and coming up — we hear from 3 bollywood superstar — who's hoping his new film could make the shortlist at this year's oscars. hello. welcome to the programme. we start with the latest on syria a week after the fall of the assad regime. syria's de—facto leader, ahmed al— sharaa, has condemned israel for its continued air strikes on his country. mr al—sharaa, who was previously known as abu mohammed al—jolani , said the strikes threatened an unwarranted escalation in the region. israel says it wants to prevent syrian weapons falling into the hands of its enemies. meanwhile, the un syria envoy geir pedersen says he hopes for a swift end to sanctions to help facilitate economic recovery. speaking in damascus, where he's attending meetings,

mr pedersen said that reviving law and order — and security — are of paramount importance. he also said it was critical the country receives increased immedidate humanitarian assistance inside syria — and that he supported the lifting of sanctions against the islamist rebels who now govern the country. the sanctions are not un sanctions.— the sanctions are not un sanctions. . ., , sanctions. they are sanctions im osed sanctions. they are sanctions imposed by _ sanctions. they are sanctions imposed by the _ sanctions. they are sanctions imposed by the united - sanctions. they are sanctionsi imposed by the united states sanctions. they are sanctions imposed by the united states and sanctions. they are sanctions imposed by the united states and the sanctions. they are sanctions imposed by the united states and the euro ean sanctions. they are sanctions imposed by the united states and the euroean union. sanctions. they are sanctions imposed by the united states and the euroean union. yes, sanctions. they are sanctions imposed by the united states and the euroean union. yes, i and the european union. yes, i think_ and the european union. yes, i think we — and the european union. yes, i think we need an orderly process— think we need an orderly process and i am very much looking _ process and i am very much looking forward to continuing my discussions with the syrian caretaking government and the authorities here. it comes as the united states has made "direct contact" with the rebel group hts which now controls the country. the us currently still designates the rebel group as a terrorist organisation. america's top diplomat — secretary of state — antony blinken has been speaking injordan after a summit on syria's furture

with representatives from several arab countries, turkey and europe... he said it was important for the us to communicate with the islamist group. america and our partners have an important stage in helping the syrian people charge 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. our middle east correspondet, lina sinjab, is in damascus and has more on those comments about israel by the country's de facto leader. this is the first time that ahmed al—shara, known as al—jolani, the leader of the hayat tahrir al—sham, comes out to comment on israeli air strikes. it's been a week since the toppling of the president, bashar al—assad, but also a week of israeli air strikes on syria, nearly 400 throughout the week and 60 this night. so mr al—shara is under

pressure that he has to make comments, that he has to address this issue. he has been under criticism from, you know, syrians here. so he made his statement saying that israel is using false pretexts in its attacks on syria, but at the same time made sure that he doesn't want to engage in any conflict — he's focused on rebuilding syria, on rebuilding the economy. and this is what we are seeing today. it is the first week, the first day of the week after the toppling of assad. universities are open. i'm actually now in damascus, university students are pouring in to the university, going to classes. the children went to school this morning as well. public institutions are open, so everything is going back into action. and it seems that, you know, this is the focus of this interim government. in a meeting yesterday, mr al—shara told people, told journalists that he wants to rebuild the country,

that he may also nominate himself as a president for syria in case the people wanted him. and it seems that this is the time where also there is international diplomatic efforts to support the transition to power, provided that this transition will be inclusive and that the government is going to be representative of all syrian society, protects minorities' rights, and protects women's rights. so while this new leadership is getting a lot of support from around the world, but also is being watched of its actions and how they are going to move ahead and not turn this country into an islamist state government. syria is under sanctions that really crippled the economy, crippled the livelihood of people, so many activists are now calling for the us and for the world to lift these sanctions. and having hts in power, and it is a designated also on the terrorist list,

may hinder support or, you know, financial support coming into the country. so it seems that, you know, many countries are reconsidering how to deal with hayat tahrir al—sham and also watching how mr al—sharaa and his the interim government are going to work. it's three months of transitional government that after that should be an inclusive government that includes all denominations of the syrian society. here in london — a triple shooting has killed a woman and left a man fighting for his life in hospital in the north—west of the capital. police were called to harlesden just after nine o'clock last night, where a woman, believed to be in her 40s, died at the scene. two men, both in her 30s were also injured. police have described the incident as "truly shocking" and say a team of experienced detectives are working to identify who is responsible. no arrests have been made.

