the capital, damascus, and said he had been arrested when he entered the country on foot seven months ago.

lucy williams has that story. prisoner of the old syria. proof of the new one. travis timmerman, an american from missouri, released by rebel forces on monday as they swept president assad from power. in the middle of the night or early morning, they came with a hammer and knocked my door in, and there was two men with guns. and then there was another man named eli. and they helped me get out of prison and helped me get into damascus. the men who found him put this video on social media saying he was in safe hands and had been checked by a doctor after seven months in the custody of assad's military intelligence. it wasn't too bad. it wasn't bad. i was never beaten. the only really bad part was that i couldn't go to the bathroom

when i wanted to. timmerman was found wandering through this damascus suburb today by syrians celebrating freedom themselves. locals here in this neighbourhood are telling us that they found a foreigner wandering in the streets outside. they said he was in fairly good condition, but they brought him here and gave him some food and some water. they said he was very hungry and talking in english, but they couldn't understand what he was saying, and they didn't know exactly who he was. they showed us the selfies they had taken with him as the militia now in charge here looked on. translation: they found him barefoot on the road. - he kept repeating that he was held by military intelligence in damascus. we helped him, offered him food, treated him well as a human being without any consideration of his american citizenship.

travis timmerman�*s story is one among tens of thousands from assad's notorious prison system. many more brutal will never be told, silenced by the man many syrians see as the biggest criminal of them all. lucy williamson, bbc news, damascus. robert baer is a former cia case officer with experience in the middle east, including syria. he told me what he believes was the tipping point that led to president assad's downfall. i've been working on syria going back to 1979, in and out of the country. i've worked with the muslim brotherhood, i've worked with the regime, i was a back channel to the syrian government at one point when i was in the cia. and more recently the fbi. so i do you have a sense of the history of the country and where it is going. the insiders who have come out — and a lot of them had fled

to beirut and are there right now — and they have told me that the turning point was the assassination of hassan nasrallah, the head of hezbollah, as they told me he was bashar�*s strategic mind and once he was gone things started falling apart. hezbollah, as i know, driving into the country, was a key pillar of the assad regime. and of course when the war starts in southern lebanon they're withdrawn to fight the israelis and that prop was knocked out from under bashar al—assad. on top of it they tell me that he had effectively lost his bearings. he was behind most of the torture, he was behind the defeat of the armies, the military — the alawite leadership in the military turned against him and he was pretty much doomed since 7 october when this war started in israel.

so now we are in this phase where the assad regime has fallen and a new government is trying to take shape. we have been reporting parliament has been suspended along with the constitution, are you optimistic that a peaceful transition can happen? not so far. i mean, you have a very large kurdish minority in the northeast, which is going to fight the regime. you also have a sectarian conflict between the alawites, that's a shia sect, and the sunni majority. and the sunni majority, having studied with the muslim brotherhood, looks at the alawites as apostates. i don't know if that has changed. turkey has been a great modifying influence on the fundamentalist, but let's see if that holds. right now if you are a syrian driving into damascus from beirut it is extremely dangerous because nobody knows which faction controls what part of that road. so, a lot of the intellectuals, bureaucrats, and the rest of them that fled syria,

damascus, couple of days ago are in beirut but they're very reluctant to go back. they're waiting to see what is going to happen. you mentioned turkey. there is a lot of foreign interest in syria from iran, russia, turkey to israel as well, how does that complicate things? well, they are going to expel the russians. and of course the iranians and is gave up on bashar al—assad weeks ago and they have been pulling out as well. so when he was standing all alone. and the russians, whatever basis they have left, they are going to smooth their stuff out because it is much too chaotic for them and they know these groups could turn on them and, because, course, like i said, the iranians are gone. around the world and across

the uk, this is bbc news.

you are live with bbc news and we're going to south korea. south korean protesters demanding the impeachment of president yoon suk yeol clash with police on thursday, hours after the president gave a defiant speech going to state in office. while earlier protests had been peaceful, this time hundreds of people tried to break through barricades and reach the embattled present�*s official residence. they are demanding he leave office immediately or is impeded. —— impeached. but president yoon is refusing to budge, telling the public on thursday he said he will fight on to the very end. a second impeachment vote is at fault saturday. the opposition leader, lee jae—myung, said on friday the best way to restore order was to remove president yoon as soon as possible. i have been speaking withjoon—hyung kim, and 0pposition mp from rebuilding korea party. he gave me his thoughts on protesters clashing with with police.

