lucy williamson, bbc news, daraa. in other news now.w york has appeared in court this evening in pennsylvania. in an angry outburst, 26—year—old luigi mangione shouted at reporters while being escorted inside. he's been charged with the murder of brian thompson after he was arrested yesterday at a mcdonald's in pennsylvania in possession of a gun. he'd been on the run for days. jessica parker has the very latest. as luigi mangione was taken into court, he appeared agitated. ..an insult to the intelligence of the american people... shouting about an insult to the intelligence of the american people. the 26—year—old faces several charges, including one of murder, after being apprehended in pennsylvania on monday. along this roadside is a small branch of mcdonald's, and it's now become a key focus in this case, because it's in there that luigi mangione was spotted. an employee then tipped off police. investigators are trying to piece together his movements over recent days, and they're talking to people who were inside that mcdonalds when

lucy williamson, bbc news, damascus. that's the latest from damascus.on those discussions in the region today. senior officials from the us, turkey and a number of arab countries say they'll support a peaceful transition process in syria. at a press conference in aqaba, jordan's foreign minister said regional powers did not want syria to sink into chaos. talk us through. that radically new and what _ talk us through. that radically new and what they _ talk us through. that radically new and what they said - talk us through. that radically new and what they said today | new and what they said today was the fact that they were meeting, it underlines the sense that inside syria and outside trying as hard as they can to ensure that there is a smoother transition of power as possible. this is good to be difficult. ithink possible. this is good to be difficult. i think the key word is chaos. they talked about that, they don't want syria to slip into chaos, understandably. we were hearing from some of the foreign ministers that they believe that that means tha

lucy williamson, bbc news, damascus.ary of state anthony 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 syria chart this new path. we know that what happens inside 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. joining me live is aaron zelin, senior fellow at the washington institute for near east policy. secretary of state antony blinken said saturday that the us has made "direct contact" with hts rebels — what's your reaction to that? what you make of the fact there is a direct line of communication now? it is not that surprising as the us was to have a key role in this le

lucy williamson, bbc news, hadar. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.o—year—old boy has died and four adults have been injured in a hit—and—run incident involving a stolen car. it happened in smethwick, in the west midlands, on saturday night. detectives said the driver of the porsche, which was stolen earlier this month, fled the scene of a crash with a toyota car and are appealing for them to come forward. a woman has died and a man's been critically injured after a shooting in north west london. the woman in her 405 was pronounced dead at the scene in brent, after police were called ju5t after 9pm on saturday. another man in his 305 was also injured. no arre5ts have been made and a murder investigation is now under way. a vigil has been held outside the family house of 10—year—old sara sharif in surrey. around 500 people laid flowers and cards to pay tribute to the little girl, whose body was found at the house in 2023. sara's father, urfan sharif, and step—mother, beina5h batool, were found guilty of her murder earlier this week following a ten—week

lucy williamson, bbc news, hadar.fter it withdrew its ambassador from the country. the foreign minister gideon sa'ar accused the irish government of �*anti—semitic actions' and "demonising" israel. the irish prime minister simon harris called the decision deeply regrettable. he said ireland was not anti—israel, but pro— human rights and international law. last week, ireland decided to join south africa's genocide case against israel at the international court of justice. and earlier this year, it unilaterally recognised a palestinian state. police in the us state of massachussetts have arrested two men forflying drones near boston's logan airport. they're accused of trespassing but may also face other charges. the arrests follow a spate of drone sightings across six north—eastern states that's caused widespread confusion. the senate majority leader, chuck schumer, said the aircraft were now "in the skies all over the place". our correspondent rowan bridge has the latest. boston police said they spotted a device flying

