A makeover for Syria's interim leader?

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 13 December 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

One year after the fall of Syria's dictator, Bashar al-Assad, interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa has undergone a significant image makeover. He's regularly seen playing basketball or pool on social media and his posts are amplified by a network of government-backed influencers. BBC Monitoring's Samia Hosny has been watching and reflects on what this PR campaign is saying – and what it isn't.

The special administrative region of Macau on the south coast of China is sometimes referred to as the Las Vegas of the East. The gaming hub attracts tourists from all over the world, as well as from mainland China and Taiwan. But amid the glitzy casinos and hotels, Macau has just opened its very first luxury resort hospital, in the hope of capitalising on the medical tourism industry. The BBC's Osmond Chia reports from Singapore.

17-year-old Janvi Jindal, from Punjab state in India, has recently achieved 5 Guinness World Records in freestyle skating. She was able to perform, amongst other things, thirty-two 360 degree rotations in 30 seconds – whilst balancing on her inline skates. BBC reporter Sarabjit Singh Dhaliwal went to meet Janvi and her parents.

This episode of The Documentary comes to you from The Fifth Floor, the show at the heart of global storytelling, with BBC journalists from all around the world.

Presented by Faranak Amidi.

Produced by Laura Thomas, Caroline Ferguson and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:06.0	Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service.
0:13.8	You're listening The Fifth Floor.
0:18.1	The Fifth Floor, you know you're listening.
0:20.0	The Fifth Floor, Farnak, Amid Isobat. The fifth floor is You're listening. This is the fifth floor
0:23.2	Farnak Amidi, Sobath.
0:26.7	This is the fifth floor
0:28.5	at the heart of global storytelling
0:31.2	with BBC journalists
0:32.9	from all around the world.
0:35.0	I'm your host, Faranak Amid. It's been a year since the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and the country continues
0:50.9	to face huge challenges around security and reconstruction.
0:55.8	Both inside Syria and internationally, attention is focused on the new president, Ahmed al-Shara,
1:03.5	a year into his presidency now. BBC monitoring's Samia Hosni has been watching him very closely,
1:10.0	and she's with me in the studio right now.
1:12.5	Samia, welcome to the fifth floor. It's great to have you with us.
1:15.4	Hello. So you're from BBC monitoring and that's exactly what you've been doing.
1:20.3	You've been monitoring. Ahmad al-Shada. What are you seeing?
1:25.4	A significant makeover in his public persona.
1:30.9	Since he assumed power in December last year, we've seen a change in his appearance.
1:38.6	The first day, when he announced the Assets Fall, he was wearing a military uniform and he had a long beard, which is a note to
1:49.4	his militant past because radical Muslims usually have long beards. This is one of their
	...

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