i heard news because it happened in front of the president — my presidential building but here in national assembly mostly it is very quiet and peaceful and the problem is the national address, giving the address to people by the president actually agitated them and instigates supporters, so worry about other, yes. what do you make of the speech he did make on thjursday, a defiant tone, saying he would not leave office. you know, actually this is the third address. first is the declaration of martial law and second is an apology and the third is to completely reverse what he said when he apologised, so we can summarise it into two. one is instigating his supporters and the other almost sounds like it is a guideline

for an argument when in his case in point going into impeachment case in constitutional court. we saw an impeachment vote take place last week and that was unsuccessful and another one is scheduled for tomorrow so do you think that will work? i think so. at the time the ruling party completely blocked their members to vote but i don't think they can do it again and there was a lot of ruling party members changing their mind and then expressed their intention to vote in favour. what happens if they don't vote in favour and the impeachment fails for a second time? we are going to repeat a weekly kind of cycle until we succeed. but i'm sure there is a high chance that this time it will pass.

we have seen raids on the president's office. a criminal investigation — do you think it is appropriate? we do because the evidence shows people who were involved —— we do because the evidence are so obvious, it shows people who were involved, the convestor thing, it is like a true truck. one is impeachment and prosecuting. there were other impeachments as well on thursday with the police chief, the justice minister. it required fewer votes than to impeach the president and they went through. do you think there will be others? we are not sure, but you know, the president's case —

there is so much evidence, even aired on tv, don't think even conservative judges can reverse this. let's take a look at some other stories. the former coach of china's men's national football league has been jailed for 20 years following a lengthy trial and corruption charges. he is the latest to fall in china's far—reaching anti—corruption campaign in the sports sector, especially football. us president—elect donald trump has one time magazine's person of the year award, which recognises someone who they say has done the most influence the events of the year. the winner is invited to ring the bell at the us stock exchange. it is the second time he has been selected for the award after winning it in 2016. us rapper sean �*diddy�* combs has sued by three more men in new york alleging he drugged and raped them. combs is currently being held in custody while he awaits

trial in may on criminal charges of racketeering, sex trafficking and transportation to engage in prostitution and has pleaded not guilty and denies all allegations against him. his lawyer says the latest allegations were lies. president lula of brazil has undergone further surgery to prevent bleeding on the brain and doctors say there were no complications in the 79—year—old is awake and speaking. they expect him to be discharged from hospital early next week. he had emergency surgery last week after suffering an emergency brain haemorrhage. us presidentjoe biden is committing the sentences of nearly 1500 people in his final weeks in office. —— commuting sentences. the white house said it is the largest presidential act of clemency in a single day in modern us history. he offered pardons to an additional 39 people convicted of non—violent crimes. rowan bridge has more. where people have had a sentence commuted, it means effectively that their conviction still stands, but the sentence that they serve has been reduced, and — that the largest

group here, but 1500 people here. and joe biden said those people deserved a second chance. then there was a smaller group of 39 people who have been granted pardons — in that case, your sleigh is effectively wiped clean and your conviction no longer stands. all those people were convicted of non—violent offences, and if you look at them, they've all given back to their community in one way or another. 0ne one of the oldest games in the world hazards younger ever champion. —— has its youngest ever champion. cheering 0n on thursday night indian teenager gukesh dommaraju big defending champion, china's ding liren, at the fide world chess championship, held in nepal this year. gukesh

dommaraju is four years younger than garry kasparov, who won the title at 22 in 1985. gukesh dommaraju is with us in the studio to talk about this remarkable events. firstly, gukesh, congratulations. how are you feeling? i’m gukesh, congratulations. how are you feeling?— are you feeling? i'm feeling areat. are you feeling? i'm feeling great- just _ are you feeling? i'm feeling great. just when _ are you feeling? i'm feeling great. just when i _ are you feeling? i'm feeling great. just when i won - are you feeling? i'm feeling great. just when i won the l great. just when i won the match, ifelt over the great. just when i won the match, i felt over the world, but i've had time to come down and ifeel great. we but i've had time to come down and i feel great.— and i feel great. we saw that ou not and i feel great. we saw that you got quite _ and i feel great. we saw that you got quite emotional - and i feel great. we saw that l you got quite emotional when that final piece was made or final move was made and you knew you won. tell us how you felt in that moment.— imean, i mean, throughout the match, i had several chances to clench victories in many of the games, which would have put me in the front quite seriously. but once i was getting close, i was getting nervous and was not able to finish this game, the final game of the classical portion, i wasn't expecting to win, because it had a very