nearly 13,500 migrants who did not have the right to stay in the uk have been returned to their home countries since the election according to the government. but, new figures are expected to reveal, more than 35,000 people have arrived in britain in small boats this year — a number the home secretary yvette cooper says is "far too high". 0ur political correspondent damian grammaticas explains. what she has been saying is that although you know these numbers, you see about 35,000 this year. yes, it's a bit of an yes, it's a bit of an increase on last year increase on last year where it was around 30,000 or, where it was around 30,000 or, yes, around 30,000 last year. yes, around 30,000 last year. higher the previous higher the previous year, though, than any year, though, than any of these 45 odd thousand. of these 45 odd thousand. she says this is a priority. she says this is a priority. of the missions, the approach it's a complex issue. it's a complex issue. but the government, she said, is not going but the government, she said, is not going to resort to gimmicks. to resort to gimmicks. this is what she told this is what she told sunday with laura sunday with laura kuenssberg this morning. kuenssberg this morning. we've made clear that the we've made clear that the border security is actually one border security is actually one of the foundational issues. of the foundational issues.

before you even get to any before you even get to any of the missions, the approach we're taking to this is really step by step. we are putting in place the things that we need, the agreements with other countries, asking people to be. patient then with the existing situation.

those who don't have a right to stay in the uk there to be dealt with in rwanda. that's a scheme that has cost £700 million. no enforced returns had been sent at all before the election. but chris philp, the shadow minister, this is what he said this morning. we would aim to resurrect a deterrent style scheme. now, whether the rwanda scheme is still available in five years time, we'll have to see. but certainly a deterrent scheme like that, where if somebody crosses the channel dangerously, illegally and unnecessarily, unnecessarily because france is safe, they will rapidly be removed somewhere else, would simply stop issuing visas when the cap was reached. so there's no way that can be circumvented. and we would set that out in law. in terms of numbers, we haven't set a number yet, but we're working on that at the moment. but it will be far. speaking broadly speaking, it will be far, far lower than the figures that were published a couple of weeks ago. and it will also be far, far lower than the 0br forecast accompanying the budget.

that was 350,000 per year. interestingly, keir starmer and yvette cooper have refused to set out a cap at all. so there's a big difference there between the parties. that cap he's talking about there is on overall immigration to the country. so visas that are issued and as he says, the labour government does not want to do that. it doesn't want to set numerical targets because it believes that those are things that have got governments into big problems over before. seven tourists have been taken to hospital in fiji after suspected alcohol poisoning. it s believed they were all guests at a resort on fiji's coral coast, where they drank cocktails in the bar on saturday night and fell ill shortly afterwards. it comes just a few weeks after the death of six tourists in laos because of suspected methanol poisoning. 0ur reporter — who's from fiji — vandhna bhan explains where exactly this incident took place. this incident happened at a 5—star luxury resort. unlike

the laos poisonings, this happened at a 5—star resort. unlike parts of southeast asia, fiji is not known as a backpackers' haven. it is expensive. it is tailored towards those family holidays and honeymooners. the ministry of health on fiji has said that those affected range from 18 years old to 56. we understand that four of them are australians and one is american. two of them are foreign nationals who live in fiji. very different to the ones in laos. fiji does not have a large bootleg alcohol issue like parts of southeast asia. this is unusual for fiji. they are very protective over how they see themselves and the tourism

industry internationally, because it is their largest industry, accounting for 40% of gdp. a lot of questions here about how this happened at a 5—star resort. very concerning in light of what happened at the backpackers' hostel. what are the authorities saying to people? it is an ongoing investigation. it is at the early stages. the police are taking it very seriously and are remaining on—site at the hotel. the ministry of health has issued a warning to those in fiji to just be careful of what they are consuming over this festive period. the australians have also issued a warning to those travelling to fiji because it is a busy time in the southern hemisphere. it is summer. an unusual incident in fiji. the authorities will want to get the bottom of this as soon as possible. thank very much. the five remaining members of the so called "bali nine" drug ring have been freed

and flown back to australia — after almost 20 years in an indonesian prison. the five australians were jailed for their roles in a heroin smuggling plot in bali in 2005. after years of advocacy from the australian government, the group were flown back to australia earlier today. the case made news worldwide when the gangs two ringleaders were executed by firing squad in 2015. prime minister anthony albanese thanked president prabowo.. i'm pleased to confirm that australian citizens matthew norman, scott rush, martin stephens, si yi chen and michael czugaj have returned to australia this afternoon. i want to express my gratitude to president prabowo for indonesia's cooperation and commitment to working with australia on this matter. i have conveyed my personal appreciation to president prabowo for his act of compassion. 0ur reporter bridget rollason has more on this story and who the bali nine are. if i take you back to 2005,

