Newshour

• SPECIAL EPISODE: The Elizabeth Tsurkov interview

  An Israeli-Russian woman held for two and half years by militants in Iraq has told the BBC how she was trussed and hung from the ceiling, whipped, sexually abused and electrocuted. Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was freed in September, suffered extreme abuse for over 100 days, leaving her physically and mentally scarred. Elizabeth believes she was held by members of Kataib Hezbollah, one of the most powerful Iran-back militias in Iraq, designated a terrorist organisation by the US and others. In this special edition of the Newshour podcast she speaks to Tim Franks about her ordeal and how she is determined to continue her work on the region. This interview contains some graphic testimony that listeners could find distressing

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• Syria celebrates a year since the fall of Assad

  Syria celebrates a year since the fall of Assad, and an end to a brutal fifty-year dictatorship. But what sort of rule and what sort of future does Syria face? Also in the programme: Ukraine's President Zelensky pleads for Europe and the US to remain to united over ending the war with Russia – we hear from former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt; how China's trade surplus hit a trillion dollars; and the blind football fan who says that, thanks to a virtual reality headset, he can for the first time literally watch a game. (IMAGE: People gather during a parade marking the first anniversary of the ousting of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Idlib, Syria, 08 December 2025 / CREDIT: BILAL AL-HAMMOUD/EPA/Shutterstock (16051801r))

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• One year since the fall of the Assad regime in Syria

  Syrians are holding celebrations to mark the first anniversary since Bashar al-Assad was toppled from power after a lightning rebel offensive. Also on the programme, President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet key European leaders in London amid peace negotiation, and the making of the very first dictionary of ancient Celtic.

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• Syrians mark one year since the fall of Bashar al-Assad

  UN human rights investigators have said that the cycles of vengeance and reprisal must be brought to an end in Syria, as the country commemorates the first anniversary of the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad. A UN independent commission of inquiry commended the steps taken by Syria's new leadership to address the crimes and abuses of the Assad era. But it said violent incidents in the past year had raised worries about the future direction of the country. Newshour's Lyse Doucet is in Damascus.Also in the programme: we profile Formula 1's new champion Lando Norris; and a new documentary looks at what senior US military officials know about UFOs. (Photo: A drone view shows the parliament in Damascus, Syria, September 21, 2025. Credit: Reuters/Mahmoud Hassano)

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• Low voter turnout at today's Hong Kong polls

  Will the recent deadly fire at a housing complex in Hong Kong - and the angry response to it - have an impact on today's elections to the Legislative Council? Also on the programme: a failed coup attempt in the west African country of Benin; we'll be in Syria - a year on from the ousting of the Assad regime - and the prison diaries of Nicolas Sarkozy - written after a mere three weeks behind bars.(Image: A voter checks on the candidates at a polling station in Tai Po during the Legislative Council general election in Hong Kong on December 7, 2025. Credit: Reuters/Lam Yik)

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