You're listening to a special edition of the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service.

Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We are recording this at 18 hours GMT on Saturday the 7th of December. Rebels in Syria are bearing down on the capital, Damascus, from the north and south.

Government forces say they've put a strong cordon around the city,

but the insurgents are reported to have closed to within 10 kilometres,

and there have been protests in the suburbs.

We'll ask, is this the end for President Assad,

or can his Russian and Iranian allies save him once again?

Ever since the uprising sparked by the Arab Spring nearly 14 years ago, the Syrian president

Bashar al-Assad has maintained his grip on power. He's faced opposition from pro-democracy

activists, various jihadist groups, including Al-Qaeda and

ISIS, and other militants. But with the help of his allies from Russia and Iran and a devastating

bombing campaign, he held on. For the past few years, there's been an uneasy stalemate. But now,

after a lightning advance by Islamist insurgents, there are real questions over

whether President Assad can't survive. On the outskirts of the capital itself, there have been

reports of protests.

Footage on social media of demonstrators

toppling a statue of President Assad's late father Hafez

in a Damascus suburb.

Other videos showed portraits of the president himself being attacked

and the Syrian flag being pulled down at a busy intersection,

just eight kilometers from the city centre.

Well, amid that anger from ordinary people, government forces are on the back foot in central,

...