the bali nine were caught attempting to smuggle heroin out of bali into australia back in 2005 after a tip—off from the australian federal police to the indonesian police. now these high—profile cases were really followed closely by australian media, but also international media. it made headlines around the world, and this was because a lot of these people were so young, they were just 18 years old. and this decision by indonesia to hand down the death penalty for its two ringleaders was really controversial and shocking for something like drug trafficking. now, i remember, iwas a teenager at the time, you know, i remember it so clearly because these nine faces were saturated across our media, and there was a lot of sympathy for these young people who had made a pretty stupid decision to stash drugs in suitcases and strap heroin to their bodies. and, you know, a lot weren't given a second chance. so a really controversial part of this, though, was the fact that the australian

federal police tipped off the indonesian police, knowing that there was the penalty of death in place for drug trafficking, and its ringleaders of the bali nine, andrew chan and myuran sukumaran, they spent ten years on death row before they were executed by the firing squad in 2014. and there was a huge reaction to this in australia. i remember there was candlelight vigils. there was protest after protest of people trying to stop this happening, but in the end they were powerless to do so. so now, today, after 20 years in an indonesian prison and years of advocacy from the australian government, the remaining five of the bali nine have been released. so that is su yi chen, matthew norman, scott rush, martin stephens and michael czugaj. so they have returned to australia and they're now free, so they do not have to serve the remaining time in australia. they are free to go about and live their lives. so australia's prime minister, anthony albanese, has thanked president prabowo

today on social media for his compassion. but the question is, i suppose, is why and why now? yes, well, indonesia has a new president. he was elected in october, and this is maybe a good way for him to start conducting these bilateral and developing these bilateral relationships with its closest neighbour, australia. indonesia also has a new criminal code, and it's a bit more progressive to capital punishment. and ever since this outcry in over what happened with the bali nine in indonesia, there hasn't been any death penalties since 2016. so it looks like indonesia, with its new president, is also shifting away from that. but this is a really big relief for those five people and also for the australian government and a lot of australia who have been campaigning for this for a very long time. people in the french indian ocean territory of mayotte say conditions there are apocalyptic after cyclone chido tore through the islands — killing 14 people. french officials say all makeshift homes there

have been completely destroyed. mayotte sits in the indian ocean, about 500 kilometres east of mozambique and about 350 kilometres west of madagascar. the storm brought heavy rain and winds that peaked at more than 220—kilometres an hour. the french interior minister said he feared a �*heavy�* death toll. the cyclone has also wrecked homes, brought down electricity poles and trees and smashed boats. france's transport minister called the situation extremely worrying, and that ships were being deployed to ensure supplies. paris is sending military and medical reinforcements. new french prime minister, francois bayrou, held an emergency meeting with ministers. it's been described as the worst storm in mayotte in 90 years. 0ur correspondent hugo schofield has more. well, as i understand it,

it is very grave, because, as no doubt you've been reporting, this is an island in which many people live in great poverty. and there are a lot of shanty towns, i think about a third of the population live in these shanty towns. many of them are people who've migrants from from the comoros islands not very far away, live in very poor conditions. in any case, the cyclone has just wreaked devastation across these shanty towns, where the dwellings are made out of wood and tarpaulin and metal sheeting and so on. and if you look at the pictures, you can see that it's just been destroyed. theyjust all come down. so there are tens of thousands of people, maybe a third of the population or more, who are without dwellings now, and they're being urged to report to government run shelters across the island. and at the same time, you know, all the usual services, electricity, water, telecoms, are all down or very badly affected.

and the true toll has yet to be drawn up. i mean, we'rejust getting initial reports from here in paris where the government is mobilised and sending in help. we're hearing paris is sending military transport planes and emergency workers over. i mean, if there's no electricity, it's going to make this process of helping people who are injured and unwell very difficult, isn't it? well, of course, the airport is down, because the control tower has been very badly damaged by these very, very high winds of 140—150mph and the military transport planes will be able to land and will bring in a first consignment of necessary goods. but there'll be more to come, undoubtedly. the interior minister is due

in the island tomorrow. and don't forget that, you know, as far as france is concerned, this is technically part of france. this is a department of france in the same way that the var or paris is a department of france. so they are treating it as a domestic incident, tragedy and are, you know, responding accordingly, sending in the same kind of emergency supplies and emergency help that they would for a part of mainland france. let's turn now to the political crisis in georgia. 0pposition supporters have continued their protests in the capital, tbilisi, and other cities — something they've been doing since the end of last month. a rally outside parliament was addressed by the pro—western president, salome zurabishvili , who told the crowd that new elections were needed to achieve peace and justice. earlier, a new president was elected by georgia's disputed parliament — the former manchester city footballer, mikheil kavelashvili who's known for his nationalist,

anti—western views. the protesters claim his election was illegal and some of them showed him the red card, saying this was the only language he understands. 0ur correspondent rayhan demytrie gave us this update from the georgian capital, tbilisi. we see that people continue to come out to the streets, not only in the capital, tbilisi, but in other parts of the country, because at the moment they feel that this is the only power they have to express their discontent over so many issues that have been happening in this country over the past couple of months, and they believe that the only way to to express their discontent is to take to the streets. last night we saw again, once again, lots of people filling in the main avenue outside the country's parliament. they were holding up the pictures of many of the protesters and journalists who were severely beaten up over the past couple of weeks. and this is the concern that has been raised by human rights organisations.

