after receiving advice from the uk government. hello, i'm carl nasman. welcome to the programme. thousands of syrians have taken to the streets across the country to celebrate the fall of the assad regime on what's being called victory day. images from damascus and other cities show people celebrating nearly a week after the ousted president fled to moscow amid a surprise opposition offensive. it was the first friday prayers since rebel groups took power, with people urged to go out and express theirjoy. it comes as israel stations troops inside a un—patrolled buffer zone separating israeli and syrian forces in the occupied golan heights. the office of the israeli defence minister said troops could stay there throughout the winter. our international editorjeremy bowen reports from damascus.

this ancient city has seen countless upheavals overfive millennia. for modern syria, though, with its old flag restored, nothing matches the fall of the assads. the end of the first week without an assad in charge since 1970 brought thousands of syrians into the umayyad mosque to thank god for their deliverance. the chant is, "the people want the execution of bashar." the regime's collapse and liberation from assad's brutal security state are powering a sense of great optimism. for all the people here, this puts the seal on it. this is absolute proof that they have won and the regime has gone. just flying one of these black, white and green flags a couple of weeks ago could have got you arrested, jail time,

or even a bullet. the fighters of hayat tahrir al—sham — hts — are still basking in their achievement. that white flag used by syrian islamist fighters was also behind the new prime minister in a broadcast. hts insists it has renounced its former extremist ideology. some syrians do not believe them. samir, overwhelmed, back from britain after 44 years, is hoping for a tolerant future. it is our country, this is not al—assad country. he is gone now. i don't know how we are going to resolve it. he has been corrupting this country for 50 years, but these are the people who are going to build the country, so wish us luck. everyone in the world. and please, please, leave us alone. leave us alone, 0k? we appreciate your support, but we don't want anyone to interfere with our decisions, what we are going to do. this is their decision. syria's future is

full of challenges. hts is an islamist group. what will that mean for girls and women? how do syrians getjustice for the regime's crimes? they meant it when they call for assad's execution before the prayer. their new rulers told them to celebrate the blessed revolution, so they did. syrians understand it won't be easy to understand it won't be syrians understand that it won't be easy to overcome 50 years of dictatorship and 14 years of war. but this was a day to seize and enjoy. thousands converged on umayyad square in the centre of damascus. it is as if an enormous weight has been lifted off a nation. i have never seen so many smiling people in syria. we are free! we are feeling the feelings of freedom! we never feel like this. i want all the world to see us! we are free now. we are free now. south, north, we are free. south, north, we are free.

the fighters are the heroes now, bringing their kids, posing for photos with other posing for photos with other people's, but when the party is over, people need to eat, people's, but when the party in an economy smashed by war and corruption. by war and corruption. i asked this woman and her i asked this woman and her daughters what they need. daughters what they need. just needed freedom, no taxes, just needed freedom, no taxes, no stolen money taken from us. we just want to be independent. no stolen money taken from us. we want to be an independent people. we want to be an independent people. syria is an independent syria is an independent visit to the middle east country. country. nobody controls us. nobody controls us. nobody can rule us, just nobody can rule us, just the syrians themselves. the syrians themselves. it is too soon for firm answers it is too soon for firm answers to syria's problems, to syria's problems, but the placards set an agenda but the placards set an agenda — bring the assads to justice, civil rights for all, — bring the assads to justice, and syria is for every syrian, no matter who they are. no matter who they are. jeremy bowen, jeremy bowen, bbc news, damascus. bbc news, damascus. us secretary of state antony blinken is urging countries in the region to support in the region to support a peaceful transition a peaceful transition

of power in syria. of power in syria. he's making his twelfth he's making his twelfth visit to the middle east since october of last year. he met with the iraqi prime minister during an unannounced visit to iraq earlier on friday, in a coordinated as syria transitions from the assad dictatorship to — hopefully — a democracy, it does so in a way that of course protects all of the minorities in syria, that produces an inclusive nonsectarian government and does not become in any way a platform for terrorism. the us military has flown american citizen travis timmerman out of syria, where he was jailed by the assad regime for seven months. mr timmerman was attempting to pass through the country as part of a "spiritual journey" before he was detained. the 29—year—old was among thousands of prisoners released by rebel forces after the fall of bashar al—assad's regime on sunday. the notorious prisons have been described by human rights

