hello. the extent of the human rights abuses committed by the regime of syria's ex—president, bashar al—assad — is becoming clearer, nearly a week after he was overthrown. the bbc has visited a military base, bombed earlier this week by israel, which has 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 a cemetery outside damascus, we found khaled 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.

khaled was looking for his brothers, taken by airforce 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. well, the us secretary of state antony blinken says the united states has made direct contact with the rebel group hayat tahrir al—sham — or hts — one of the rebel groups which ousted president assad. the us considers hts a terrorist organisation. mr blinken met arab, western and turkish diplomats injordan about the transition to a new government in syria. america and our partners have an important stake in helping the syrian people chart this new path. we know that what happens

inside of syria can have powerful consequences well beyond its borders, from mass displacement to terrorism, and we know that we can't underestimate the challenges of this moment. south korea's president yoon suk yeol has vowed to fight for his politicalfuture — after parliament impeached him over his short—lived attempt to impose martial law 11 days ago. president yoon says he will never give up — describing the impeachment vote — as a temporary pause in his presidency. early on saturday, crowds celebrated outside the national assembly as the impeachment motion passed. our correspondent, jean mckenzie, is in seoul and has this report — a warning that it contains flashing images. 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's speaker. translation: the weight l 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. cheering. 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 yoon 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 it's passed.

people's persistence has paid off — the politicians have listened and tonight, this is their victory. jean mckenzie, bbc news, seoul. earlier i spoke to gi—wook shin, director of the korea programme at stanford university. president yoon now has been impeached. what happens next and how difficult do you think this road is going to be in terms of south korea getting a new president? first of all, it's not the first time korean president impeached by the assembly. it's the third time. the first time the constitutional court reversed the decision. the second time, 2017, park geun—hye was impeached. so this is the third time for korea and now it passed

this assembly, now it's going to constitutional court to make a final verdict, so they have about 90 days to make a decision, so if they uphold the decision to impeach him then there has to be a snap election within two months. you mentioned there that the courts have reversed an impeachment decision before. what are the chances that could happen this time around? i think the chance is very low because the evidence is quite clear that he violated the constitution and also i think he has to face criminal charges for insurrection, so i think the chance to reverse by the courts is very low in my opinion. in the end here, how do you think the south korean history books will view the yoon presidency?

well, obviously, you know, very negatively. you know, ijust said before it's unthinkable for a korean president to think that he can rule the country through martial law in 2024, and then there was very widespread national resistance, even in the military, so certainly he'll go down in korean history as a very poor political leader, there's no question about that. as you mentioned, this is not uncharted territory for south korea. what do you think the way the saga played out with those protests, in the end of an impeachment vote being successful, what does that say about the strength of south korea's democracy? do you think it passed kind of a stress test here? i think korea passed

the test in 2017 and i think they will pass again this time. when i talk to my friends in south korea, they were saying it's kind of, they are ashamed, embarrassed. but i've been telling them, don't say that because you're really protecting and defending korean democracy and in the end they will prevail. what about yoon�*s own party, the people power party? some members obviously did vote for impeachment but the majority didn't. what will this whole saga mean for his party? his popularity? can he come back from something like this? i think they are in really bad shape. now there's internal turmoil within the party. i think that's why they are trying to bide time so that if and when a snap election takes place they can be better prepared, but assuming

that there will be a snap election in about five months from now, i don't think there's any chance that they can win so i think they will be struggling to regroup themselves in the coming months. and just briefly before i let you go, south korea now obviously without a president — the prime minister has taken over temporarily — where does this leave the country now? well, they are facing challenges. but as i said earlier, it's not the first time they are facing this kind of crisis so i really believe that they will weather through this challenge this time again. gi—wook shin, director of the asia pacific research center at stamford university thank you. france's interior minister has warned of a potentially heavy number of casualties after cyclone chido hit

its overseas territory mayotte on saturday. mayotte sits in the indian ocean, about 500km east of mozambique and about 350km west of madagascar. heavy rain and winds of up to 220 kilometres an hour hit the tiny indian ocean island on saturday. the cyclone has also wrecked homes, brought down electricity poles and trees and smashed boats. france's transport minister says mayotte's airport has suffered major damage, and that ships are being deployed to ensure supplies reach the island. it's been described as the worst storm there in 90 years. the us broadcaster abc news will pay donald trump $15 million to settle a defamation case after a tv host incorrectly said the president—elect had been found liable for rape. abc news will also pay $1 million towards trump's legal fees and publish a statement expressing its regret for the statements by george stephanopoulos during a televised interview. in a statement, abc said, "we are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms

in the court filing." 0ur north america correspondent rowan bridge has the details of the settlement. this settlement relates to a particularly heated interview that george stephanopoulos did on his sunday morning show this week back in march with a republican congressman and during that interview george stephanopoulos repeatedly said that donald trump had been found liable for rape of ejean caroll back in the 19905 — she's a journalist. in fact, what the new yorkjury had found donald trump liable for was sexual abuse and that has a particular legal definition under new york law, and donald trump sued abc over that interview. what's now emerged is that the two sides have settled that suit and abc have agreed to pay donald trump $15 million which will go towards a presidential library. they're also going to cover his $1 million in legalfees and they're also going to publish a statement on their website expressing regret over the comments that george stephanopoulos made.

