over his failed attempt to impose martial law. and, mystery grows after unknown drones were spotted in several states in the north east of america. let's begin in the middle east. leaders from the arab world, along with the us secretary of state antony blinken, have been meeting injordan to discuss the future of syria. more on that in a moment. first — nearly a week after the overthrow of the syrian president bashar al assad, more details are emerging about the extent of human rights abuses committed under his rule. the bbc has visited a military base, bombed earlier this week by israel, which revealed evidence of torture being carried out there. our middle east correspondent, lucy williamson, went to the base in damascus,

and just to warn you her report contains details you may find distressing. the men who protected president assad have gone, the control room at mezzeh military air base scarred by the moment control slipped away, its abandoned assets now targets for israeli air strikes. israel has been systematically destroying the military equipment left by the assad regime, worried about who might end up using it. russian—made aircraft, israeli bombs, militia backed by turkey, iran, the us — this was neverjust syria's war, and outside powers still have a stake here. assad's fall has meant unanswered questions about syria's future, but it's also left unanswered questions from the past.

this airbase held a prison where detainees were reportedly tortured and raped by military intelligence. in one room, we were shown electric shock equipment for interrogations. the only thing more painful than finding your parent or child among the records here is not finding them at all. in the building next door, we found the mother of kurdish prisoner mahmoud hussein searching for his face among the photos on the floor. "he was registered here, but we can't find him," she said. "may god burn assad's heart, the way he burned ours." "what are these documents?", this woman raged. "no—one is helping us. how can i find him among these prison files?"

assad's regime was meticulous in documenting its brutality, but critical evidence here is being lost each day and the desperation of families is growing. in the cemetery outside damascus, we found khalid pulling out bags of bones from a shallow, unmarked grave, each one marked with a name and a prison number — two women and a man. khalid was looking for his brothers, taken by air force intelligence 11 years ago. translation: anyone - who wasn't killed immediately was taken to an area known as the driving school to be slaughtered. i expect this happened to my brothers. when i saw these bags, i thought my brothers might be inside them. syria is beginning a new chapter amid unfinished stories from its past. lucy williamson, bbc news, damascus. that's the latest from damascus — let's get more

on those discussions in the region today. senior officials from the us, turkey and a number of arab countries say they'll support a peaceful transition process in syria. at a press conference in aqaba, jordan's foreign minister said regional powers did not want syria to sink into chaos. i spoke to our arab affairs editor sebastian usher. there's nothing that radically new and what they said today. the fact that they were meeting, it underlines the i sense that inside syria and outside trying as hard as they can to ensure that there is a smoother transition of power as possible. this is going to be difficult. i think the key word is chaos. they talked about that, they don't want syria to slip into chaos, understandably. we were hearing from some of the foreign ministers

that they believe that that means that remnants of the asad regime officials need to take part in the government. it can'tjust be stripped away as we saw in iraq. and libya. the iraqi foreign minister mentioned this, saying we don't want another libya in the region. that's a huge concern, there were eight arab countries. the other message which we been hearing again and again is this government needs to be representatives of all syrians, all the ethnic groups, all the different political groups. there's a big question over that. we've been hearing from syria, hds which has you had its roots without we've been hearing that same message coming time and time again. some people are suspicious because of its past sub but others just wonder that if in the circumstances they are trying to deal with whether it is possible to navigate towards that kind of smooth transition and live up to those promises

even if the groups involved genuinely believe and want to work towards them. as well is the arab states you'd mentioned also involved was the united states. the secretary of state antony blinken was there. let's take a quick listen at what he had to say. we can see how the shoes of one dictator can be filled by another. and how interference by an outside country can be thrown off only to be replaced by another. that's why it's so important that we and our partners came together today to agree on principles that will guide our efforts to help the syrian people meet these challenges. and built the inclusive sovereign state that they want. inclusive sovereign state that they want-— they want. every blinking echoin: they want. every blinking echoing the _ they want. every blinking echoing the word - they want. every blinking echoing the word chaos. | they want. every blinking - echoing the word chaos. what did you make of that? he signed

a “oint did you make of that? he signed a joint statement _ did you make of that? he signed a joint statement with _ did you make of that? he signed a joint statement with the - a joint statement with the arab and also the turkish foreign ministers. it's played a big role in the past particularly in supporting hts. turkey is probably the most in removing president aside from power. the message is the one we've been hearing again and again. look at gaza, we've heard from entity blinking many times. he's made many visits to the regions with plans, with pressure and he hasn't achieved anything. definitely uninspiring and been unable to do that. we have to look at that on the level of he said, principles but there is an element of wishful thinking. the other interesting thing that he said is the us has been