lucy williamson, bbc news, hadar.ys it will close down its embassy in dublin in light of "the extreme anti—israel policies of the irish government". in a statement, foreign minister gideon saar cited ireland's decision to recognise a palestinian state earlier this year and dublin's announcement of support for south africa's legal action accusing israel of genocide over its assault on gaza. irish prime minister simon harris has reacted, calling israel's decision "deeply regrettable" and saying that he "utterly rejected" the assertion that ireland is anti—israel. "ireland is pro—peace, pro—human rights and pro—international law," he has tweeted. the foreign secretary, david lammy, says the uk has made diplomatic contact with the rebel group in syria that ousted president assad. hts remains a proscribed terrorist organisation — but mr lammy said officials would deal with the group "where we have to". hts remains a proscribed organisation, but we can have diplomatic contact, and so we do have diplomatic contact, as you wo

lucy williamson, bbc news, damascus. "what are these documents?", this woman raged.helping us. how can i find him among these prison files?" but critical evidence here is being lost each in a cemetery outside damascus, we found khalid pulling out bags of bones from a shallow, unmarked grave, each one marked with a name and a prison number — two women and a man. khalid was looking for his brothers, taken by 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. and they talked about that they don't want syria to slip into chaos, understandably, and that we were hearing from some of the foreign ministers that they believe that that means that remnants of the assad regime officials need to take part in the government. it can'tjust be stripped away, as we saw in iraq, as i guess we saw in libya. i mean, the iraqi foreign minister mentioned libya, saying, "we do not want to see another libya in the region". so i think that's a huge concern. there were eight arab countries,

lucy williamson, bbc news, hadar.ic icon was suffering from chronic lung disease and died at a hospital in san francisco, his family said in a statement. hussain was a four—time grammy award winner and collaborated with world musicians that's all for now — stay with bbc news. hello. sunday brought temperatures as high as 1a degrees in some parts of the uk and the new working week is getting off to a similarly mild start. now, we are going to see some wet and windy weather at times this week. it will then turn colder for a while towards the end of the week, but for the time being, we find ourselves within this area of mild air. across the north of the uk, though, notice this weather front — a very slow—moving weather front — which is going to continue to deliver some heavy and persistent rain across the northwest of scotland. some western parts of the highlands through monday and into tuesday could be looking at up to 150mm of rain — that could give rise to some transport disruption and some flooding issues. elsewhere,

lucy williamson, bbc news, hadar.s embassy in ireland, months after it withdrew its ambassador from the country. the foreign minister gideon sa'ar accused the irish government of �*anti—semitic actions' and "demonising" israel. the irish prime minister simon harris called the decision deeply regrettable. he said ireland was not anti—israel, but pro— human rights and international law. last week, ireland decided to join south africa's genocide case against israel at the international court of justice. and earlier this year, it unilaterally recognised a palestinian state. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. a two—year—old boy has died and four adults have been injured in a hit—and—run incident involving a stolen car. it happened in smethick in the west midlands on saturday night. detectives say the driver of the porsche, which was stolen earlier this month, fled the scene of a crash. a woman is dead and a man critically injured in a shooting in north—west l

lucy williamson, bbc news, damascus.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 nati

lucy williamson, bbc news, daraa.the ceo for emgage and former state department official, who immigrated to the us from syria when he was younger. wa'el, first of all, as a syrian american, i would love to get your reaction to what we have seen over the past few days and the rapid fall of the assad regime in syria. yeah, i mean, i grew up in syria, we immigrated to the united states when i was a teenager, i somehow ended up working for the us government as a diplomat and i got to work on the syrian conflict when it first erupted. it's a lot of emotions. it is surreal, it is excitement. many of us dreamed of this day. i dreamed of it both as an american and as a syrian, given the importance of syria to the region and to us interests, but also for my country of birth. people are exuberant, but also cautiously optimistic. we understand the challenges and the risks out there, both internally, getting this transition right, and externally. unfortunately, as you are seeing, whether it was russia or some of the regional coun

