hello, i'm carl nasman, welcome to the programme. the head of the rebel group controlling large parts of syria has spoken to the bbc, in one of his first tv interviews since his forces toppled president assad two weeks ago. he told ourjeremy bowen that the country is exhausted by war and poses no threat. ahmed al—sharaa also said western sanctions had to be lifted for more syrians to come back. already, an estimated 100 thousand refugees have returned. the rebel leader again called for the west to stop designating his group, hayat tahrir al—sham — or hts — as a terrorist organisation. hts, split from al-qaeda in 2016, but he says they are no longer a jihadist or extremist group. he says they do not target civilians, and consider themselves victims of the assad regime. here's more from that inteview now, which took place in damascus. the de facto leader of syria,

ahmed al—sharaa, chose to do the interview in the presidential palace built by the assads. he told me he wasn't surprised that the old regime collapsed so quickly. syrians, he said, needed to keep calm to tackle all the problems they face. you've made a lot of promises, you've said you will respect the mosaic of different sectarian groups here in syria, minorities as well. are you going to keep those promises? translation: the syrian . population has lived together for thousands of years. we're going to discuss all of it. have dialogue and make sure everyone is represented. the old regime always played on sectarian divisions, but we won't. we were welcomed in all the big cities by all the sects. i think the revolution can contain everybody. so this isn't going to be some kind of a caliphate, or you're not going to make syria into a country

like afghanistan? because you know there are people who say that maybe you want to behave like the taliban. translation: there are many differences between _ syria and the taliban. the way we govern is different. afghanistan is a tribal community. syria is completely different. the peoplejust don't think in the same way. the syrian government and their ruling system will be in line with syria's history and culture. so the culture of syria includes rights for women, it includes education for women, it includes tolerance for people drinking alcohol? is that all acceptable to you? translation: when it comes to women's education, of course. . we have had universities in idlib for more than eight years. i think the percentage of women in universities is more than 60%. and alcohol?

there are many things ijust don't have the right to talk about, because they are legal issues. there will be a syrian committee of legal experts to write a constitution. they will decide, and any ruler or president will have to follow the law. let's talk about wider issues that you face. first of all, this country is broken. there is a massive amount of destruction. the economy is destroyed. there are huge debts. how do you begin to start dealing with all of that when the country is under sanctions, and when major powers around the world and the united nations say that you are the leader of a terrorist group? that's a political classification. we haven't committed any crimes that justify calling us a terrorist group. in the last 14 years, we haven't targeted any

civilians or civilian areas or civilian targets. i understand some countries will be worried by that designation, but it's not true. now, after all that has happened, sanctions must be lifted, because they were targeted at the old regime. the victim and the oppressor should not be treated in the same way. aaron zelin is a senior fellow at the washington institute for near east policy, and he gave me his reaction to that interview. yeah, i definitely think that one of the things he's been trying to do over the last couple weeks since they took over the country is to appeal to western countries. it's not the first time either — if you'll recall in 2020, he talked to front line about getting off the terrorism designation list, so it's one of the key asks that hts is having right now when they talk to western countries. do you think that'll happen? as you mentioned, he's

been calling for this — will western countries, like the us and uk, take this group off the terror list, and would there be any conditions attached to that? i think the terror list will be difficult to get off of. you know, secretary blinken of the us has obviously laid out some outlines of what they are hoping for a transition in syria, which i think if hts follows throughout, that could down the line lead to that. but it's more likely that sanctions related to the assad regime could be eased because hts could provide more assistance with humanitarian aid, as well as bringing in more things that could be beneficial to the economy going forward. he had some reassurances, too, about things like education for women — how much of that should be taken with a grain of salt, in terms of being affiliated with a group like al-qaeda? i know that was many years ago, of course, but when you hear those sorts of things in an interview like that, what's your response? well, there's a difference

between hts and the taliban, as alluded to — women are allowed to go out in public, they don't need a male guardian or anything along those lines, and they're also educated from younger ages, but through to younger graduate schools. there are women in their medical college, for example, at idlib university. so that's not necessarily the issue — the issue is more whether they would have political representation, because within the consultative council and heads of the ministries within the government they set up there, we haven't seen any evidence that any women have been a part of that aspect of it. yeah, talk a bit about that experience governing — we know hts has some expense running idlib province since 2017, providing things like running water and electricity, collecting trash. does that experience give us any insight into how the group might end up running the country?