in direct contact with hts. that's interesting because the us and several other countries still designates it as a terrorist organization. it was specifically to do with the fate of a missing american journalist who i think has been missing since 2012, i think. there's been hope with her removal of president assad there's possible of finding him for the us has made it a priority of what it wants to do in syria and its contracted hts to discuss that. he also said the us had set out its principal for the ones they talked about again today in jordan to hts to say this is what we believe is the way forward. sebastian usher, are arab affairs. sebastian usher, are arab affairs. a former professional football player has been elected in president of georgia in a vote in the country's �*parliament, despite condemnation from the incumbent president and the pro—eu opposition. they say the election process was illegitimate. mikheil kavelashvili previously played for the manchester city

team before going on to become an mp in his home country from the increasingly authoritarian ruling georgian dream party. he was the only candidate for thejob. it comes after 17 days of pro—eu protests across the country's towns and cities. this was the scene outside parliament earlier. the four main opposition groups have rejected mr kavelashvili's appointment and have boycotted parliament. earlier i spoke to liza zhvania, who's the daughter of former georgian prime minister zurab zhvania. we are seeing the unprecedented long, 17 days of protests outside, gathering thousands of young people, along with more than 500 imprisoned, about 300 of them beaten severely. the so—called government, which has a huge lack of legitimacy locally not only by the opposition but also

by large portion of the public as well is internationally has announced, has chosen the new president. someone who even for the electorate of georgian dream is not like us or eligible for the candidacy of presidency. and has been criticized by even the supporters of georgian dream. you say he's not eligible, he ran unopposed in the vote in parliament. there will be people who support him. what kind of person is he and what will he be like in role? more then what kind of person he is, it's interesting to see... he has been the spokesperson for the gd, the far right wing. he has been quite aggressive

in his speeches but he is never held a political weight as a player within the team. it is important to see this event as other act of taking legitimacy from a public institution. we saw the parliament filled by only gd mp�*s, which shows the comic nature of the parliament now. now the place of the president is filled by someone who is least likely to oppose anything by that gd leadership. i guess that is why he got chosen for this. and for others to completely delegitimize the institution of president, which so far remains only independent official institution in georgia. is this just a blip, do you think or a long—term

threat to george's democracy? we're facing a huge political crisis with such huge protests and the lack of gd to respond adequately to the claims by public, by international partners shows only the growing polarization bringing the country into a huge political crisis both locally and internationally. it poses serious threats to the security of the country but to the stability of its economic and social growth and development. the two main demands of the protest is to free the imprisoned protesters and to hold a new elections with legitimate observers.

and along with many other citizens i also do not see a way of de—escalating this political crisis. let's go to east asia now, and thousands of people have been celebrating on the streets of south korea's capital, seoul, after parliament voted to impeach president yoon suk yeol it was the second attempt to impeach the president after he tried to impose martial law at the start of the month.the move was seen as the biggest test south korea's democracy has faced. 0ur correspondent, jean mckenzie, sent this report from seoul. cheering. in a moment, a protest erupts into a street party, rejoicing the downfall of a president many have long despised. they'd accused him of being authoritarian, of eroding their democracy. but no one could have guessed what he had planned. when mr yoon stole from

the playbook of south korea's past military dictators, dispatching troops to storm the parliament, he committed his final unforgivable act. the biting temperatures would have been enough to force many indoors. but armed with glow sticks and hot packs, they descended here for the 11th day in a row, young women leading the charge. "he said martial law was for the people, but not one of his policies has helped us." as the vote to impeach mr yoon got under way, a solemn warning from parliament. the weight of your ballot is heavy today. it carries the weight of history, the weight of democracy. enough mps heeded his words. the motion passed by just four votes.

the irony here tonight is that president yoon always said that he didn't care about being popular with people or with his party. he wanted to do things his own way, and he didn't mind who he upset. but people in south korea have shown him tonight that in a democracy, in their democracy, you cannot act alone, however much you might try. the dictator president has now disappeared, so happy. today's verdict doesn't mean the president is gone for good, for now, he's suspended. the courts will have the final say. and tonight, mr yoon has said he's determined to fight on. this is the biggest test korea's young democracy has everfaced — and its past. people's persistence has paid off, the politicians have listened and tonight, this is their victory.