joint tendency. all of a sudden i realised that i'm actually finishing the match right now and it was a sudden change and i couldn't, you know, process the new information, so quickly. the new information, so quickly-— the new information, so cuickl. ., ., , the new information, so cuickl. ., ., ., quickly. how many moves ahead did ou quickly. how many moves ahead did you know _ quickly. how many moves ahead did you know you _ quickly. how many moves ahead did you know you had _ quickly. how many moves ahead did you know you had at? - quickly. how many moves ahead did you know you had at? just i quickly. how many moves ahead did you know you had at? just a | did you know you had at? just a coule of did you know you had at? just a couple of moves. _ did you know you had at? just a couple of moves. i _ did you know you had at? just a couple of moves. i had - did you know you had at? just a couple of moves. i had a - did you know you had at? just a couple of moves. i had a sense | couple of moves. i had a sense it was getting more and more nervous, and i might have good chances, but once he played the second to last, i knew it was over. it second to last, i knew it was over. ., , ., ~ second to last, i knew it was over. ., , .,~ ., ., , over. it does make a remarkable feat. over. it does make a remarkable feet you — over. it does make a remarkable feat. you come _ over. it does make a remarkable feat. you come from _ over. it does make a remarkable feat. you come from the - over. it does make a remarkable feat. you come from the indian i feat. you come from the indian just capital, the southern city of chennai. tell us about the people who have supported you, your parents and coaches, on the journey to hear. your parents and coaches, on thejourney to hear. to make i have an amazing support system starting from my parents and my team and my family friends and my sponsor. i team and my family friends and my sponsor-— team and my family friends and my sponsor. i mean, all of them have supported _ my sponsor. i mean, all of them have supported me _ my sponsor. i mean, all of them have supported me in _ my sponsor. i mean, all of them have supported me in every -

my sponsor. i mean, all of them have supported me in every way| have supported me in every way possible. from the start, they have sacrificed. it is important to me because i am playing the game that i love and i'm just doing something and i'm just doing something and enjoy my life. you and i'm just doing something and enjoy my life.— and i'm just doing something and enjoy my life. and en'oy my life. you are 'ust 18 and enjoy my life. you are 'ust 18 ears and enjoy my life. you are 'ust ts years old. i and enjoy my life. you are 'ust 18 years old, with i and enjoy my life. you are 'ust 18 years old, with the i and enjoy my life. you are just 18 years old, with the world i and enjoy my life. you are just 18 years old, with the world at | 18 years old, with the world at your feet. 18 years old, with the world at yourfeet. how old 18 years old, with the world at your feet. how old were you when you first got into just? what inspired you to pick up the game?— what inspired you to pick up the name? . , , , the game? initially i 'ust used to, ou the game? initially i 'ust used to. you know. _ the game? initially i 'ust used to, you know, what _ the game? initially ijust used to, you know, what my - the game? initially ijust used to, you know, what my familyj to, you know, what my family members play — teachers at home as a hobby, just like any other boardgame. but then, yes, i got interested in the game, and then i happened to enrolled in chessin then i happened to enrolled in chess in a summer camp, in my school in chennai. then one of the coaches spotted that i had good talent for it and the initial thing that inspired me to continue with chess was the 2013 world championship match between — between my role model from the start, against magnus

carlson. he from the start, against magnus carlson. ., , , from the start, against magnus carlson. . , , ., ~ carlson. he has been talking about your— carlson. he has been talking about your match, _ carlson. he has been talking about your match, magnus l about your match, magnus carlson saying on a podcast that it didn't look like a match between two world championship contenders. does that hurt a little bit, i hear of yours talking like that? hat of yours talking like that? not reall . of yours talking like that? not really- "a — of yours talking like that? not really. --a hero _ of yours talking like that? not really. --a hero of— of yours talking like that? ijrrt really. ——a hero of yours. like, i get some of the games, the quality wasn't high, but i think there will championship matches i decided not purely by chest skills but who has the better character. i think those qualities i did show quite well. ifjust part posited a very high level, as high as i would have liked to be, because it is is a new experience for me. the workload was different. the pressure was different. it was understandable i was a bit of. but i managed to strike at the critical moments, which i'm happy with.