i mean, if past is precent, essentially it would be this elite all—male process where a small cohort of people would be making a lot of the decisions for the rest of the society — we didn't see women or minorities involved in that decision—making, though, in the seven years they had the salvation government prior to them taking over the country. we heard in that interview mentioned, anyway, that there would be a constitution written potentially by a senior board — but is it foolish to think syria will all of a sudden, after many decades of autocratic rule, become this democracy? well, i think that many of the people who went out into the streets in 2011 and many of the activists involved in the movement in general, you know, worked on wanting to have democracy and liberalism in society, so there is some basis within this society. you can also go back all the way to 1920 when there was a relatively progressive constitution created by syrians — but unfortunately, due to france's colonial

actions within syria after that, that never came into being. so, there is a potential basis where we could see this happening. we heard that number there in the introduction, 100,000 syrians returning to the country — what does that mean for syria, and could we see those refugees returning now, bringing new experience form the countries they've been living in, and bringing the previous experience? there was a pretty big brain drain during the previous civil war. you had many syrians who became refugees and were educated either in syria, or became educated in places like germany and the like. therefore, they also have experiences and have more access to capital, and it's also important to understand that trying to build up businesses and investment is important too, so syria isn'tjust reliant on the international community, but syrians themselves helped rebuild

their country. the israeli ambassador to the un says his country is hopeful a ceasefire and hostage deal with hamas can be reached before the holiday. officials say there's a greater willingness by both sides to conclude a deal. speaking at the un headquarters earlier today, danny dannon said that, although there was optimism, a deal was not guaranteed. for more on the ceasefire talks, our correspondent yolande knell reports from jerusalem. the signs are really looking more positive than they have for the past couple of months. we've got this big effort by the us and arab mediators to try to secure a cease—fire deal for gaza, to try and bridge the gaps between israel and hamas. in particular, you sense that the biden administration would really like to do this before the president leaves office next month. you've also got those warnings coming from president—elect trump that, if there's not an end to this war or the release of the remaining hostages from gaza, there will be all hell to pay —

and his hostage affairs envoy has been injerusalem meeting the israeli president. now, in terms of why a deal right now — i mean, there's a reading that hamas might be in a position to make significant concessions. up to now, a main sticking point has been israel's insistence that it wants to keep its troops inside gaza, past any kind of cease—fire. hamas has been insisting there should be a full withdrawal of israeli troops in order for it to release the hostages that it's been holding. in recent weeks, hamas is looking much more isolated in the region, given all the events that have taken place, it's undergone significant military defeats. at the same time, in just the past few hours, we've seen that — the war continues in gaza, no sign to an end to that. for now, we've had at least 20 people killed in strikes

in the gaza strip overnight and through the early part of day. according to the palestinian medics, a lot of those in the north of the gaza strip, where israel says it's been targeting regrouping hamas fighters, there were at least ten people killed there, we understand, in a house. locals said there were displaced families that were staying there. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. inflation has risen to an eight month high of 2.6%. the rate is still well down on recent highs during the energy crisis. but it's thought it will go up further in the new year which could mean interest rates are cut more slowly than had been expected. a 19—year—old man who killed three of his friends in a car crash, after inhaling nitrous oxide, has beenjailed for more than nine years. daniel hancock and ethan goddard — who were both 18 — and elliot pullen — who was 17 — died

in marcham last summer. thomasjohnson had been inhaling the drug, which is also known as laughing gas, while driving at almost 100mph. gregg wallace will be replaced by the restaurant critic grace dent in the next series of the bbc�*s celebrity masterchef. the guardian columnist willjoin the regular masterchef presenter john torode next year. wallace has been accused of inappropriate behaviour and faces a review into his conduct. soa so a shake—up at that bbc programme. you're live with bbc news. tens of thousands of people are without access to water, four days after a devastating cyclone struck the french indian ocean island of mayotte. french authorities say they hope to bring more than 100 tonnes of food to the territory by the end of the day. officials say half of the population is still without power or water. rescue teams continue to search for survivors. france says at least 31 people are known to have died,

