You're listening to the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.

Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. This edition is published in early hours of Friday the 6th of December.

Islamist rebels in Syria celebrate capturing a second city from government forces.

It is the first time the insurgents have controlled Hamar in nearly 14 years of war.

US police are investigating whether words written on bullet casings may provide a clue about the killing of a health insurance boss in New York.

And the French president, Emmanuel Macron, rejects calls to step down after his prime minister is forced to quit.

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Rebels in Syria are preparing to push further south after capturing the central city of Hama

for the first time in nearly 14 years of war. It is the second major city they've

seized in a matter of days and means they are now only 200 kilometres or so from the capital

Damascus. Their lightning advance poses the biggest threat to the Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad

since 2015 when he was forced to call in the Russians to prevent the collapse of his regime.

Hugo Boshchega, on the border between Syria and Turkey, told me more about the fall of Hama.

It is another major victory for these rebels after they captured Aleppo last week.

Hamas home to one million people.

It is going to be more difficult now for regime forces to try to launch any kind of offensive to try to recapture Aleppo.

And for the rebels, it puts them very close to Homs, which is a strategically significant hub that connects the capital Damascus to the north of the country, to the coast as well.

And I think what is very interesting is that,

...