Syrian rebels have set fire to the tomb of ex-President Bashar al-Assad's father in his former hometown in the western Syrian Latakia province. Meanwhile, shops are reopening and people are returning to work in Damascus as day-to-day life gradually resumes. We look at the impact of returning refugees on the Syrian economy, examine concerns over a precarious security situation with a possible resurgence of Islamic State and in doing so, we hear from Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, and from Damascus itself.Also on the programme: South Korea deals with the fallout from last week's short-lived period of martial law and one humpback whale appears to have made one of the longest and most unusual migrations ever recorded.(Photo: A man rides in the open trunk of a car in Aleppo, Syria. Credit: Karam al-Masri/Reuters)
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10/12/2024 21:06 GMT
Interviews, news and analysis of the day’s global events.
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47:23
Israel carries out hundreds of airstrikes across Syria
The Israel Defense Forces confirmed it has troops operating in Syrian territory beyond the demilitarized buffer zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. It added that its strikes were to prevent weapons falling "into the hands of extremists" as Syria transitions to a post-Assad era. We hear from Damascus and ask how Syria’s new rulers are likely to govern? Also on the programme: Investigators continue to interrogate Luigi Mangione, the suspect in New York's health insurance boss killing; and Google's new quantum computer chip is hailed as breakthrough technology, but what can it actually do?(Photo: Abu Mussab al-Halabi, a rebel fighter poses for a photograph after an interview in Presidential Palace, Damascus Credit: Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)
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Emotional scenes as political prisoners released in Syria
Families of Syrian prisoners have been streaming towards the prisons of the Assad regime, where tens of thousands were imprisoned and tortured for years.
The doors have been prised upon - but there are fear many could be trapped in secret underground prisons.
Our reporter is at the infamous Saydayna prison near Damascus, where crowds of relatives are looking for their loved ones.Also in our programme: what could the future hold for Syria's government? The province of Idlib, which has been run by the country's main rebel group, might hold some clues; and we speak to the family of American journalist Austin Tice who was abducted in Syria twelve years ago.(Photo: Syrians dig into the ground as they search for relatives they believe were held in secret cells at Sednaya prison, dubbed by Amnesty International as the 'Human Slaughterhouse'. Credit: Shutterstock / Mohammed Al Rifai)
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What's the future for Syria?
Syrian rebels are working to form a transitional government, a day after they seized Damascus and toppled President Bashar al Assad. Rebel fighters have been securing public buildings in the capital, where joy at the end of 50 years of authoritarian rule is mixed with anxiety about the future. Syrian civil defence workers have deployed to the ousted Assad regime's notorious Saydnaya prison to investigate reports that people are still trapped in cells hidden underground.(Photo: Syrian Democratic Forces capture al-Hasakah, Al Hasakah, Syria - 08 Dec 2024 AHMED MARDNLI/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
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