�* �* across infrastructure. -- across ukraine- _ and prince andrew says he "ceased all contact" with a businessman accused of being a chinese spy 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 editor jeremy 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. all chant. the chant is, "the people want the execution of "bashar". chanting continues. 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've got you arrested, jail time, or even a bullet.

the fighters of hay�*at 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's 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 the 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 for women? how do syrians getjustice for the regime's crimes? they meant it when they called for assad's execution before the prayer. their new rulers told them to celebrate the blessed revolution, so they did. syrians understand that it won't be easy to overcome 50 years of dictatorship and ia years of war, but this was a day to seize and enjoy. thousands converged on umayyad square in the centre of damascus. it's 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... we are free! we are the feelings of freedom! we never feel like this. i want all the world to see us!

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

he's making his 12th 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 effort to work with a key regional partner to fight extremism. 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, non—sectarian government and does not become in any way a platform for terrorism. let's get more now on all of this. joining me live is aaron david miller, seniorfellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace. we heard there in that piece that the syrians and the celebrations, most pleading with the world to leave them alone, we heard one man saying don't interfere with our decisions but obviously, syria has long been a country where

we have seen these multiple players taking part there. how do you see this? will syria be able to chart its own course? you know, it's an extraordinary moment. i don't like to describe this as an inflection point, a game changer, a seachange or a watershed. i think if you look at the previous examples where arab authoritarians were overthrown, without exception the outcome was worse. libaak was overthrown and abdel fattah al—sisi rules the country with an iron hand, the dovi was overthrown and libya is divided. —— mubarak. it is controlled part of the country. saddam hussein was overthrown in iraq and iraq is still a dysfunctional country. then you have tunisia, where the spots of democracy took root and then when ben ali was overthrown, now run by an autocrat. will syria be an exception? i think

thatis syria be an exception? i think that is the question. i think there is some reason to believe clearly hts is saying and doing all of the right things but it is a deeply islamic conservative authoritarian movement. and whether or not it will be able to control a country of 23 million people, control idlib province, it is a very conservative part of syria and multi— confessional ethnically diverse country, damascus 2.5 million people. secular, in many respects. so that's one test. and the second is external intervention by powers large and small. the turks now seem to have most of the influence. they have their own agenda. the americans have stepped back and the remaining days of the biden administration, i think the administration, i think the administration is trying to get involved but it's making way for an administration led by a president—elect who seems to want to remain on the sidelines. i

want to remain on the sidelines. ,, ,, �* i susect sidelines. crosstalk. i suspect that the decision _ sidelines. crosstalk. i suspect that the decision that _ sidelines. crosstalk. i suspect that the decision that the - that the decision that the president—elect is going to make. he said to every single possible but he does not intend to get involved and i think it would be a mistake if he doesn't. would be a mistake if he doesn't-— would be a mistake if he doesn't. ~ ., ., ., , doesn't. we are hearing as well about the _ doesn't. we are hearing as well about the influence _ doesn't. we are hearing as well about the influence of - doesn't. we are hearing as well about the influence of iran - about the influence of iran obviously in syria, a us official telling readers today this is the moment right now really is an opportunity to further push back iran's influence in the region. do you think that that's possible as well, but what we are seeing in syria right now could be another big blow for iran? i think there is no question. the italian —— entire iranian enterprise, run by the revolutionary guard, whether it is support for hamas in gaza, lebanon with hezbollah and the fall of a very important iranian ally who, for decades, has counted on syria for many, many things, a buffer against the sunni arab rule, a way to

position for a ramien militias in syria, a window on the israeli conflict, this is a huge blow for iran —— pro iranians. they are done but not out however and i think it will really depend on whether or not hts, a punitive movement that was responsible for a thud's overthrown, can put together overthrown, can put together over time an inclusive, nonsectarian government which is somewhat less vulnerable to external manipulation and then, of course, the issue of the palance. the russians apparently, i couldn't to be commercially available overhead, appear to be withdrawing some of their assets from the navel—gazing tartus which i think also shows a good sign —— naval base at tartus. so they cannot fix syria but we certainly can help. syria but we certainly can hel. �* syria but we certainly can hel., �* [iii syria but we certainly can hel. [iii , , , help. about 30 seconds left but i wanted to _ help. about 30 seconds left but i wanted to touch _

help. about 30 seconds left but i wanted to touch on _ help. about 30 seconds left but i wanted to touch on the - i wanted to touch on the situation between israel and hamas right now. it looks like both incoming trump administration and the current white house really want to get a deal done before january 20. do you see that happening? i think it's a real populate —— possibility. limited exchange, women, the elderly, the infirm, 3445-60 women, the elderly, the infirm, 3445—60 day ceasefire and an asymmetrical number of palestinian prisoners. i think timing is everything and frankly we've been close another we have ever been at least to a partial deal to free the hostages and bring solace to their families and to relieve hopefully some of the suffering of the 2.3 million palestinians in gaza. aaron david miller, _ palestinians in gaza. aaron david miller, senior - palestinians in gaza. aaron david miller, senior fellow| palestinians in gaza. aaron i david miller, senior fellow at david miller, seniorfellow at the carney —— carnegie endowment for international peace, thank you.— endowment for international peace, thank you. thank you for havin: peace, thank you. thank you for having me- _ ukraine's energy infrastructure endured a barrage of russian missiles and drones in the early hours of friday morning. 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 as new power supply restrictions were announced as a result of the attack. rolling blackouts are being introduced in all regions of ukraine amid the restrictions. russia's attacks come on the coldest day of the ukrainian winter so far with temperatures hovering around negative 6 degrees celsius. our reporter abdujalil abdurasulov is in kyiv with more. we know that the main target of this attack was ukraine's energy infrastructure. in fact, a thermal power plant in the western part of the country was badly damaged during the strike. and also, some of those missiles that russia launched were reportedly targeting the city of stryi in western part of ukraine. and that is the place where the country's largest gas storage facility is located, and that place is important for maintaining the country's

