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your passions, and the way you bring people together. life well planned. brett: you know as someone coming out of college it can be very nerve-racking not knowing what to expect, whether you'll like your job or not, whether you'll make friends, whether you'll fit in, and here i feel like it's so welcoming and such an inclusive place to work, you just feel like you're valued. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news" íy in washington and this is bbc íy "world news america." serious new interim prime minister calls on syrians to return home as damascus airport prepares to

reopen. fifa announces a controversial picked to host a future world cup -- saudi arabia. the bbc follows police in spain rescuing women from human trafficking. ♪ hello and welcome to "world news america." shops are reopening and people are returning to work in syria's capital of damascus three days after the fall of the assad regime. the new prime minister said he wants to provide stability. many people want to see revenge on the atrocities that happened under bashar al-assad's rule. people have set fire to the father of the ousted president

-- people have set fire to the tomb of the father of the ousted president. this is footage from the town of qardaha in northwest syria. authorities have warned those who tortured or killed detainees under the previous regime will be hunted down. large crowds gathered in the suburb of the capital of damascus for what they believed would be a public execution for those who committed atrocities under the assad regime. jeremy bowen sent this update. a warning -- there are some disturbing images in his report. jeremy: if only moving from dictatorship to freedom was as simple as climbing onto an abandoned tank and posing for pictures. the assad family was in power long before these children's parents were even born. for a half-century a lot of anger built up and it is being released. sometimes politely by quiet families at the former

president's home. it was looted after the assads's lead at the end of what had to be an elegant lifestyle. the house is secured by hds. they borrowed the fighters' guns for photos. the visitors were still getting used to living without fear of the regime. >> people were living in hell. he was in his palace. they did not care what he was going through. he made them live in fear, hunger and humiliation. people would only whisper to us because they were still afraid. jeremy: anger at the assads is a family affair. much stronger revenge was on the minds of this crowd. a quarter of damascus that suffered grievously. there fury against bashar al-assad deepened in 2013 when

military intelligence operatives flew at least 41 men into a mass grave and shot them dead. a video was leaked. one of the killers is under arrest and the people have come here to watch him being hanged. >> they killed a lot of innocent people. imagine if someone knocked on your door and brought you by force and did not tell you anything, the reason of why you are getting killed. jeremy: more and more people arrived until thousands blocked the streets. when rumors flew around that the execution was starting, the crowd surged back and forth, jostling for the best position. not wanting to miss a thing. the man stole my house and money said one person. >> of course i want him dead.

i would have done it myself with my own hands but i could not find a way. i wanted to kill him. jeremy: somehow they decided the execution was happening down the street and stampeded. if syria's new rulers do not want change to be measured in blood, they will need to control the desire for revenge. there is a strong sense of excitement, expectation and anger. they want to see this man dead. they do not just want justice to be done, they want to see it being done -- not just because of his crimes but because of the cruelty of the assad regime. >> we just want justice. jeremy: in the end there was no execution -- at least not yet. it was probably a rumor but thousands wanted it to be true.

when the weight of dictatorship is lifted powerful forces are unleashed. how they are dealt with it what comes next. jeremy bowen, bbc news, damascus. caitriona: syrian rebel forces say they have taken control of a city from kurdish forces. allies of the assad regime respond to the fall of his government. russia said it wants to see the situation in syria stabilized and has criticized israeli strikes on syrian military installations. israel confirmed it carry out attacks against the naval fleet. it has conducted 350 air raids. meanwhile iran has blamed israel and the u.s. for assad's overthrow. let's speak to a legal investigator of the syrian women led organization working on accountability. thank you for being with us.

on the issue of accountability, bashar al-assad is now in russia. do you think he can or will be held accountable? >> thank you for inviting me to this conversation. i do believe he should be held accountable. i think that was referenced in the report you screened. it showed he should be held accountable and every perpetrator that committed crimes in syria should, for us to think about a peaceful life in the future. caitriona: the interim prime minister has called on syrians to go back home and help build a new syria. will people take up that call? >> i have been in touch with friends of mine and have been thinking about the same idea. the biggest reasons to why we left the country is gone but it is time for people to understand

and contemplate what has been happening. it has been only three days since the assad regime has fallen. many in other european countries , the second day, they had issued decisions to stop the processing of applications of asylum-seekers and we need to take a moment to grieve what we have lost and to cheer the fact we are done from a regime that has been telling and terrifying its people for more than 50 years. caitriona: talk to us about what is needed in syria to rebuild civic society, to make it a place where people who might come back can returning into society and build lives for all syrians? >> i think -- we saw a lot of people -- it did not rule the

country in a way that provided citizens with what they needed. job opportunities. a lot of people were out of jobs. in syria, the electricity was not coming. a lot of people are telling me that now we have at least electricity coming. very basic needs that people needed at the time were not there and now they are starting to come back. the economical situation will start gradually getting better, hopefully. those are all things that syrians need to have. for them to have an assurance to go back home and to feel safe to go back home, it has been more than 13 years where people left the country because of fear, because of war. they need time to start trusting this place again.

