quentin sommerville, bbc news, latakia. let's get more on this story., former director for syria and lebanon in the national security council in the obama administration. many thanks for your time on the programme. syria's de facto leader says international sanctions against a masochist must be lifted, do you see that happening? t must be lifted, do you see that happening?— happening? i don't see it happening _ happening? i don't see it happening until- happening? i don't see it happening until his - happening? i don't see it| happening until his words happening? i don't see it - happening until his words are backed by actions. he is saying all the right things he has promised minorities will be protected, promised to work with other partners to hold elections, he says he wants peaceful international relations he is saying all the right things but as we know he has a chequered past as a former al-qaeda leader and while he has ties to al-qaeda he governed the north—west corner of syria just up until last week, and a conservative, radical repressive and s

our senior correspondent quentin sommerville has a special report on how this divided community is dealingreality. quentin: latakia has been reclaimed. this notorious jailhouse, their entire city, all of syria belongs to the people now. it is a flag of a free syria that now flies here in the very heartland of the former regime. sunni, shia, christian, they came together to celebrate with a message of unity. the assad regime warns there will be massacres here in latakia if they ever lost power. instead, there are celebrations, even among its core support, people suffered. while there is a lot of joy today, for some, there is fear, a worry that there may be a reckoning and that they will have to pay for the support of the old regime. some from latakia's minority are too scared to leave their homes. they were serious ruling class, but now no more -- syria's ruling class, but now no more. she hated the assads, but now fears for her community. >> the conservative islamic ideology takes hold here, i don't think so. not me, my friends, the people i know. no, we will all leave the country. we are

quentin sommerville, bbc news, latakia.rector for syria and lebanon in the national security council in the obama administration about whether the international sanctions on damascus will be lifted. i don't see it happening until his words are backed by actions. he is saying all the right things, he has promised minorities will be protected, promised to work with other partners to hold elections, he says he wants peaceful international relations, he is saying all the right things but as we know he has a chequered past as a former al-qaeda leader and while he has disavowed al-qaeda he governed the north—west corner of syria just up until last week, and a conservative, radical and repressive way, to have some time to see if his actions will be backed up by those words before anybody will consider withdrawing sanctions, notjust sanctions on damascus but sanctions regarding al sham because it is designated not just by the us and uk but the united nations as well. there are some calls to delist hts as terrorists, do you see that

quentin sommerville, bbc news, latakia. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news.ew a milkshake at the reform uk leader nigel farage has been given a 13 week suspended prison sentence. victoria thomas bowen, who is 25, admitted assault by beating and criminal damage in an earlier hearing. nigel farage criticised the sentence, saying it shows you can assault a member of parliament and not go to prison. a man has been arrested after two—year—old died in the west midlands that involved a stolen porsche. please say a 30—year—old has been held for crash causing death. a woman aged 29 and a 30—year—old man remain in a serious condition in hospital. deputy prime minister, angela rayner, has set out plans for a redesign of local government in england. district councils will be incorporated into wider authorities and new elected regional mayoralties created. ministers say the changes would empower local leaders and could save up to 2 billion pounds. but opponents say that so—called "mega—councils" will take power away from local communities. you're live with bbc news. a chi

quentin sommerville, bbc news, latakia.election in february after the chancellor olaf scholz lost a parliamentary confidence vote. his coalition government collapsed last month in a row about spending. our europe editor katya adlerjoins us. we've had political turmoil in france and in germany — two key players in the eu — how significant is today's development? well, jane, we have been hearing and seeing tonight that we live in turbulent, unpredictable times and a lot of things that we have long taken for granted in europe, such as that the united states would always have our back in terms of security and defence, or that the west would always be the dominant power on the world stage, those certainties are gone. and germany is no longer what europe or the germans believed it to be, that economic powerhouse, that huge exporter on the world stage with really stable, predictable politics. it was designed to be like that after the horrors of nazi germany. but now germany is seen as the sick man of europe. it's not falling apart

we will catch up with quentin sommerville who has been in a port city.a phone call between donald trump and sir keir starmer amid signs of tension in the special relationship and trouble in the arctic as the bears come looking for food. a very good evening. the u.n. special envoy to syria says israel's actions since the fall of assad have been highly irresponsible and are a danger to the future stability of syria. on a visit to damascus, dear peterson called on the israelis withdraw their troops that is beyond the line of separation. after the yom kippur war in 1973, the security council brokered a agreement between the sides which established a buffer zone bordering the occupied golan heights. it is currently manned by a u.n. peacekeeping force who say their operations in recent days have been severely hampered by the israeli army's activities. in several places they have removed israeli flags and they report some construction activity on mount harmon which is syrian territory. last night the israeli prime minister visited the troops who are inside syri

quentin sommerville, bbc news, latakia.to his identity being made public. unitl today, yang tengbo was known only as "h6" — he was banned from the uk last year on national security grounds. the release of his name and photo comes as it's revealed that prince andrew will not nowjoin the rest of the royal family for their traditional christmas celebration at sandringham. damian grammaticus has the latest developments the royal and the alleged spy — this is glossy video from the prince himself, designed to drum up business. throughout, we see yang tengbo — we can now name him — banned from the uk as a risk to national security. mr yang is accused of working for china's communist party, using his ties to build contacts. on his desk, photos — he met theresa may and david cameron. dealing with foreign threats was already on the prime minister's agenda today. here in norway, the immediate issue — russia's war against ukraine. but he's been seeking closer ties with china. so, he was asked, what about its activities? of course, we a