groups as a "slaughterhouse". in gaza, the health ministry says more than 80 people have been killed in israeli attacks in the past day as international efforts to secure a ceasefire continue. at least 30 people were killed in an israeli air raid on a post office that was functioning as a shelter for displaced palestnians. an eyewitness described what he saw to reuters. a warning that the details are distressing. translation: we woke up to the sound of a massive, | massive explosion unlike anything we'd heard before. we had heard missile sounds before, but this was a barrel bomb that we work up to. we ran down to the screams of the people and their cry for help, the neighbors. we came to rescue them, but there was no electricity. it was dark, so we had to rescue using the light of the mobile phone. honestly, when we reached the event, reached the place, honestly, when we reached reached the place, honestly, when we reached the place, the sights made your skin crawl. the martyrs were scattered where we're standing, more than 10 of them.

an entire block was removed tonight. also what's strange is that there were cries for help from under the rubble, people begging us for help, and we couldn't do anything for them. until now, they're still under the rubble.

this is the kamal adwan hospital in northern gaza, where drjouda did much of his work. it has few supplies, few doctors, but endless patients. the area injabalia has been under siege and under bombardment by israeli forces bombardment by israeli forces for months, in an effort, for months, in an effort, they say, to stop they say, to stop hamas from regrouping. hamas from regrouping. israel does not allow israel does not allow foreign journalists foreign journalists unrestricted access to gaza. unrestricted access to gaza. they're coming under continued they're coming under continued bombardment in these hospitals. bombardment in these hospitals. but from jerusalem, i got but from jerusalem, i got through to the main through to the main united nations united nations aid agency there. aid agency there. it's devastating it's devastating for his family. for people for his family. for people in the north who are relying in the north who are relying on so few doctors and such on so few doctors and such few resources available. few resources available. hospitals in the gaza strip hospitals in the gaza strip are not hospitals any more. are not hospitals any more. they keep using this term they keep using this term "partially functioning". "partially functioning". but if you and i were to step but if you and i were to step in these hospitals, in these hospitals, you wouldn't recognise anything you wouldn't recognise anything

about it to resemble about it to resemble a hospital. a hospital. there is no sanitation. there are hardly any doctors. there's no medical equipment. patients are dying needlessly. much of northern gaza is an apocalyptic wasteland, but israel's offensive is not over. jon donnison, bbc news, jerusalem. unidentified drones continue to baffle residents across the northeastern united states. the fbi has received more than 3,000 tips, and regional authorities say they want answers. newjersey senator andy kim shared this footage afterjoining a police surveillance operation thursday night. in a thread on social media, he described seeing "drone clusters" and said their lights would go dark as police helicopters approached them. friday, newjersey�*s governor phil murphy wrote to president biden asking for more federal resources

for the investigations. he said: "it's become apparent that more resources are needed to fully understand what is behind this activity. newjersey residents deserve more concrete information about these unmanned aircraft systems and what is causing them." the wave of reports started in newjersey back in mid—november. they've recently spread to at least six other states, including connecticut, where the following video was filmed thursday.

these drone sightings, eleanor, they be going on for weeks there now popping up in several different states. do we have any idea of what these drones are earned who might be operating them? figs are earned who might be operating them?- are earned who might be operating them? as you said, the white _ operating them? as you said, the white house, _ operating them? as you said, the white house, fbi - operating them? as you said, the white house, fbi into - the white house, fbi into permanent homeland security have not even terrified that they are in fact drones, and they are in fact drones, and the white house yesterday said some of the settings may be small manned aircraft —— and the department of homeland security have not even verified. that does not extend to sightings that are popping up to sightings that are popping up increasingly in more and more states and frustrating not only lawmakers but members of the public. some lawmakers and president trump even today have called on authorities to shoot down these drones to analyse them. the pentagon says that base commanders do have the authority to shoot them down if they pose a threat to military installations, but so far, the dod assessment is that they are not a threat, they are not coming from foreign adversaries