amnesty international published a report on friday, talking about shocking human rights abuses in georgia. over 500 people have been arrested so far, and more than 300 reported being ill treated in the hands of the police and being tortured. so this is quite a grim picture that is emerging now regarding the human rights situation. but we don't see any kind of recognition from the authorities. yesterday i spent several hours inside the parliament while the election of the country's new president was taking place. it's the first time that the head of state was elected by parliament, by the electoral college, and this was an opportunity for us to talk to some of the pro—government mps. so when we put those questions about human rights abuses and those shocking pictures that the whole world has seen coming from georgia,

they they start talking about issues in the united states or france and saying that, you know, things are much worse there when it comes to dispersing large crowds and kind of disregarding what's really happening. and one mp told me that there was no political crisis in the country. he said that it was artificially created and somehow influenced by foreign powers. the shortlist for the academy awards 2025 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, about a young man who brings the wrong bride home. meanwhile, his wife ends up lost, having to fend for herself. 0ur reporter sadia khan sat down with bollywood superstar aamir khan who co—produced the film to discuss his hopes

for an oscar and his career. the film is about female empowerment. there is a strong male character. this is a great script that talks about an important issue. women are subjected to a lot of challenges. all over the world, notjust in india. ifeu that— she is a story that brings that out in a nice way. that is why i wanted to produce it and i was very keen. india has never won the best international feature film award.

there was mother india about 50 years ago. why do you think indian films have not been able to cut through on the global stage in terms of award recognition, despite having audiences over the world? when you are looking at the foreign—language category. it is the toughest category at the oscars. it is tougher than best film. you're competing with the best film from each country. india has made really great films over the years. occasionally, it is a matter of the right feel not getting seen. or the best film not getting sent. but otherwise, we have to understand that the film is that you are competing against — you are competing against five or six films.

each country's best film has been sent. i feel that a film that is well made, it travels. good films travel. what would it mean for you to win the oscar for india? i would be very happy. it would be a tremendous opportunity for the film. it would be seen by a lot more people. oscar winning films are seen by more people. more people will want to see it. it opens a huge window of opportunity for a larger audience for the film. then, more important than that, indians are so film crazy, we have been dying to win the academy award for an indian film which has not happened yet. the country will go ballistic. it will go mad. if we win. just for the people of our country, and for our country, i would be really happy if we win the award. i

a "spectacular" meteor shower has been lighting up the night sky. the meteors associated with the geminids are some of the brightest and most abundant in the skies. whilst most meteor showers are associated with comets, the geminids are very different, because they are caused by debris from an asteroid. the good news is that these meteors will be visible to the naked eye. you don't need any specialist equipment such as telescopes or binoculars. stay with us here on bbc news. hello. be dominated low pressure. it will turn cold again later in the week. at the moment, we're

in this wedge of norm air. you can see the orange colours right across the uk. it is mild. it was stay windy today for northern areas with gales in scotland. rain starting to pile up across the highlands. gusty winds here. it could be very gusty towards the yorkshire pennines. back on course and destruction. despite the lack of sunshine, it is going to be mild. tonight was so mild. the temperature will be double figures. the rain will pour across the west of scotland. it could be seven issues towards the end of monday. monday will have a few bright spells, some and there. some drizzle across western hills. quite breezy in mind. could see some consent of the rain across the north west and

scotland by the end of monday. the worst affected areas could be a millimetres of rain. beyond monday, tuesday, the wind will change and a low pressure will push out from the south. we will see more rain across north—western scotland. it will come in from the south. it will come in from the south. it will come in from the south. it will turn wet and windy across western areas later in the day on tuesday. eastern areas will stay dry with a bit of sunshine. turning windy here as well. wet and windy through tuesday night. one area of low pressure clear through and there's another one hot on its heels. for most of wednesday, we will be in between these two areas of low pressure. some sunshine and showers across scotland. some sunshine elsewhere. but it turns wet and windy grain across western areas. once again, it is going to be mild. it could be up to the mid—teens. it will tinker cooler from the north by the end of the week. and will

remain mostly unsettled.

nearly 13,500 migrants who did not have the right to stay in the uk — have been returned to their home countries since the election — according to the british government.