jean mckenzie, bbc news, seoul. jen moon is an international affairs specialist and freelance journalist. she told more about the significance of these developments. it's a huge moment for this young environment and ruckused democracy here in south korea. the last 12 years south korea has been in political turmoil as you watchjune's declaration of martial law sent chills through the country for decades fought authoritarian rule. we also saw in the streets the young people partying and now embracing this victory at the national assembly. their parents and grandparentsfought and some died for democracy. right now after president yoon had been stripped of his presidential powers the prime minister was second in line, now takes

the acting or interim leader. because he is not an elected official however he will lead south korea with no political heft at a time in this country faces challenges at home and abroad for the up north korea's growing nuclear threat and the return of donald trump to the white house. that interim leader has limited power. this is now in the hands of the constitutional courts, six months i believe they had to get an answer on us for the talk us through the process they will be going through. now the fate of president yoon is in the constitutional court, where nine justices are supposed to make up that court for the up right now three have resigned. because of retirement. six remain in the constitutional court. the court will have roughly 180 days to make up the decision. so whether to uphold the position or rejected. when we look at past

experiences, we've had two impeachments of in which one went up to the constitutional court, took about 60 days until it was rejected by the constitutional court. that president went back to office with up to 2017 got ousted from office, it took the constitutional court roughly 90 days until they made that decision. we will have to wait and see how long that takes. after the constitutional court makes its decision we will have two months to come up with a snap election for the president. there's confusion over repeated reports of drone sightings in the skies over the eastern united states. the governors of new york and newjersey say they're in touch with federal officials over the concerns. president—elect donald trump has posted on social media demanding either an official explanation orfor the objects to be shot down. but white house officials have played down the reports.

barry caffrey reports. another drone. these are the drones that have been reported by people living in new jersey. loud, low—flying objects with unusual lighting. it all started a few weeks ago with reports of a drone flying over an army base, and in the days that followed, officials were inundated with reports of mysterious objects in the skies. it didn't concern me at first. i just didn't think anything of it until it started becoming like every night, the same time, same places. so i figured, 0k, they must be doing some kind of military drill. i've seen clusters. last night, i saw clusters of about eight up over here and. but normally i see them a little spread out and they're sporadic. the low—flying objects are often reported to be flying very close to each other. on thursday, the white house said these sightings were probably unmanned aircraft or helicopters and said

they're confident there's no risk to the public. we have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus. officials in newjersey are pushing for more information to be disclosed to the public about the mysterious sightings. the question i believe the fbi and dhs needs to brief the public on right now is what do they know where these drones are from? are they authorised or unauthorised? right? are they licensed or unlicensed? where are they from? speculation on social media has increased in recent days, with people wanting to know where these objects have come from and who they belong to. barry caffrey, bbc news. the founder of the fashion retailer mango, has unexpectedly died in an accident, the company has announced. isak andic, who was also the nonexecutive chairman founded the company with his brother

in spain a0 years ago. spanish media are reporting he fell down a ravine while hiking in the mountains near barcelona. in a statement mango said he left an "indelible mark thanks to his strategic vision" and "inspiring leadership." a chinese businessman accused of being a spy is been reportedly invited by prince in two to three real two royal palaces including buckingham. he had close links with the duke and according with the times newspaper also visited st. james his palace in windsor castle. prince andrew says he sees all contact with the man after concerns were raised. a "spectacular" meteor shower is expected to light up the night sky this weekend. the �*geminid' meteor show is considered one of the most impressive events in the sky's calendar — with up to 150 meteors expected to be visible per hour. while they've been visible since the 11th of december, in the uk they will peak in intensity tonight and into tomorrow — so it's the ideal time

for those hoping to catch a glimpse. ben marshall is an astronomer based in newcastle — he explained what the gemini meteor shower is. we have multiple meteor showers throughout the year, basically all they are is debris from our orbit that the earth is passing through. geminid meteor shower is an asteroid like this is one of the closest that goes to the sun for that we're passing through this debris field as that has gone past our orbit. as we go through that field we pick up all of this stuff left behind. that goes into our atmosphere, it burns up and we get this beautiful lines of like going across the sky. are they dangerous to people watching them on earth? two things fall out of the sky and hit people on the head? no.