now, that brings this civil suit to an end but donald trump is also involved in a number of other ones. he is suing the legendary washington journalist bob woodward over the publication of one of his books involving donald trump, and donald trump himself is being sued by five gentlemen over comments he made about them in a presidential debate. georgia's disputed parliament has named mikheil kavelashvili to be the country's next president, sparking a public outcry and condemnation from pro—western officials. 0pposition parties that are boycotting parliament say the election of the georgian dream mp — a formerfootballer — is illegitimate. 0utgoing pro—western president, salome zourabishvili, called the election, "a tragedy", and has vowed to remain in office. this was the scene outside the parliament on saturday. there have been demonstrations against the georgian dream—led government for the last 17 days. the protests erupted in november, when georgia's government announced it was putting accession

negotiations with the european union on hold until 2028. a majority of georgians support the country eventually joining the eu. 0pposition parties say the election of kavelashvili undermines that goal and is a victory for russia. for more, i spoke to ian kelly, who previously served as us ambassador to georgia and is now ambassador in residence at northwestern university. what more do we know about the new president mikheil kavelashvili and how he might approach this role? yes, well, thanks for having me. we actually do know quite a bit about him. as you mentioned, he is an ex— footballer. his politics really are at the fringe of georgian politics. he has really, i think, engaged in very anti—western rhetoric, very illiberal politics.

that is a sign that georgian dream doesn't want to run with any political consensus with other political forces in georgia. if this is mostly a ceremonial role, is that correct? yes, it is mostly a ceremonial role and it is symbolically very important. this person is the head of state, has some of the traditional powers like veto power, pardon power, the power to convene parliament and this is one of the complaints that the present president, salome zourabichvili, has had, that they convened the new parliament without her approval which is not for seeing in the law. is georgia approaching some sort of constitutional clash here? 0pposition announcing the movies illegitimate. there is a sitting president whose term is meant to end on december 29 and she said

she is not stepping down so what you think is going to happen? december 20, i think, is going to be crunch time. that is when, when the new president is supposed to be sworn in and become the next president. the opposition, the protesters, are claiming that he cannot have any legitimacy since the parliament was convened illegitimately and so i think that december 29 will be probably the most dangerous time in this period since the elections in october 26 because president zourabichvili said she is not going to step down so i think that is the consequences. and in the meantime these protests continue. we saw people out on the street tonight. you expect this move, new president, will that dampen the enthusiasm within georgia for these pro—eu demonstrations?

you know, that is hard to say. i don't really expect it. it is really extraordinary, the level of energy on the part of the protesters. and just how widespread they are, two. there are protests around the country. i do think the protesters, as you pointed out, the vast majority of georgians want to join the eu. i do think the protests will continue in this unilateral move of needing a new president and not having a complete parliament but could even energise it more. could be a crucial few days

of the country in georgia. ian kelly, former ambassador to georgia, thank you for your time. thank you for having me. politicians from new york and newjersey are asking for a briefing over a number of drone sightings. the new york police department says it is investigating along with the fbi'sjoint terrorism task force. us senators are requesting a briefing from federal agencies — calling the drones a potential safety risk. the white house says there is no evidence of any threat to the public. barbara starr is a senior fellow at usc�*s annenberg center and a longtime pentagon correspondent, i asked her what we know and what authorities are doing. well, you know, the military is taking also a very close look at this because along the east coast in that sort of newjersey region there is a good deal of restricted airspace because military activity and secure us government activity so there's a lot of interest on all parts of the government in trying to figure out what exactly all of this is. so where are we? officially, the white house is saying that they absolutely don't know what is going on.

they don't believe there's a threat, they don't believe there's any foreign adversaries sending drones up over the united states, but they don't know what it is. they do have a number of technical assets, they say, analysing all of this. people are, however, getting very distressed about it because they say, and they're filing reports, that they're seeing multiple drones every night in some locations and that it's been going on for week. the newjersey senator andy kim, he posted on social media today he thinks it could be manned aircraft or small aircraft to an extent, but in new york, an airfield, a small airport north of new york, had to shut down last night because of drone activity so, you know, the idea is to figure out what it is, but i think there's also now, carl, a deeper issue at play here. many politicians, many elected officials —

state, local, federal, want to see the government have more authorities to deal with this, to bring the drones down if they are a threat, if that becomes necessary, and to have more authority to try to figure out what's going on. that seems to be one thing that they all agree on, but they don't agree on exactly what's happening right now. the shortlist for the academy awards will be announced on tuesday — and one film vying to be included is india's official pick for the best international feature film category. lost ladies is a satire, with a young man bringing the wrong bride home. meanwhile, his wife ends up lost, having to fend for herself. sadia khan sat down with bollywood superstar aamir khan who co—produced the film to discuss his hopes for an oscar.

