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A high-level European Union delegation has travelled to Syria to lay out its expectations of the country's new leaders. The foreign ministers of Germany and France - Annalena Baerbock and Jean-Noel Barrot – were among officials who met Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus.

Also in the programme: the six-day state funeral for former US president, Jimmy Carter, begins today with activities planned in several US cities; and users of the social media platform TikTok fret over a looming ban in the country if its parent company is not sold by 19 January.

Joining presenter Paul Henley to discuss these and other stories are Paul Melly, a journalist and consulting fellow for the Africa Programme at the Chatham House think-tank in London, and Isabel Hilton, a journalist and founder of China Dialogue.
(Picture: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Syria's newly appointed Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani pose for a picture, in Damascus, Syria January 3, 2025. Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham/Handout via REUTERS)