orfrom foreign coming from foreign adversaries or from foreign entities, but at the same time, the pentagon cannot yet explain what it is thatis cannot yet explain what it is that is out there. i cannot yet explain what it is that is out there.— that is out there. i thought it was interesting, _ that is out there. i thought it was interesting, was - that is out there. i thought it i was interesting, was sometime in from as you mentioned posting on his social media site truth social today, essentially saying, why not just shoot them down, is that a possibility —— donald trump posting on. local authorities taking these things out of the sky? taking these things out of the s ? , . . . taking these things out of the s ? , . ., . . ., , sky? they are facing increasing ressure sky? they are facing increasing pressure to _ sky? they are facing increasing pressure to that _ sky? they are facing increasing pressure to that but _ sky? they are facing increasing pressure to that but officials i pressure to that but officials here in the pentagon were talking about why that is not necessarily feasible. if it were a threat to these military installations, the base commanders would take them down, but since they don't know what they are, don't believe they are a threat yet, the risk of that debris, some of the drones have been said to be as big as cars, the risk of that debris falling in a public area, heavily populated area, is too great to try and do that when you don't know what they are, and then the other

possibility, that some have raised, is electronicjamming. raised, is electronic jamming. so, raised, is electronicjamming. so, you bring the drone down not by shooting it down, which could cause debris everywhere, but maybe bring it down by jamming or something, but maybe bring it down by jamming orsomething, but jamming or something, but officials jamming orsomething, but officials here say their risks with that too. the risk interfering with planes in the sky, risk interfering with cell phones, so right now the panic on at least does not seem to be on at least does not seem to be on the tractor shooting them down. ., ., ., ,., down. you mentioned that some of these objects _ down. you mentioned that some of these objects to _ down. you mentioned that some of these objects to be _ down. you mentioned that some of these objects to be as - down. you mentioned that some of these objects to be as large i of these objects to be as large as cars. is that something that as cars. is that something that a regular citizen would be able to get their hands on, any kind of drone orflying to get their hands on, any kind of drone or flying object as big as that? if of drone or flying ob'ect as big as want of drone or flying ob'ect as big as that? of drone or flying ob'ect as bi as that? , ., ., big as that? if they wanted to shell out a — big as that? if they wanted to shell out a lot _ big as that? if they wanted to shell out a lot of _ big as that? if they wanted to shell out a lot of money, - big as that? if they wanted to shell out a lot of money, i - shell out a lot of money, i guess so, but the assessment here, or the assumption here, i should say, is that there —— these are not hobbyists drones. these are more sophisticated than the quad copter to can buy from amazon.

we are hearing from senators on this, we are hearing from the incoming president on this. what might happen could we see the government do? i what might happen could we see the government do?— the government do? i think you saw the government do? i think you sanohn the government do? i think you sawjohn kirby _ the government do? i think you saw john kirby yesterday - the government do? i think you saw john kirby yesterday at - sanohn kirby yesterday at the podium talk about how there are so many different authorities involved and they need to work out who has jurisdiction over this. these sightings have received more attention, but this was an issue last december, if you remember. there were a bunch of drones spotted near a drone in virginia. same scenario, multiple drones, configurations, nobody quite knows where they came from, but did not have the authority to shoot them down. this is already been raised in this ups the ante for some sort of solution on what to do about them. ., , them. the whole thing is estimating. _ them. the whole thing is estimating. -- _ them. the whole thing is l estimating. -- fascinating. estimating. —— fascinating. this might date me, but we need motor and scully on the case here! thank you.

prince andrew says he's "ceased all contact" with a chinese businessman banned from the uk after accused of being a spy. in a statement, the prince said "he'd met the individual through official channels, with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed, and he's now acted on the advice of the government, after concerns were raised." china has condemned the decision to ban the businessman, who's been described as a close confidant of the duke. dominic casciani has the details. a prince under pressure again, this time over his relationship with a mystery businessman we're not allowed to name, now revealed by the courts to be a likely spy targeting the royal family. for ten years, prince andrew promoted the uk's relationship with china. this was his pitch at the palace investment scheme on tour in china. from entrepreneurs to state visits — here with china's president xijinping — the duke forged closer ties amid a delicate and difficult diplomatic relationship. that relationship is now under new strain. a judgment from the semi—secret

