from is the scene now live from inside the courtyard of the grand mosque of damascus, where friday prayers are about to begin at the umayyad mosque. i'm martine croxall. the other main stories this hour... the new head of nato is calling for the alliance to shift to a wartime mindset and turbo—charge its spending to prepare for the threat of a conflict with russia. and the french president emmanuel macron is expected to name a new prime minister today, after the collapse of his government last week. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news. we are alive today from the heart of the syrian capital, damascus. we arejust above the main square in the

city and you can see the roundabout just city and you can see the roundaboutjust behind me. it is quiet now. but it will be filled hour after hour as syrians will come here to celebrate the end of 50 years of president assad's authoritarian rule of his —— and his father before him. here last sunday damascus fell to his rebels and syrians rushed waving the flags of the opposition, some waving guns in the air, to say syria is now free. in the last hour, a statement has been released by the leader of the main islamist group, military commander, now using his own name rather than his war name, wearing a suit rather than his military fatigues, and urging syrians to come to the public squares today to celebrate, but urging caution, saying do not fire guns into the air, do not

terrorise the people, celebrate but celebrate peacefully. that is a measure of the statements now being issued by the new leadership as they gradually day by day put a new interim administration into place. for so many syrians across the country, this marks a new beginning and one of the places they will gather today is at they will gather today is at the grand mosque of damascus, this is the scene now in umayyad mosque where friday prayers are about to begin. this is one of the first places where they came last week when he and his forces... to offer prayers and gratitude and it is after friday prayers right across this country, a country that has to be emphasised as of multiplicity, islamic and christian sects, people take to public squares notjust in the capital but right across syria.

for many syrians, it marks a turning point, but for so many, they cannot close the last dark chapter until they know where their loved ones are, tens of thousands of syrians disappeared into a black hole, into the country's notorious prisons. in recent days, syrians have been combing the hospitals, prisons, the morgues, to try to find their loved ones a live or some evidence of what happened to them. jeremy bowen has this report but i should warn you that you might find some of the details 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 and the mortuary at mujtahid hospital 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? sometimes because of fractures, the bodies are not in a good shape 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 that 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. you'd come 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. 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 mujtahid hospital in damascus are 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. often all they have are the names and places where they were last seen. mahmoud, deir ez—zur. sabar, yarmouk camp, 2012. ahmed, raqqa, 2013. ali, damascus, 2013.

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 is saying, "taken in deir ez—zur in 2012." everyone had a photo, a name and a date. the regime drilled so much pain into syrians that some here are terrified that assad could even return. a new syria needs to deliver lives without fear. jeremy bowen, bbc news, damascus. the dark chapter of syria syrians and so many around the

world want to put an end to. striking how across this region, in capitals around the world, leaders, governments, they have been quick to congratulate the new leadership on putting an end to the abuses of the past and saying they want to work with the new authorities to achieve a new syria, democratic and a syria that does notjust represent 1's sect. includes many western countries, among them the united states. the us secretary of state antony blinken has been travelling across the region, in turkey, and earlier today he gave a press conference alongside his turkish counterpart and in addition to expressing his concern that syria's territorial integrity should be protected and syrians should work together, he also expressed concern about what would happen to the remnants of the islamic state in north—eastern syria, some 900 american troops there working with the turks to try to contain and push them back. let

us hear what he had to say. 0ur countries have worked very hard and gave a lot over many years to ensure the elimination of the territorial caliphate of isis, to ensure the threat is not rear its head again and it is imperative we keep up those efforts. antony blinken there. all of the outreach to the new leadership, an organisation prescribed as a terrorist entity by most western governments, as well as the un, still a bounty of 10 million on his head, how difficult is it going to be to work with a government which has that kind of blacked out?— of blacked out? joined by delaney simon, - of blacked out? joined by delaney simon, senior i of blacked out? joined by - delaney simon, senior analyst for international crisis group and has intensively studied the impact of sanctions around the world in countries around the world in countries around the world including syria. welcome to bbc news.