we do not know how it will behave. in violation of -- i think that a lot is needed in syria and a lot has been missing for a long time. caitriona: as you say, it is just three days. when you mentioned speaking to friends and family back home, what are they telling you about how day-to-day life is resuming or what it is like there at the moment? >> the first two days they were not allowed to go out of their house after 4:00, so there was a curfew due to different incidents. the situation is very chaotic at the moment. today my aunt told me they were able to go after the curfew, which is a positive thing.

markets have reopened in syria. my relatives are telling me they are able to buy food and markets have reopened. the situation is starting to get a little bit more back to normal. it has only been three days and people are trying to recover. we are looking at footage of detainees that have been released in the thousands. no care is given to them, no one is supporting to them. their family members are still looking for them. syrians are still in shock and people need time to realize what just happened. caitriona: indeed. thank you for joining us here on bbc news with those insights. fisa officially confirmed that saudi arabia will host the world cup in 2034. saudi arabia was the only candidate in what is usually a

highly competitive bidding process. applause was used to measure support. human rights agencies worn there could be the exploitation of migrant workers who build the infrastructure, the stadium for the tournament. they also worn some fans could be discriminated against. lgbtq rights are not protected in saudi arabia. saudi officials assured what they call a safe and welcoming environment. spain, portugal and morocco were confirmed by fifa to split hosting the men's 2030 world cup the fifa president made the announcement and this is what he said. >> last but not least it is a great pleasure that i can confirm that the host of the fifa world cup 2034 will be saudi arabia. [applause]

to our friends in riyadh. to everyone. caitriona: i have been speaking to the bbc's sports corresponded about the decision to award the tournament to saudi arabia and i asked him about the selection process. >> fifa said they did everything by the book and found a very high mark in their report for the saudi bid. they said that was the best option -- the only option for 2034. norway objected to this. they said there has been no transparencywe have this spectae fifa president in front of this wall of 200 soccer chiefs from around the world in this virtual, extraordinary fifa congress, giving a round of applause for any vote to be

counted as both of the world cups were approved so it was not competitive but it was contentious when it comes to the 2034 fifa world cup in saudi arabia. caitriona: football is heading for saudi arabia. what will this mean for the game itself? we remember qatar, it had to be held in the winter because of the extreme heat and what that meant for domestic leagues in europe. what will happen this time around? >> a huge disruption. unless something spectacular changes or the weather patterns -- it is blisteringly hot in that region, in the middle east, in the gulf states. you can only see this 2034 world cup moving to the winter months. will it move to the end of 2034? that could be problematic because ramadan in 2034 would take place then. earlier in the year 2034, that

could impact the winter olympics. the ioc would not like that. there was conversation it could be shifted into early 2035. you cannot see it taking place in the summer in saudi arabia. caitriona: what about the concerns that have been raised about human rights abuses, how women, members of the lgbtq community, migrant workers would be treated? >> there was a joint statement from human rights organizations and trade unions expressing concerns because of what they say is an abysmal human rights record in saudi arabia over a number of decades. they point to the suppression of women, free speech and the criminalization of homosexuality in the country. when it comes to migrant workers when you saw so much exploitation, maltreatment and

deaths in the lead up to qatar. they said this will be an issue. amnesty saying this world cup will not just risk lives, it will cause deaths. the saudis and fifa say the world cup should be a catalyst for change and positive reforms but there are many concerns amongst all the groups that do not want to see the world cup go to saudi arabia. caitriona: let's stay with that issue of saudi arabia's human rights record. we are joined by an expert in the field. thank you for being with us on bbc news. the authorities have said everyone is welcome to come to the country to watch the matches but you have concerns about what might happen in reality given the rules for saudi citizens. >> today the confirmation of saudi arabia as the 2034 host of

the men's world cup has profound consequences for the millions of migrant workers in saudi arabia and the scores of individuals being arbitrarily detained inside of the country. global sport can and should be a vehicle for positive change. however, the bidding process through which saudi arabia obtains the 2034 world cup exposed fifa's commitments to human rights as an utter sham. we will be working in a broad coalition of other human rights and labor organizations over the next decade to document the labor violations we expect to result out of this. of this conference. we are really concerned about the profound impact on labor rights, the 2034 world cup will have. caitriona: can protections be put in place for those