special immigration appeals commission has revealed that a man working for the chinese communist party's intelligence operations has been banned from the uk. he'd targeted the duke in an operation to influence him. in 2020, h6 became a close confidant with an unusual degree of trust, working with this man, the duke's adviser, dominic hampshire. he gave h6 the green light to act for the duke in talks with chinese investors. when the security services became suspicious and searched h6's phone, they found evidence he was a state agent — a conclusion that doesn't surprise experts. typically, they would go for members of the house of lords or prominent businesspeople or people who, you know, have a voice in the community. it's quite ambitious to target a member of the royalfamily and quite unwise for a member of the royal family to allow himself to be targeted. the court found that h6 had been in a position to generate relationships with prominent uk figures which could be

leveraged for political interference purposes. there was a letter from dominic hampshire on the phone. he told h6 that... h6 also had a note on how to handle the duke himself. it said... counter—espionage investigators feared the duke had been a target of elite capture — that's the chinese communist party's operation to seek influence across british life — and so the home secretary used her exceptional powers, reserved for the most serious national security cases, to ban the businessman from the uk. mi5�*s chief has repeatedly warned of the scale of china's information and intelligence gathering in the uk. we see the chinese authorities

playing the long game and cultivating contacts to manipulate opinion in china's favour, seeking to co—opt and influence not just prominent parliamentarians from across the political landscape but people much earlier in their careers in public life, gradually building a debt of obligation. there's no suggestion mr hampshire was aware of h6�*s objective. and the chinese embassy has called the allegations a "baseless smear". as for prince andrew, he withdrew from public life after his newsnight interview over his relationship with the now dead sex offenderjeffrey epstein. that relationship raised questions ofjudgment, and now another relationship has led to more. russia again targeted ukraine's energy infrastructure on friday with a barrage of missiles and drones. 93 missiles and more than 200 drones targeted sites in ukraine's west, but ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky said 81 missiles were shot down. air alerts in the capital kyiv sent residents into underground shelters.

new restrictions on power supplies were announced as a result of the attack. rolling blackouts are being introduced in all regions of ukraine. russia's attacks come on the coldest day of the ukrainian winter so far, with temperatures hovering around —6 celsius. our reporter abdujalil abduraslov is in kyiv with more on the attacks.

let's turn to some other news around the world. official figures suggest the uk economy shrank for a second successive month in october — the first back—to—back fall in output since the onset of the covid—i9 pandemic. the office for national statistics says gdp fell 0.1%.

finance minister rachel reeves said the figures were "disappointing" but insisted labour's policies will deliver long—term growth. the management consulting firm, mckinsey, has agreed to pay $650 million to settle criminal charges over its role in the us opioid crisis. the us department ofjustice says mckinsey advised purdue pharma, the maker of oxycontin, on how to �*turbocharge' sales of the addictive painkiller. mckinsey has apologised for its role in the drug epidemic, which kills nearly 100 thousand people every year. former us house speaker nancy pelosi is in hospital after sustaining injuries in a fall, during an official trip to luxembourg, her office said friday. the 84—year—old is receiving "excellent treatment" and is continuing to work, according to her spokesperson. her injury comes just days after outgoing senate minority leader mitch mcconnell suffered minor injuries after a fall at the us capitol. french president emmanuel

macron nominated a centrist ally, francois bayrou, as prime minister on friday. the announcement follows the collapse of macron�*s government after only three months. the country's former prime minister, michel barnier, was ousted by mps nine days ago. mr barnier lost a vote of no—confidence following a standoff over an austerity budget. now mr bayrou faces the same challenge. he must form a cabinet that can survive a no—confidence vote in a divided parliament and put forward another budget to limit economic turmoil. regulating france's debt is something mr bayrou says is not only a political priority, but a moral obligation. translation: many people were sa in: that translation: many people were saying that we — translation: many people were saying that we don't _ translation: many people were saying that we don't run - translation: many people were saying that we don't run a - saying that we don't run a political campaign on the question of debt. and i strongly believe now more than ever — and we were actually laughing about this before taking the microphone — that thatis taking the microphone — that that is also a moral problem, notjust a financial problem.

thinking that by passing on the debt and the burden of the debt to our children, rather than taking care of ourselves, is something that is very, very bad. our correspondent hugh schofield is in paris and has more about mr bayrou and the daunting tasks ahead of him as prime minister. who's a very, very well—known figure here in paris. he's been in politics for a0 years, a minister back in the early �*90s. and he's a centrist. he's a man who, from the very start of his career, has said that, you know, there needs to be a middle way, a kind of third way between left and right. and that his party, he now runs a party called the modem, is what represents that. and in that sense, he's very much a precursor of macronism, who's said very much the same thing, and it's natural that they've been allies. and since macron came to power, bayrou has been — with his modem party — closely behind macron. but now he's come to power himself.