but local officials warn the toll could rise significantly. france's president emmanuel macron is expected to visit on thursday. 0ur correspondent mayenijones has more. the reason why efforts were set up here is because there's only one airport in mayotte — the runway�*s been partially damaged by the cyclone. and at the moment, only military aeroplanes are able to land there — commercial aeroplanes can't yet land there — and even with military planes, they can only land at night. so this has completely cut the island off from the rest of the world. the french authorities have set up an air corridor between reunion and mayotte — they say they're planning to deliver 120 tonnes of food today, as well as have about 50% of the island back and having running water by the end of the day. so they've been working hard to try and address this — but we have to bear in mind that people haven't had food and water for the most part since saturday, particularly those outside of the main capital. so they've really been struggling, and nobody knows

exactly how many people might be buried under mud, there are fears that there were mudslides and some of the areas where a lot of informal settlements were built. and so, it's a really worrying picture at the moment, and the authorities say they're concerned, and they want to try and get aid there as soon as possible. in france, the trial of 50 men accused of raping a 72—year—old woman — at the behest of her husband who had drugged her with prescription sleeping pills — is expected to end tomorrow. dominique pelicot has admitted that over ten years, he recruited men online to rape his wife while she was unconscious. gisele pelicot has been praised for waiving her right to anonymity and standing up to her abusers in court. 0ur paris correspondent, andrew harding has been speaking to the daughter of one of the defendants. it all happened here, in a quiet village in southern france. a retired electrician, dominique pelicot, was experimenting with drugging his wife gisele, putting her to sleep.

over the years, the drugs made her increasingly sick. she believed that she had a brain tumour, and for ten years, she's been going from one doctor to the other without knowing what was happening to her. in fact, her husband was contacting local men online, inviting these strangers at night into the couple's bedroom and filming them as they abused gisele's drugged and unconscious body. it is possibly one of the most shocking aspects of this case, how easily he found 50, maybe 100 men in the neighbouring area, willing to participate in these scenarios. it's harrowing to think about. because it suggests that it's everywhere? yes. so, who were these local men? we've seen them in masks outside the court. the french police eventually identified 50 of them and put them on trial alongside

dominique pelicot. one man hasjust agreed to meet me anonymously, his daughter speaking here on his behalf, arguing that her father thought the couple had both consented. translation: he did not understand how this - could have happened. he was tricked by dominique pelicot. but your father admits that he raped her, he raped gisele pelicot. translation: yes, | but not intentionally. maybe he should be punished. he should have realised, but ten years is too much. it's unfair. but dominique pelicot said the others were as guilty as him. i'm a rapist, like the others in this courtroom. they knew everything. and then, crucially, came the grotesque videos filmed by dominique pelicot, hard evidence that is so rare in rape trials.

in the video, you can hear gisele pelicot snoring, so it's absolutely obvious that she is sleeping. and for the defendants, it's very complicated for them to defend themselves and to pretend, "well, i didn't rape her", with this kind of proof. it is here in this courtroom that dominique pelicot will soon learn his fate. he will be sitting in the blue chair there as usual, surrounded by all the other accused. the prosecution is asking for 20 years for pelicot and ten for many of the other men. but in so many ways, this trial is really no longer about the accused. instead, it is gisele pelicot who has quietly taken centre stage, an inspiration to so many women. it doesn't take, you know, a lawyer. it doesn't take a minister, it doesn't take a government official to make an impact for women's rights. it just takes

a woman with guts. gisele pelicot could have remained anonymous. instead, she embraced a public role, the victim who refused to feel shame. andrew harding, bbc news, avignon. let's turn to some other important news around the world. a british court has allowed uk police to seize more than two million pounds from andrew and tristan tate. the brothers failed to pay taxes on revenue from their online business allegedly linked to human trafficking. they are facing charges of rape, sex traffcking and forming a criminal gang. andrew tate said the ruling was �*outright theft�*. at least 13 people have died after a crowded passenger ferry capsized off the indian coast near mumbai. the vessel was en route to elephanta island — a popular tourist site — when it was hit by a navy speedboat. the indian navy said the speedboat experienced an engine malfunction. a state of emergency has been issued in california in response to growing concerns

over bird flu cases in the state and across the country. cases are spreading amongst dairy cows in the state's south. there are no recorded person—to—person transmissions of the h5n1 bird flu virus. though on wednesday, the cdc confirmed the first severe bird flu case in the us, recorded in louisiana, after being exposed to sick and dead birds. two astronauts stuck in space since the summer will have to wait even longer to get home. suni williams and butch wilmore arrived at the space station injune, and were originally due to return to earth after just one week. their initial stay was extended to february 2025 because of technical issues with the experimental spacecraft, starliner. now, following a delay in launching a new capsule to the iss, the pair won't be back until late march, or possibly april. nasa said the delay posed no risk to the astronauts. joining me live now is former

