This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Valerie Sanderson, and at 1400 hours GMT on Thursday the 5th of December, these are our main stories.

Rebels in Syria take control of a second major city with the withdrawal of President Bashar al-Assad's troops from Hamas.

South Korea's former defence minister is banned from leaving the country

after the president's failed attempt to impose martial law.

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Last week, the conflict in Syria, which began back in 2011, flared up dramatically when rebels

seized the city of Aleppo,

forcing a hasty retreat by the government troops of President Bashar al-Assad.

Now the Syrian army has announced its withdrawn from another key city, Hama,

just two days after the rebels began a campaign to seize it.

The rebels say they've taken control of the central prison and free

detainees there. For more, here's our Middle East correspondent, Lina Sinjab, who's in Beirut.

It's really a fast-moving operation that within an hour we are hearing reports that the

opposition are announcing that they are inside the city. I've tried to speak to some people inside

the Hama, but most of the internet and communication is cut off. People are only communicating

through landline. So there are reports that they even freed the prison and some inmates

are out of the prison.

The Syrian government put a statement, the defense ministry put a statement saying that

...