vulnerable migrant workers? joey: it is our hope. there is nothing right now that says there cannot be. however, human rights watch came out with a report last week that analyzed saudi arabia's labor reform initiative, which came into effect in 2021. we found the labor reforms enacted by this initiative were woefully insufficient. migrant workers experienced labor abuses at every stage of the migration cycle, from exorbitant recruitment fees to the nonpayment of wages to serious health and safety concerns that result from laboring in the extreme heat of saudi arabia. we have not seen any protections from these violations. caitriona: we should say that last year the saudi sports minister told the bbc that there

would not be a repeat of the issues we saw in qatar. he said we have 10 years to work on that, we have a long time to do it in the right way. we have heard from fifa. they said there is a good potential that the tournament could serve as a catalyst for future change and reform and positive human rights outcomes. do you see that potential? joey: we always see potential -- we have to see potential as human rights organizations. however, the bidding process through which saudi arabia was awarded the world cup was deeply concerning. we analyzed saudi arabia's bid, which was released this last summer, which was supposed to undertake a human rights assessment and in this assessment there was zero consultation of independent stakeholders. one of the main saudi human rights organizations made up of

many well-known saudi human rights defenders was not consulted for this supposedly independent assessment. not a single migrant worker was consulted for this independent assessment. a process through which this world cup was awarded raises very serious concerns over how the coming years will materialize. caitriona: fifa does say it stands over the process but as you say many questions have been asked about it. joey from human rights watch, thank you for joining us on bbc news. human trafficking is a global crime that trades people and exploits them for profit and it is on the rise. nearly 75,000 victims of human trafficking were detected around the world in 2022. the latest global report

published today said there has been a 25% rise in the detection of victims compared to the period before the pandemic. women and girls continue to make up the majority of victims. spain is a transit hub and final destination for thousands of victims traffic into europe. bbc 100 women has gained unprecedented access to a elite unit of police. >> this team of force is about to raid a property were a gang is suspected to hide their victims. this detective enter unit have spent months preparing for this moment but tonight it is likely to happen quickly. >> it is minutes, seconds before you can enter the property but it feels like an eternity.

>> [speaking another language] >> increasingly more victims are leeward to travel to spain from overseas and are being caught into exploitation. tonight's raid has ended in success but this is only the visible part of a vast criminal world. christina worked for an elite force of spain's police to fight organized crime and rescue traffic victims. their investigation shows sex trafficking has gone further underground after the pandemic. while many victims are still exploited in bars and on the streets, they say most women are kept in private apartments provided by criminals. >> when you go inside these

places and see the conditions in which victims had to work and live for so long. >> it is so distressing. it makes you sick. >> victoria from colombia was rescued by the team from one of these flats after a gang forced her into prostitution for three years. >> i had to sleep with my makeup on and you always had to be in your underwear, ready for any customer that would arrive. >> the police investigation is over but the officers who rescued victoria continue to support her. >> we believe in a social and humanitarian process that can restore victims' lives so they can truly recover and live passionately again. >> victoria asked the bbc to be referred to under that name because it means victory in

spanish. >> i go out in the street and breathe and i say, my god, thank you, i am alive. i feel free and that is the best feeling. caitriona: fire fighters in southern california are rushing to contain a 4000 acre fire. . it broke out monday night and spread rapidly. almost 20,000 residents in malibu evacuated their homes after a dozen buildings were burned down and 2 million other residents are under a fire warning through wednesday night. fbi director christopher wray said he will resign at the end of the biden administration in january. president elect donald trump signaled he did not want wray to stay on although he still had three years left on his 10-year term. trump has since nominated kash patel. trump criticized wray after the

fbi oversaw two investigations into him. a nasa telescope ce -- captured an image. it is nicknamed the firefly sparkle. it is the first time scientists have caught clumps of stars assembling a galaxy like her own and it could give scientists more insight into how the universe was formed. sparkle, sparkle. i am caitríona perry. thank you for watching "world news america." that is it for today. doe take car announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs.

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♪ amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff bennett is away. on the "newshour" tonight. fbi director chris wray announces his resignation, paving the way for president-elect trump's choice -- kash patel -- to take charge . syria's uncertain future after the fall of bashar al-assad raises concerns about instability in the region. and judy woodruff speaks with political analysts about whether