lucy williamson, bbc news, damascus. that's the latest from damascus.ore on those discussions in the region today. senior officials from the us, turkey and a number of arab countries say they'll support a peaceful transition process in syria. jordan's foreign minister said regional powers did not want syria to sink into chaos. i spoke to our arab affairs editor sebastian usher to get his analysis on these discussions. in a sense, there's nothing that radically new in what they had to say today. the fact that they were meeting, i mean, it underlines the sense that all powers, both inside syria and outside, are trying as hard as they can to ensure that there is as smooth a transition of power as possible. i mean, this is going to be difficult. and so the word that they were saying — i mean, i think the key word is "chaos". and they talked about that, that they don't want syria to slip into chaos, understandably. and we were hearing from some of the foreign ministers that they believe that that means that remnants of the assad regime officials need to take

lucy williamson, bbc news, damascus.etary of state, antony blinken, says washington has made "direct contact" with the hts rebels who now control syria, despite still designating them as terrorists. speaking injordan after a summit on syria's future, mr blinken said it was important for the us to communicate with the islamist group. 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. medics in gaza say the latest israeli airstrikes have killed at least 22 palestinians. the idf and hamas say one of those killed was the mayor of deir al—balah, in central gaza. medics say 13 others were killed there, including at least ten who'd gathered to receive aid. they also say at least seven people, including a woman and her baby, were killed in a school in gaza city. israel said hamas

lucy williamson, bbc news, damascus.dana stroul who is the former us deputy assistant secretary of defence for the middle east and the director of research at the washington institute. so good to talk to you. let us talk first all about hts and what they have been asking for, and what pressure is on them now. they want to sanctions to be lifted on syria, europe and the us say it is not going to come forfree but the us say it is not going to come for free but there needs to be an element of quid pro quo, how does one move forward with that? ., , quo, how does one move forward with that? . , ., , quo, how does one move forward with that?— with that? pleasure to be with ou, it's with that? pleasure to be with you, it's important _ with that? pleasure to be with you, it's important to - with that? pleasure to be with l you, it's important to remember where hts started, it's leader actually started as part of isis in iraq, came over to syria, founded and loose reference, an offshoot of al-qaeda, and only in recent years has d

lucy williamson has that story. prisoner of the old syria, proof of the new one.m missouri, released by rebel forces on monday as they swept president assad from power. in the middle of the night or early morning they came with a hammer and knocked my door in, and there was two men with guns and then there was another man named eli. and they helped me get out of prison and helped me get into damascus. the men who found him put this video on social media, saying he was in safe hands and had been checked by a doctor after seven months in the custody of assad's military intelligence. it wasn't too bad. it wasn't bad. i was never beaten. the only really bad part was that i couldn't go to the bathroom when i wanted to. timmerman was found wandering through this damascus suburb today by syrians celebrating freedom themselves. locals here in this neighbourhood are telling us that they found a foreigner wandering in the streets outside. they said he was in fairly good condition, but they brought him here and gave him some food and some water. they said he was very hungry

lucy williamson, bbc news, hadar.s ambassador from the country. the foreign minister gideon sa'ar accused the irish government of "antisemitic actions" and "demonising" israel. the irish prime minister simon harris called the decision deeply regrettable; he said ireland was not anti—israel, but pro—human rights and international law. last week, ireland decided to join south africa's genocide case against israel at the international court ofjustice. and earlier this year, it unilaterally recognised a palestinian state. prosecutors in south korea say the impeached president, yoon suk yeol, has failed to respond to a summons for questioning. mr yoon was removed from office on saturday after a failed attempt to impose martial law earlier this month. his impeachment has intensified political turmoil in the country, with growing calls for accountability over his actions. officials have confirmed — that they are now planing to re—issue the order again. the former president has not yet commented on these latest summons. live

lucy williamson, bbc news, damascus.ons and hospitals for news of missing loved ones, and thousands of people have attended the funeral of a human rights activist whose body was found in a notorious prison outside the capital, damascus. such a show of public support would never have happened there a week ago when president assad was still in power. a warning — yogita limaye's report contains details you may find distressing. "oh my boy, my baby. "you were only 19," cries a mother who's just found the disfigured body of her teenage son, who until today was one of tens of thousands who disappeared under bashar assad's regime. now his family knows what happened. ahmad was tortured and killed in prison. those still searching would give anything to have closure. "i wish i could see my son, even if it's his dead body, "so i can bury him and i will know which grave "my son is in," this woman says. her son, al—adeeb al—awad, missing since 2011, when syria's uprising began. she's come to hospital to search through the bodies brou