i think there is only about two ever reports of somebody being hit by them. nobody has been seriously injured. there about the size of a grain of sugar, about the size of a grain of rice. no need to go out wearing a hard hat. what is the best way to see them? just go outside and look up, basically. you need to be somewhere dark. anywhere away from light pollution is always best for looking at the night sky anyway. we have no cloud cover is always better when there is no moon. unfortunately, we're in a period where it will get rid of some of the dimmer meteors we see. just go outside when it's dark and look out they are called the geminid because they come from the constellation gemini. that's the epicenter of them.

when you look there you won't see many but if you look at a 45 degrees off the side of it that is where you will see more put go out and look at them. they are great ones to see. are these visible around the world both northern and southern hemisphere? yes, these will be visible everywhere around dues everywhere around the world. i see photos from saudi arabia, america, just out everywhere in the us at the moment. i've had photos sent to me. saudi arabia as well. they are visible anywhere you can see a dark sky. is there something particularly special about this meteor shower? it's quite a high intensity one. one of the best about geminid is they are slow meteors. i say slow, it's still 35 km per second. the problem with the meteor

shower when you go out or see a shooting star, as we call them called them, a look at that and it's gone. but these ones are relatively slow. they last a little bit longer. you can actually really enjoy seeing it and you can they are great to look at. former us house of representatives speaker nancy pelosi is �*well on the mend' after undergoing a successful hip replacement surgery in luxembourg. the 84—year—old was taken to hospital on friday after a fall while on a office trip, her office has said. she stood down as the congress' first female speaker at the start of 2023 but remains a member of the house of representatives. hello there. the sunshine made an appearance across much of the country, certainly england and wales, for the start of the weekend, but it's all change for part two of the weekend. skies do turn cloudier again with a stronger breeze and a little bit of drizzle here and there, but what you will notice, it will be milder for all. so there's that window of sunnier weather which we had

through today pushing off into the near continent, and we see this warm front start to edge into western areas. that will introduce the cloud, outbreaks of rain, but also stronger breeze and as the name suggests, it will introduce some milder air as well. so temperatures by the end of the night up to double figures across western scotland, northern ireland, perhaps around irish sea coasts. seven to nine further east, but even that's milder than what we've had of late. sunday, then, a rather grey picture for many. limited sunny spells here and there. probably the best of it across east of england, certainly east of the pennines, north east scotland, but it will be windy across the north of the uk, gales for northern scotland and heavier rain, persistent rain beginning to pile into the north and the west highlands there. further south, a bit of drizzle over western hills, but mostly dry. and look at these temperatures. a lot milder than it's been of late — around 11 to 1a degrees. sunday night, the rain continues to pile into northern and western scotland. it stays windy here. furthersouth, drier, variable cloud, a few clear spells and all areas will be mild with, i think, double

figure values for most places. so monday, then, similar story. we've got high pressure to the south, lower pressure to the north with weather fronts here bringing more rain for northern scotland. more isobars for the northern half of the uk, so here it'll stay windy with gales again across the far north of scotland. rainfall totals really mounting up for the northwest highlands. further south, not a bad day closer to the area of high pressure. for england and wales, we should see some sunny spells around, a few showers across western areas. there'll be some sunshine, i think, for northern ireland too. and again in that milder air, 11 to 13 or 1a degrees, so well above where we should be for the time of year. and then as we push deeper into the week, we can see that low pressure dominates the scene. in fact, deeper areas of low pressure could start to bring gales and heavier rain to more of the country through tuesday and wednesday. but we'll still be in that mild airmass as you can see here. from thursday onwards, things turn a little bit fresher with north westerly winds, sunshine and showers. in fact, temperatures returning a bit closer to the seasonal norm. take care.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the former manchester city footballer mikheil kavelashvili is elected as georgia's new president.

it comes amid weeks of mass pro—eu protests by the opposition. mps in south korea vote to impeach president yoon over his failed attempt to impose martial law. speaking after the vote, he vowed to "never give up". us secretary of state antony blinken says the us has made direct contact with hts, the group leading the rebel alliance in syria. dipolmatic moves are gathering pace to stabilise the country, after the end of the assad regime. and the mystery is continuing to grow in the us after repeated sightings of unknown drones in several states on the east coast. the governor of newjersey has urged president biden to investigate. now on bbc news, it's sportsday. hello, good evening, welcome to sportsday this saturday night with me, chetan pathak.

coming up on the programme: ten—man liverpool leave it late to rescue a draw against fulham