nasa astronaut leroy chiao. leroy, walk us through, how do you think suni williams and butch wilmore will be handling yet another delay in their return to earth?- yet another delay in their return to earth? well, it's another — return to earth? well, it's another to _ return to earth? well, it's another to live _ return to earth? well, it's another to live with - return to earth? well, it's another to live with this i return to earth? well, it's l another to live with this one is a relatively small one. and it's not that unusual — there's a pretty, get a traffic model of vehicles arriving at the... which ports do we need to relocate a vehicle from to open it up to another when? so just a small ripple or hiccup can ripple through the entire schedule. so it's really not that unusual. they've been up there this long, they would've been up eight months, and i'll been up eight months, and i'll be closer to it may be nine. but it's not that much more, and the seeming —— they seem in good spirits, they are doing productive work. and at the end of the day, astronauts like to be in space — so even though they are delayed a bit, i think they'll be fine.— they'll be fine. just as you said good _ they'll be fine. just as you said good spirits, -

they'll be fine. just as you said good spirits, we - they'll be fine. just as you said good spirits, we are i said good spirits, we are seeing the video of them arriving on the iss celebrating their arrival. arriving on the iss celebrating theirarrival. but arriving on the iss celebrating their arrival. but you say that delays are common, but how common is a delay of this length? you said nine months e�*ei'fié’g’f�*f �*vl�*ll"“�*"�* "' "' ' ' ' ' ' ' 7 7 you ”10.25“? tlél�*w—a a” "' ' ' ' ' ' ' you said months and counting here?— length? you said nine months and counting here?— length? you said nine months and counting here? right, what i meant was — length? you said nine months and counting here? right, what i meant was — and counting here? right, what i meant was a _ and counting here? right, what i meant was a delay _ and counting here? right, what i meant was a delay from - i meant was a delay from and counting here? right, what i meant was a _ and counting here? right, what i meant was a delay _ and counting here? right, what i meant was a delay from - i meant was a delay from february to march, that's february to march, that's really not that unusual. just a really not that unusual. just a few weeks — but of course, few weeks — but of course, expecting to fly a 7—10 day expecting to fly a 7—10 day flight to us than ending up flight to us than ending up spending 8—9 months aboard a spending 8—9 months aboard a station is quite a long delay. station is quite a long delay. but what we are trained to, and but what we are trained to, and we have a mindset of a can—do we have a mindset of a can—do attitude, adjusting to the attitude, adjusting to the situation — so even though this space for that long? situation — so even though this is not anticipated and the is not anticipated and the certainly disrupted their certainly disrupted their personal lives and those around personal lives and those around them, they adjusted and are them, they adjusted and are doing great, and we are all doing great, and we are all professionals and that's what professionals and that's what we do. if we do. if professionals and that's what we do. �* ., professionals and that's what wedo. ., ., we do. leroy, you're a former astronaut _ professionals and that's what we do. �* ., professionals and that's what wedo. ., ., we do. leroy, you're a former astronaut _ we do. leroy, you're a former astronaut - — we do. leroy, you're a former astronaut - are _ we do. leroy, you're a former astronaut - are there - we do. leroy, you're a former astronaut - are there any - astronaut — are there any mental or physical health we do. leroy, you're a former astronaut - — we do. leroy, you're a former astronaut - are _ we do. leroy, you're a former astronaut - are there - we do. leroy, you're a former astronaut - are there any - astronaut — are there any mental or physical health considerations, being up in considerations, being up in space for that long?- space for that long?-

considerations, being up in considerations, being up in space for that long? there are a number _ space for that long? there are a number of — space for that long? there are a number of physical- space for that long? there are a number of physical and - a number of physical and medical challenges of being in zero g particularly for long duration flight. after six months, i can tell you when i came back down from the station, it took me longer to recover than a two week shuttle mission. but our protocols are pretty good, we have exercise protocols that help us to take care of a lot of the negative effects that would happen to you. the one part we can't do too much about is the radiation environment, it's hard when you are there without the atmosphere to help deal with the radiation coming from both ourson the radiation coming from both our son and galactic cosmic rays. but the space station is still... a lot of that radiation, so they are still in good shape, it'lljust be higher than if they were here on earth. ., higher than if they were here on earth-— higher than if they were here on earth. ., ., ., , on earth. you alluded to this, there is a _ on earth. you alluded to this, there is a personal _ on earth. you alluded to this, there is a personal site - on earth. you alluded to this, there is a personal site here i there is a personal site here too — we saw footage of suni williams and butch wilmore having their thanksgiving meal in space, these floating