heating systems on. russia says that this attack happened in response to ukraine's aerial strike on its air base in the city of taganrog, which happened two days ago, and at that time, ukraine used american—provided long range atacms missiles to target that place, that airbase. and, of course, this is not the first time when russia launched such massive air strikes. and in fact, according to the ukrainian authorities, this is the 12th so—called massive air strike that happened this year and the last one just happened a few weeks ago. so, itjust shows you that russia carries out such strikes regardless whether ukraine targets its air bases inside its territory or not. well, the kremlin on friday praised us president—elect donald trump's critical stance towards ukraine's use of us missiles to strike into russian territory. spokesman dmitry peskov told reporters that trump, quote, "understands exactly what is escalating "the situation". the president—elect had said he disagreed "very vehemently"

with kyiv�*s launch of us long—range missiles in an interview with time magazine. trump also maintained his long—held position that he wanted to reach an agreement to end the war — a stance some fear means ukraine ceding its territory to russia. let's talk about all this now with charles kupchan. he's a seniorfellow at the council on foreign relations and a former us national security council official. i assuming you've probably read that interview in time with donald trump, where he says he essentially vehemently disagrees with letting ukraine use long—range american missiles against russia. what do you make of those comments by donald trump?— by donald trump? well, you know, i think _ by donald trump? well, you know, i think what _ by donald trump? well, you know, i think what trump i by donald trump? well, you know, i think what trump is | know, i think what trump is responding to here is the tit—for—tat escalation that we've seen over the course of the last couple of years. and in general, every time the united states has upped the

anti—by giving ukraine a new weapon systems or peru long—range strikes, the russians have retaliated —— upped the ante. the united states and its allies are in a somewhat awkward position here in the sense that in the end of the day, russia cares more about ukraine than the west does. and that's why every time we escalate, they escalate and then go one step further and so, there is a logic to trump's position that is, hey, let's not continue the spiral of escalation if it's just gonna keep raising the stakes. he also said in the interview though interestingly, "i'm not going to abandon ukraine" and i think what he's saying there is that he is not going to turn off the flow of military and economic assistance because i think trump understands that if he does that, pretty and has every reason to just keep going. every reason to 'ust keep anoin. ., , �* , going. -- pridgen has. it's interesting _ going. -- pridgen has. it's interesting because - going. -- pridgen has. it's interesting because on - going. -- pridgen has. it's interesting because on the going. -- pridgen has. it's - interesting because on the one hand we should be sending as many weapons to ukraine, they

shouldn't be using american long—range weapons against russia but at the same time, like you said, saying he wouldn't abandon ukraine so how should we pass that, what would that mean in the next couple of months, will be see more aid shipments or will this be it, oncejoe biden leaves office? i once joe biden leaves office? i think the flow of arms is escalating right now. biden is trying to get everything he can to ukraine before trump takes office. the logic here is to put ukraine in as good as a position as possible at the negotiating table because everybody knows trump is going to give diplomacy a chance into the russians are doing everything opposite, they are trying to put ukraine in as we could position as possible of the negotiating table by hitting their energy infrastructure in the middle of winter which is going to make it very hard for many ukrainians to stay warm. so in some ways, both sides are positioning themselves for this negotiation that's about to

begin. i do think it's important that trump said i'm not going to walk away from ukraine because i think if we are going to stop putin, it's not going to be by saying hey, let's make a deal, it's by saying you cannot get any further. we have built a line of defence, it's impenetrable. crosstalk. of defence, it's impenetrable. crosstalk— crosstalk. that message to britain may — crosstalk. that message to britain may convince - crosstalk. that message to britain may convince him - crosstalk. that message to britain may convince him that it is time to stop and to move from the battlefield to the negotiating table —— message to putin. in negotiating table -- message to putin. , ., putin. in terms of the third .a l putin. in terms of the third party. how— putin. in terms of the third party. how do _ putin. in terms of the third party, how do you - putin. in terms of the third party, how do you see - putin. in terms of the third - party, how do you see president zelensky sees this? reading an interview there in time magazine but we have heard from him repeatedly, saying he wants to work directly with donald trump and result footage that earlier him actually walking with donald trump during a meeting in the last month. will he work with donald trump, will he work with donald trump, will he follow any us demands or do you think we might see the ukrainian president turn even to europe? ukrainian president turn even to emma?— ukrainian president turn even to euroe? ., ~ to europe? no, i think zelensky doesnt to europe? no, i think zelensky doesn't have — to europe? no, i think zelensky doesn't have an _ to europe? no, i think zelensky doesn't have an option, - to europe? no, i think zelensky doesn't have an option, and - doesn't have an option, and that's because the united

states is the main backer. europeans are helping out stat