delaney simon, can you briefly sketch for us very complex of all of the sanctions that are now in place on syrian individuals and the syrian state? . ~' , ., individuals and the syrian state? ., ~ . individuals and the syrian state? ., . ., state? thank you so much for askin: state? thank you so much for asking me — state? thank you so much for asking me this _ state? thank you so much for asking me this question, - state? thank you so much for asking me this question, a i asking me this question, a really important question. syria is under one of the most intensive sanctions regimes in the world, untangling the web of sanctions is very difficult. it is under us sanctions, eu sanctions, un sanctions applied to hts, and the cumulative result of all of these various different restrictions is essentially a near full embargo on syria. lucy syria's energy sector, banking sector, other major sectors under sanctions —— you see. it makes it

difficult for third countries to trade with syria. i have been saying since the transition started and assad flat, failing to grapple with the enormous sanctions that syria is under will be like pulling the rug out from under syrians just as they are trying to stand. syriansjust as they are trying to stand. , , ., to stand. there will be some sanctions — to stand. there will be some sanctions which _ to stand. there will be some sanctions which are - to stand. there will be some sanctions which are easier i to stand. there will be somej sanctions which are easier to lift than others. take one level. economic sanctions, to allow investment to return to syria to improve the lives of syrians, how difficult will those sanctions be too left? it is going to be very complicated because syria is under state sponsor of terrorism sanctioned by the united states which i like to compare to the nuclear option in the united states�*s weapons arsenal, it essentially costs the whole country under a chilling effect that makes investment very difficult. that would have to be removed. 0bviously, that is going to

take a lot of political will. but in addition, there are also other sanctions which have to be removed by the us legislature. 0ther sanctions which are under the us treasury department. 0thers under the us state department others under the department of commerce. so starting to remove the sanctions will take an enormous bureaucratic lift by the us and i mentioned the us is not the only sanction country, so something else would have to be mimicked by other countries. i wanted to mention also there are immediate steps that western governments and sanctioning governments can take to ease the impact of sanctions. the first thing they can do is they can issue a general licence for economic and commercial activity in syria. as many of your viewers will remember, there are licenses for syria for humanitarian aid but no license

for economic and commercial flows. so, a license that would allow those two things would make a huge difference. a second step that the united states and others can do to make a difference is to start considering what options are available to delist hts from terrorist lists? i am available to delist hts from terrorist lists? iam not suggesting they should just throw out the sanctions immediately, i'm suggesting it is a critical time for the country is to use their leveraged to communicate with hts and say, we want to see these several things for you to do and we will take you off the list, and if they do not do that, they are missing a key opportunity for leveraged. a third point, a third thing sanctioning states can be as start defining a road map for syria sanctions reliefs because a road map will at least get the process started and layout conditions syria's new leaders will have to take to get off

the various lists.— the various lists. delaney simon. — the various lists. delaney simon, thank _ the various lists. delaney simon, thank you - the various lists. delaney simon, thank you so i the various lists. delaney | simon, thank you so much the various lists. delaney i simon, thank you so much for sketching so clearly what in effect has to be done if syria and syrians are to get back on their feet and syrians are to get back on theirfeet again and and syrians are to get back on their feet again and full syria's new leaders to make good on so many promises they have made to their people and the world beyond. delaney simon, of international crisis group. you may hear the prayers have begun here, very momentous day here notjust in damascus but across syria and beyond. we will keep an eye on all of it. lyse doucet, thank you very much, reporting from damascus. medical staff in central gaza say israeli air strikes have killed at least 20 people in the nuseirat camp. the hamas—run civil defence agency said the air strikes hit a multi—storey block in which a number of palestinians were sheltering. some of those killed were reported to be children. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

the uk economy has shrunk for the second month in a row. official figures show a drop of 0.1% in october due to a decline in activity in the pub, restaurant and retail sectors. the chancellor of the exchequer, rachel reeves, has been reacting to the figures. let's take a listen. the numbers on gdpr disappointing but it is not possible to turn around more than a decade of poor economic growth and stagnant living standards in just a few months. but you will see from the plans announced whether it has the energy reforms we have published today, reforms to build 1.5 million homes we published yesterday, pensions reforms, creation of a national wealth fund, this government is getting on with the job in improving economic growth and driving up living standards. people watching this, when can we expect to get back to growth?—