lucy williamson, bbc news, damascus.hvili, a former professional footballer, who was put forward by the governing georgian dream party. pro—eu protesters continue to gather in the capital tblisi and accuse the georgian dream party of dragging the country back into russia's sphere of influence when research suggests most georgians supportjoining the eu. the incumbent president and the pro—eu opposition say the process is illegitimate. mari kapanadze is a lawyer and activist in georgia. i asked her what has led to concerns of vote rigging — despite international observers, including the osce, finding that while the elections were marred by an uneven playing field, pressure and tension, voters were still offered a wide choice. so i was also personally involved in the observation mission as an organiser, so i have observed the whole process pre—election period as well as the election period. and i can say for sure that that georgian dream has used the full package of falsification and different kinds of methods to falsify th

lucy williamson, bbc news, damascus.cretary 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. 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. t

lucy williamson, bbc news, daraa.a was attacked several times with chemical munitions. 0ur correspondent yogita limaye has been speaking to some of those who lost loved ones there. the horrors that bashar al—assad's regime tried to hide away from the world's view. their full—scale is now being revealed bit by bit. this is ghouta, a suburb of damascus and a rebel support base. pounded by the regime and its allies. and on more than one occasion chemical weapons were used here. we went to a lane where a chlorine bomb was dropped in 2018 right outside this man's house. he says this is the first time he has been able to speak freely about what happened to his wife and four young children. "i couldn't speak before this, otherwise the regime "would have cut off my tongue. "when the attack happened, people started choking. "my wife and children were killed by chemical bombs," he says. as we talked to him, another man tells us he also lost his family in the same attack. two toddlers and his pregnant wife. anger that he has had

our middle east correspondent, lucy williamson, went to the base in damascus, and just to warn you hercarred by the moment control slipped away, its abandoned assets now targets for israeli air strikes. israel has been systematically destroying the military

lucy williamson, bbc news, daraa. we spoke to an expert on the syrian government and systems.s we should understand that the state in the transition. it understand that the state in the transition.— the transition. it is a very dynamic _ the transition. it is a very dynamic situation. - the transition. it is a very dynamic situation. and i the transition. it is a very dynamic situation. and it| the transition. it is a very i dynamic situation. and it is too early to make any firm decisions about what has been happening but i think, look, me and many syrians i know are cautiously optimistic, shall we say. there has been a transfer to the civilian prime minister who used to head the salvation government. they had a number of years ruling in lib since the lines of control solidified, moral less there and that was basically a civilian led technocratic government that was sort of relatively independent of the armed group hts and it had some experience in leading, for sure, and they developed ministries and registry systems and all that kind of thing. that is a really good sign that

which has revealed evidence of torture being carried out there. 0ur middle east correspondent, lucy williamsonent 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

more on the siuation in syria, this has been sent from our correspondent lucy williamson who has entered.. smiling, friendly, they wave us through without a single check. president assad's men have fled. the iron grip that that regime had on this country has gone and the gates to syria are now in rebel hands. driving up towards the capital, damascus, and this road is littered with abandoned military vehicles, empty army posts. this was the area where protests against president assad first took hold 1a years ago and the regime cracked down really hard here. now that regime has fled and groups of opposition fighters have taken up positions on this road imposing a new control. now to some of the images coming out of syria's sednaaya military prison north of damsacus. amnesty international previously described it as notorious for the use of torture and excessive force . large crowds have been gathering outside the prison, in which thousands of opponents of the ousted assad regime have been detained. rescuers from the white helmets civil defence group joined the search of the complex — where

our middle east correspondent, lucy williamson, went to the base in damascus, and just to warn you her. the control room at mezzeh military air base scarred by the moment control slipped away, its abandoned assets now targets for israeli air strikes.