the critical moments, which i'm happy with-— happy with. tells a bit about the mental _ happy with. tells a bit about the mental side _ happy with. tells a bit about the mental side of _ happy with. tells a bit about the mental side of jazz. - happy with. tells a bit about the mental side of jazz. you | the mental side ofjazz. you are playing game after game after game, probably having a lot of sleep between the tournaments coming into play. how do you keep yourself calm and in the zone, if you like? one of the main preparations that i did for the match was the mental side of the struggle and paddy helped me a lot. i started working with them a lot in preparation for the match. —— are one help me a lot. we talked a lot about what to expect mentally for the different situations. i think that help. it also helps that i'm in general quite a calm person, because i do a lot of meditation, yoga, stuff like that. i mean, it was quite challenging, the experience was — was stressful. but i always knew that i could — i could

handle it. i knew that i could - i could handle it— knew that i could - i could handle it. , , handle it. i get the sense you are a cool. — handle it. i get the sense you are a cool, calm _ handle it. i get the sense you are a cool, calm individual. . are a cool, calm individual. how would you celebrate? do you have a big amount of prize money because they do you have a lot of time on your hands? what is next?— what is next? yes, the first celebration, _ what is next? yes, the first celebration, just _ what is next? yes, the first celebration, just a - what is next? yes, the first celebration, just a couple . what is next? yes, the first| celebration, just a couple of hours back, my mum and my family came — came to singapore from july, and i am still — i'm still — ijust met my mum, but i'm yet to meet my other family members, and i would like to spend some time with them. and yes, about the prize money, i am pleased about that. especially for a memory —— family. especially for a memory -- famil . ., ~' ,, , especially for a memory -- famil . ., ~ , . family. thank you very much, gukesh dommaraju. - family. thank you very much, gukesh dommaraju. gukesh i gukesh dommaraju. gukesh dommaraju, world chess championship. stay with us. business day is next. hello. thursday was a very grey, gloomy day, really — a lot of low cloud, some mist,

some hill fog and some drizzle. in fact, during thursday, we actually had a weak warm front that moved across england, introducing some more humid air — and that's what resulted in the drizzle. at the moment, the computers are underdoing the amount of drizzle out there as well. it's pretty extensive, really, across much of england, into parts of eastern wales, and we've got mist and fog patches around as well. frost is relatively rare but there are a few patches in scotland — that's where the lowest temperatures are heading into friday. now, the next 36 hours sees this cold front dive southwards. that's going to introduce some patches of rain and again, some slightly colder air following that feature through for a time. here's the weather picture, then, into friday. we start off grey and gloomy with some low cloud, some hill fog patches and remember that extensive drizzle — england, eastern areas of wales, there'll be a few patches elsewhere, too. now, through the day, we get this weather front move into the northwest of scotland. that will bring some heavier rain and the winds will tend to pick up here. for most, temperatures will range between six and eight celsius but there will be some colder spots in scotland. heading into the weekend, we'll get this cold front move southwards. it's going to be very weak, bringing some patches of rain, some colder air following that through during saturday. but as the front pushes

southwards, taking the patchy rain with it, actually, behind that feature, it'll be a much brighter kind of day with a slice of sunshine for a time before we see the next system start to move into western scotland and northern ireland with cloudier weather returning back into the afternoon, so grab the sunshine when it does appear in the sky. now, heading into sunday, we see a big change in the weather patterns as these milder southwesterly winds start to move in off the atlantic — and these are here to stay for quite some time. now, sunday itself will probably have quite a lot of cloud, still with some bits and pieces of rain left over across western areas of the country. there'll be a few breaks here and there, so you might see some glimpses of sunshine but overall, it looks like it'll be turning cloudier and we've got some heavy rain that will end up across the northwest of scotland. temperatures, though, much, much higher — 11—13 degrees, turning a great deal milder. and that milder weather is here to stay next week as well but often, as we see at this time of year with these kind of mild weather spells, we often have a lot of cloud and bits and pieces of rain and that's certainly in the forecast next week.

bell rings. cheering. ringing in a new era: president—elect donald trump

opens the us stock market. and as president yoon digs in, south korea's striking workers keep the pressure on. hello and welcome to business today. i'm steve lai. president—elect donald trump rung the opening bell at the new york stock exchange on thursday, cheered on by an audience of america's business elite. trump is preparing to take office injanuary. he is positioning himself as a president to be friendly to big business in america. the us markets are enjoying a record run. the s&p 500 is up 25%. the tech—heavy nasdaq surged 35% in the same period. michelle fleury has more from new york. this was trump territory. the businessman turned politician... bell rings. ..received a warm welcome, ringing the opening bell at the new york stock exchange. some of his cabinet picks and wall street ceosjoined him. ahead of the bell ringing, he touted some of his economic goals, including lowering energy prices and slaying inflation. and we have one product that nobody, really,