he's been named as prime minister at a time when the prime minister'sjob in france is becoming very important. the president is losing prestige. the prime minister, the head of the government, drawing more powerfrom parliament, is becoming more important in the political setup. but his task is daunting, if not insuperable. it is to try and form a government — he's got to do that first — and then to try to get a budget, agreement on a budget. and he faces the same big problems — the arithmetic of parliament, of the national assembl — that his predecessor, michel barnier, did. so if you're asking me to say, "what are the odds of him getting a successful budget through?", iwould have to say that they are very, very small indeed — certainly a budget that has to have any meaning, because a meaningful budget would be one which took tough decisions on cutting spending and so on. and it's exactly those tough decisions which provoke the uproar in parliament and which are quite likely to bring him down.

let's stay in france. the crown of thorns, a relic said to have been placed on the head ofjesus christ at his crucifixion, has returned to notre—dame cathedral in paris. the woven circle of rushes encased in a golden tube was saved from the devastating fire that gutted the church five years ago. now, a week after notre dame's grand reopening, it was placed in a newly designed reliquary amid organ and choral music and shouts of celebration. the relic was first mentioned byjerusalem pilgrims in the fifth century and later found its way to constantinople, where the then french king acquired it in the year 1239. i'm carl nasman. stay with us on bbc news. for most of the day, friday for many of you will have been a cloudy, rather grey, damp kind of day with some

drizzle around a bit of mist. but towards the end of friday, we started to get some sunnier breaks coming into the highlands of scotland, bit of sunshine on the horizon. those brighter skies to be found behind this cold front, which at the moment is pushing its way southwards. it will eventually bring much sunnier weather, at least for a time, to all parts of the uk. now, right now, we've still got extensive cloud across england and wales, still with those misty conditions, bit of hill fog and quite extensive drizzle. but the clearer air is continuing to work down across northern areas. for many of us, saturday morning starting off on a frost—free note but cold. but there will be some frost patches into scotland. here's your saturday morning, then — starting on a cloudy note for southern england and east anglia, still with some drizzle and mist. that clears through as our cold front finally pushes southwards, followed by sunshine for a time. however, into the afternoon, we'll see things cloud over once again for scotland and northern ireland, with a bit of rain pushing in here. it will eventually turn quite mild — ii in stornoway — whereas eastern scotland, eastern england staying on the chilly side, temperatures 6—8 degrees. saturday night, then, one of those nights where temperatures will actually rise through the night as milder south—westerly winds start to blow in, and so they will bring a completely different

kind of weather feel for the second half of the weekend. it's going to be a much milder day. there will be a lot of cloud around at times, a few breaks in the cloud, a bit of hazy sunshine here and there. but for the highlands of scotland, we start to see a band of heavy and persistent rain move in. now, it will be a much milder day than we've been used to pretty much all week, temperatures around 12 or 13 celsius. and this mild weather continues into monday, again with extensive cloud around, just a few breaks in the cloud, bit of hazy sunshine for some, whereas for the highlands, we've got more rain in the forecast. and that rain actually continues into tuesday. we'll need to be watchful of that. there could be some localised surface water flooding building in early next week due to that persistent rain. so a mild first half to the week, but often quite cloudy with some patches of rain coming and going. really, from the second half of the week and into the following weekend, we see big changes in temperatures from one day to the next. one day will be mild, then colder air comes in, then mild again, then it turns colder again. all the while, it looks like the weather pattern�*s going to stay pretty unsettled in the run—up to christmas.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme.

so, this is the velodrome? this is it _ this is where i spent 20 years of my life. i this week, alasdair's talking wheels with cycling legend sir chris hoy. we're watching how wind is helping wheelchair racers. i think building the chair around you and your needs is incredibly important. and we whip up a chat with the new voice and face of indiana jones. the thing that is universal is that there is somewhere in all of us an adventurer. so, this is the velodrome? this is it.

this is where i spent 20 years of my life.