growth? growth is the number-one - growth? growth is the number-one mission l growth? growth is the l number-one mission of number—one mission of government, economic growth, results in family is feeling better off with more money in their pockets and we are driving that economic growth and we hope the numbers will start to improve because of the policies we are pursuing in the months ahead.— policies we are pursuing in the months ahead. rachel reeves, chancellor _ months ahead. rachel reeves, chancellor of _ months ahead. rachel reeves, chancellor of the _ months ahead. rachel reeves, chancellor of the exchequer. i the french president, emmanuel macron, is expected to name a new prime minister today, following the collapse of his government last week. mr macron is under pressure to select a leader who can satisfy the demands of a broad coalition and pass a budget for next year. france has been in political turmoil since the president called a snap parliamentary election injuly. we can speak now to charlotte minvielle, french parliamentary candidate for the new popular front and co—chair of the french green party. shejoins us now. thank you. who would you like to see appointed as prime minister and why? appointed as prime minister and wh ? ~ , ., ., appointed as prime minister and why? well, we need someone from the left, why? well, we need someone from the left. this— why? well, we need someone from the left, this new _

why? well, we need someone from the left, this new popular _ the left, this new popular front alliance, because when you look at the result of this snap election the president decided to call, the biggest number of mps comes from the left coalition. it would be the democratic thing to do to respect the will of the people i nominate someone that comes from this political camp and to be able to implement some of the social, environmental policies french people are really after.— really after. one of the leading _ really after. one of the leading names - really after. one of the leading names in i really after. one of the leading names in this l really after. one of the i leading names in this race is the centrist francois bayrou, how likely is it your party would join a government with him as prime minister? it is completely _ him as prime minister? it is completely unlikely - him as prime minister? it 3 completely unlikely that our party would join a coalition government because, as he said, he is from the centre right, we have seen what the policies have seen what the policies have been. the also this government has employed of using the 49.3 article of the constitution which basically means forcefully putting through the budget which an

austerity budget and there is no chance that a government thatis no chance that a government that is led by francois bayrou will be able to implement the policies we are after. we could look at seeing with that the methods they would employ to not using the 49.3 article and have this parliamentary discussions, butjoining a government with the centre—right is not on the cards for the left, it is not the respect of the democracy. just to explain, article 49.3 allows a government to force through legislation. but wouldn't this be an opportunity for your party and others to the left to negotiate with the incoming prime minister and say, look, if you want us to support you, this is what we need to see. you could have the prime minister of mr mcmahon's choosing that you could have influence. i choosing that you could have influence-— influence. i think there could be discussions _ influence. i think there could be discussions about - be discussions about non—censorship which basically is not voting no confidence in this government and that would be if there is a strong

commitment on a certain number of propositions. for example, the green party has laid out 11 propositions including for example not putting in place the pension reform, increasing the pension reform, increasing the minimum wage, having strong environmental programme. if they were to say, we are committing to these 11 propositions, also committing on a method of not putting in place measures through parliament forcefully, it could open up discussion. but it is very unlikely they will decide to go that way unfortunately. we have seen the brutality with which they have not respected the vote of the people and the french president again and again... he could choose to lean more to the left and he has chosen over the past few years to lean more and more towards the right and that is what we are seeing again today. we hope to find out who he appoints a little later. charlotte, from the new popular front, french parliamentary candidate, thank you.