the film is about women empowerment but there's a strong male character, main character, in the film too. so as a man, why was it important to back a film looking at the fight against the patriarchy? here is a film that not only is it a great script which bops really well, but it's also talking about such an important issue. women all over the world have been subjected to a lot of challenges in their lives. all over the world, notjust in india, i think it's all over the world that women have a raw deal in life. it doesn't feel nice. so i felt that this was a story which really brings that out really well, in such a nice way, which is why i wanted to produce it and i was very keen that kiran direct this film. india's never won the best international feature film at the oscars. closest we would say india's got to was your own film lagaan. there was mother india, what, 50 years ago. mother india, yes, yes, yeah.

and the most recent example, though, i guess, would be lagaan. lagaan, yeah. why do think indian films haven't been able to cut through the global stage in terms of award recognition despite having audiences all over the world? when you're looking at the foreign—language category, it's probably the toughest category at the oscars. it's tougher than best film, it's tougher than, you know, because you're competing with the best film from each country. india has made really great films over the years. occasionally it's a matter of the right film not getting sent, or the best film not getting sent, but otherwise we have to understand that the films that you're competing against, you're not competing against five or six films, you're competing against almost 80 or 90 films which are the best in the world. each country's best film has been sent. and i feel that a film that is well—made doesn't — it travels. good films like

lagaan travelled. what would it mean to you to win the oscar for india? i would be really happy, it would create tremendous opportunity for the film to be seen by a lot more people because when a film wins an oscar or an academy award then people across the world want to see what it's like so it opens a huge window of opportunity for a larger audience for yourfilm. and then, more important that that, ithink, indians are so film crazy and we've been dying to win the academy award for an indian film which hasn't happened till now, so the country will go ballistic, willjust go mad if we win, so just for the people of our country and just for our country i'd be really happy if we win the award. you can watch the full interview here on the bbc news channel — or on iplayer if you're in the uk. and before we go, a little christmas tune

for commuters. singing east 17 singer tony mortimer surprised travellers at london's st pancras station by performing the band's199li christmas number one hit stay another day. stay with us here on bbc news. hello there. well, finally some blue sky and some sunshine for many parts of england and wales through the day on saturday. and it was a beautiful end to the day — lots of red skies around, including here in gosport in hampshire with our approaching weather front. but it's that weather front that's introducing a lot more cloud as we head through sunday so it's not such a nice day of weather. there'll be a brisk westerly wind, many places will stay dry and the air is going

to turn a lot milder. and that's because it's a warm front marked here, with the red circles gradually slipping southwards and eastwards for the rest of saturday night, introducing that milder feeling air, marked here in yellow, squeezing the blue, colder air well out of the way. we're staying in that milder air for the next few days. and here it is on sunday morning. a lot of clouds, some coastal, some hill fog around, gales across the northern isles. and it's breezy with that brisk westerly wind further south too. heavy rain pushing into northwest scotland, but elsewhere largely dry away from these northern and western coasts. the best of any breaks in the cloud will be to the east of high ground, so eastern scotland, northeast england, eastern wales should see at least some brighter spells. temperatures will be mild, 12 to 1a celsius and the best of any brightness. and it's just more of the same as we head through sunday night and into monday, the rain continues across northwest scotland. a few breaks in the cloud, perhaps further south with the strength of the breeze, but temperatures won't drop much below nine or ten celsius as we kick off the new working week. and if we just take a look at the pressure chart, then you can see that this rain

is just set to continue across northwest scotland. there is a met office yellow weather warning in place for heavy rain here. there could be some localised flooding because the rainfall totals will really start to rack up, particularly as we head through monday and into tuesday. and because of the snow melt, with that milder air, there could be some localised flooding, the rain gradually pushing across caithness and sutherland later on. a few more breaks in the cloud, i think further south on monday. it does stay breezy, but i think we'll stand the chance of seeing more sunshine across east anglia and parts of the east midlands in particular. as we head through monday and into tuesday we look out towards the southwest, it's turning really very wet and windy, with this deep area of low pressure starting to sweep through. the winds turn more southwesterly and it will be very blustery, unsettled as we head through the middle of the week, and then it all turns cooler with a northwesterly wind developing on thursday, so a drop in temperature again. bye— bye.

voice—over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. the face of a migrant in the middle of the channel trying to reach safety in the uk. behind every migrant, there are people smugglers. camera shutter clicks. men like these. they were part of a vast criminal network,

these are significant players in the people—smuggling industry. their network extended to this city in iraq. and we go there to investigate the people who trade in desperation and misery. gangs are making millions. are you charging people up to $5,000 in the back of a truck? so, why can't the smugglers be stopped? by planes, boats and automobiles... one, two, three! ..migrants trying to reach the uk and other countries

in western europe.