packets of food, they'll now be spending christmas and new year's away from their families. how difficult can that be? ~ families. how difficult can that be?— families. how difficult can that be? ~ , ., that be? when i flew my long duration flight, _ that be? when i flew my long duration flight, it _ that be? when i flew my long duration flight, it was - that be? when i flew my long | duration flight, it was october to april, so we spent the holidays are too. it's just something that's a part of the job, and it's ok. you missed birthdays may be with your family, you missed the holidays, like christmas and thanksgiving, new year's, things like that. but it's just ok. this isjust part things like that. but it's just ok. this is just part of the job, and it's pretty thrilling to be up in space.- job, and it's pretty thrilling to be up in space. before i let ou to, to be up in space. before i let you go. a _ to be up in space. before i let you go, a minute _ to be up in space. before i let you go, a minute left- to be up in space. before i let you go, a minute left on the l you go, a minute left on the programme, as i saw a headline that china just set the longest speak wall —— spacewalk in history. how does this latest delay, all the drama with boeing's starliner, what does it say about the space race and if the us is failing to keep up with china?— with china? china has made treat with china? china has made great strides, _ with china? china has made great strides, they - with china? china has made great strides, they are - great strides, they are operating their own space station with astronauts on board permanently for quite a while now — i want to say at

least a year, may be a little bit longer. as long as the record of the longest

bit longer. as long as the media site. carl nasman media site. i'm carl nasman here and washington, stay with us on bbc news. hello. after the overnight rain across england and wales, thursday promises to bring lengthy spells of sunshine. it'll be a little on the chilly side, particularly across the north of the uk with a noticeable breeze, but overall, not a bad day. now here's the satellite picture of that weather system earlier on, spreading across the uk. the rain has been mostly across the southern half of the country — in the north, we've had showers and clear spells. by the middle of thursday, that weather front is way towards the east of us — and in its wake, we're in that

northwesterly airstream. so, this is what it looks like early in the morning — still the remnants of the rain there across east anglia, but 1—2 showers also further towards the west. frost—free for england and wales, typically five celsius, closer to freezing in northern ireland and scotland. so here's that weather, then, on thursday — sunshine, particularly across eastern and central england, but notice a few showers in scotland, and 1—2 elsewhere. but on the whole, a fine day. the temperatures — around eight for cardiff and for london, about that for liverpool. in edinburgh and belfast, it'll be a shade cooler than that. and then, friday, we're expecting more rain to sweep in. this next weather front crosses the country — middle of the day, it'll be in central areas of england. gusty winds for a time, too, before it clears away and the skies turn clear, as well. now, let's have a look at the forecast for the weekend, because it will be very blustery. a nasty area of low pressure is expected to sweep just to the north of us — it'll introduce really strong winds to northern and western scotland, and really blustery elsewhere. 60—70mph gusts there in the north of scotland,

50mph across many central parts of the uk. the temperatures may reach 12—13 in some spots — but, because it'll be windy and there'll be showers, some of them wintry over the hills, it won't feel particularly warm. and it's notjust saturday that'll be windy, another very blustery day on sunday to come — look at that, gusts approaching 50mph further south, too. but it will be colder on sunday, you really will feel that wind chill. those temperatures will dip to six celsius — add on those 40—50mph gusts, and you'll need your thick coats. now here's christmas week — tt turns out that christmas day will be about the mildest day, but it is going to be generally settled. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. ukraine is facing a long, difficult winter. welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. ukraine is facing a long, difficult winter. russian forces are grinding out gains along the front line in eastern ukraine. kyiv�*s forces are outmanned and outgunned. tactics are being questioned. recruitment is problematic. and there's a troubling diplomatic horizon, too. president—elect trump wants the war over, fast.

his vision of a settlement seems far from kyiv�*s. my guest is former ukrainian foreign minister dmytro kuleba. after almost three years of defiance, what are ukraine's options now? dmytro kuleba in kyiv, welcome to hardtalk. it's good to be back, stephen. it's great to have you on the programme. i have to ask a very simple, direct opening question — given the situation your country finds itself in today, how low are you feeling?