police chiefs have warned the uk home secretary that without further funding neighbourhood policing could be cut, due to the increased costs of employee taxes and wages. it comes a week after the government pledged to have a named police officer in every neighbourhood. yvette cooper has promised forces will be compensated, but some are facing budget deficits of more than £10 million. 0ur political correspondent tom symonds reports. get by successful, get by successful. we now have one—six ahead. lincolnshire, rural in parts, is anything but quiet. when a man stole a motorway service vehicle and raced through four counties, lincolnshire police eventually stopped him. their patch is huge. they say they're severely stretched. it comes all the way round, all the way up and just finishes below the town of grimsby, which is our neighbouring force area of humberside. we deploy around 67 police officers on neighbourhood patrols in this entire county. that's roughly what they deploy in that single town of grimsby. in just one town? the conservative police

commissioner says the difference between lincolnshire and neighbouring humberside is down to the formula used to allocate police force funding. the problem for lincolnshire is that the formula, which decides how much each police force gets, was calculated nearly 20 years ago and, in that time, the population of the county has gone up by around 13%. if it was recalculated by the government, well, lincolnshire would do quite well, but other forces would lose money and it's likely they would complain about that. so, for now, the formula is unchanged and some forces say they're struggling. on top of that, chief constables, including lincolnshire's, are now faced with funding a police pay rise and the higher employer national insurance payments announced in the budget. i would need to be taking somewhere between 400, maybe more than 400, police officers and police staff out of the organisation. if the government doesn't help

you out with all of these costs, you're going to lose a third of your police officers? yes. at what point does a police force lose its viability? but the bottom line is we can't police on a shoestring. we have to be afforded a reasonable level of resourcing to enable us to do ourjob. now, the home office insists police forces will be fully compensated for the changes to employer national insurance contributions. a funding announcement next week will cover the annual pay award in full and give forces more money to recruit officers and keep our streets safe. but that's just for one year. police chiefs say they need long—term certainty. at least a dozen have written to the government asking for reassurance, including the metropolitan police — by far the biggest in the country — warning of a potential deficit of £450 million. essex police is facing a £10 million funding gap, it says. and lincolnshire police which is forecasting underfunding of £57 million over the next few years.

under arrest. possession with intent to supply. the government's longer—term strategy is a push for better police productivity, more tech for officers, forces sharing resources and buying services together to maximise purchasing power. but it's promising 13,000 more neighbourhood officers. the police say if the funding isn't right, there's a risk green recruits will simply replace experienced officers they've had to let go. tom symonds, bbc news, lincolnshire. three dinosaur fossils from thejurassic period have sold for more than £12 million at auction in london. the skeletons of two meat—eating allosaurus and one stegosaurus are believed to be approximately 150 million years old. they were all excavated from the same site in wyoming in the us and travelled to the uk in crates.

rather large crates, i imagine. let us take you to the south korean capital of seoul. a second impeachment motion against president yoon has formally been submitted today, the first attempt to remove him from office failed last week. that impeachment was because he tried to defend his rather short left declaration of martial law. we will keep an eye on the situation in south korea over the coming hours. this is bbc news. 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 humid air and that's what resulted in the drizzle. at the moment, the computers are under—doing 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 hill 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 will be a few patches elsewhere too. now, through the day we get this weather front moving in to the north—west of scotland. that'll bring some heavier rain and the winds will tend to pick up here. for most, temperatures will range between 6 and 8 celsius, but there will be some colder spots in scotland. heading into the weekend, we 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 will 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 will see a big change in the weather patterns as these milder south—westerly 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 will be a few breaks here and there, so you might see some glimpses of sunshine, but overall, it looks like it's going to be turning cloudier and some heavy rain that will end up across the north—west 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 of pieces of rain and that's certainly in the forecast next week.

this is bbc news, the headlines... the uk economy shrank for the second month in a row in october after official figures showed a 0.1% drop the militaryjunta in myanmar has lost control of the entire western border with bangladesh — with ethnic

groups claiming victory over the military s last stronghold. two people have been rushed to hospital after a fairground ride in birmingham city centre malfunctioned last night. and scientists discover how neanderthals played a key role in the survival of early humans 48,000 year ago. russia has launched a large—scale strike on ukraine's energy infrastructure, firing missiles and drones across multiple regions. the scale of the damage is not clearyet, but kyiv, lviv and 0desa are being targeted. let's speak to our correspondent in kyiv, abdujalil abdurasulov. tell us more about the damage we think has been caused. it was another sleepless night for many ukrainians here. it started with massive drone attacks overnight which

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