lucy williamson, bbc news, damascus.rmer cia case officer with experience in the middle east, including syria. he told me what he believes was the tipping point that led to president assad's downfall. i've been working on syria going back to 1979, in and out of the country. i've worked with the muslim brotherhood, i've worked with the regime, i was a back channel to the syrian government at one point when i was in the cia. and more recently the fbi. so i do you have a sense of the history of the country and where it is going. the insiders who have come out — and a lot of them had fled to beirut and are there right now — and they have told me that the turning point was the assassination of hassan nasrallah, the head of hezbollah, as they told me he was bashar�*s strategic mind and once he was gone things started falling apart. hezbollah, as i know, driving into the country, was a key pillar of the assad regime. and of course when the war starts in southern lebanon they're withdrawn to fight the israelis and that prop was

israel, which revealed evidence of torture being carried out there. 0ur middle east correspondent, lucy williamson

lucy williamson, bbc news, damascus. syria's capital saw hundreds of people march on the streets for the funeral procession of the activist who had been an outspoken critic of assad and brutally tortured by officials. among dozens of people found deadin among dozens of people found dead in the notorious prison. our correspondent was at the march and sent this report along and be warned, this contains upsetting images. "oh, my boy, my baby. "you were only 19," cries a mother who's just found the disfigured body of her teenage son, who until today was one of tens of thousands who disappeared under bashar assad's regime. now his family knows what happened. ahmad was tortured and killed in prison. those still searching would give anything to have closure. "i wish i could see my son, even if it's his dead body, "so i can bury him and i will know which grave "my son is in," this woman says. her son, al—adeeb al—awad, missing since 2011, when syria's uprising began. she's come to hospital to search through the bodies brought fr

which has revealed evidence of torture being carried out there. 0ur middle east correspondent, lucy williamson 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

our middle east correspondent, lucy williamson, went to the base in damascus — and just to warn you,distressing.

our middle east correspondent, lucy williamson, went to the base in damascus, and just to warn you herou 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

our middle east correspondent, lucy williamson, went to the base in damascus, and just to warn you herns 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.

lucy williamson, bbc news, damascus.apital also saw hundreds of people march on the streets for the funeral procession of activist mazen al—hamada. mazen had been an outspoken critic of bashar al—assad and had been brutally tortured by regime officials. he was among dozens of people found dead in sednaya prison. our correspondent yogita limaye was at the march. she sent this report along with sanjay ganguly, aamir peerzada and leen al saadi. and just a warning that it contains distressing images. "oh my boy, my baby. "you were only 19," cries a mother who's just found the disfigured body of her teenage son, who until today was one of tens of thousands who disappeared under bashar assad's regime. now his family knows what happened. ahmad was tortured and killed in prison. those still searching would give anything to have closure. "i wish i could see my son, even if it's his dead body, "so i can bury him and i will know which grave "my son is in," this woman says. her son, al—adeeb al—awad, missing since 2011, when syria's

lucy williamson, bbc news, damascus.'m joined by bob bell with expense in the middle east, including work on the ground in syria. he joins us from telluride, colorado. bob, istarted tapping on your experience and knowledge of syria and the region and tell us what you think was the tipping point for asset's downfall. i’ee think was the tipping point for asset's downfall.— asset's downfall. i've been workin: asset's downfall. i've been working on _ asset's downfall. i've been working on syria _ asset's downfall. i've been working on syria going - asset's downfall. i've been | working on syria going back asset's downfall. i've been - working on syria going back to 1979, in and out of the country. i've worked with the muslim brotherhood, i have worked with the regime, it was a back channel to the syrian government at one point when i was in the cia. and more recently the fbi. so why do you have a sense of the history of the country and where it is going. the insiders who have come out — and a lot of them had fled to beirut a