Syria one year on from liberation
Global News Podcast
BBC
4.2 • 7.8K Ratings
🗓️ 8 December 2025
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A year after the fall of the brutal Assad regime in Syria, tens of thousands of people have been celebrating - both in Syria itself and abroad. There's been a military parade around the main square in Damascus watched by jubilant flag-waving crowds. Despite his former links to Al-Qaeda, the new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, now has the support of the White House, but he still faces many challenges. Also: Nigerian state secures release of 100 out of 265 kidnapped schoolchildren; a woman who blackmailed the South Korean footballer, Son Heung-min, gets four years in jail; using tech to combat dementia in Japan; and could offering smaller, cheaper portions in restaurants and supermarkets cut obesity?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.5 | We definitely do not have quiet days anymore in American politics. |
| 0:12.5 | Our podcast will help you cut through all the noise. |
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| 0:20.8 | AmeriCast, Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:24.2 | You're listening to the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:29.1 | Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 16 hours GMT on Monday the 8th of December. |
| 0:35.0 | Syria marks the first anniversary of the end of the Assad regime. |
| 0:39.1 | The Nigerian government secures the release of 100 children kidnapped from a Catholic |
| 0:43.0 | school last month, and Ukraine's President Zelensky meets key European allies in London. |
| 0:50.2 | Also in the podcast, if we offer single portion sizes which are really to fulfil the requirements of average men, |
| 0:58.0 | we're nudging more and more people to eat more than they need. |
| 1:01.4 | Could cutting down portion sizes help tackle obesity? |
| 1:09.2 | But first, it is a year since a lightning offensive by Islamist-led rebels in Syria |
| 1:13.9 | ended five decades of brutal rule by the Assad family. |
| 1:18.0 | The new authorities have been marking the anniversary with a military parade in the capital |
| 1:21.9 | Damascus. |
| 1:23.1 | A huge crowd gathered in Umayad Square, waving flags and beating drums. |
| 1:26.9 | Music Huge crowd gathered in Umayad Square, waving flags and beating drums. |
| 1:39.6 | However, despite that celebration of new freedoms, the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad 12 months ago hasn't brought an end to the challenges facing Syria. |
| 1:43.2 | Dr Omar Imadi is at the Center for Syrian Studies |
| 1:46.1 | at St. Andrews University in Scotland. I think it's important to keep in mind that what fell on December 8th, |
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