Syrian rebels officially announced that they had ousted President Bashar-al Assad, marking an end to 50 years of iron fist family rule, with Russian news agencies reporting that the deposed leader and his family have fled to Moscow.

The removal of Assad comes after over 13 years of civil war, which killed half a million people and forcibly displaced 12 million in what remains one of the largest such crises in history.

Uncertainty remains as to the country’s governance, although former jihadist leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani now seems to exercise the role of de-facto leader, with several countries urging the new leadership to respect the rights of minorities.

What socio-economic implications do these developments have on the wider Middle East conflict? Can post-Assad Syria retain its secular system? And will religious minorities be protected?

In the last part of the programme, we speak to a psychiatrist on the role of Chinese medicine in helping patients with mild mental health issue, following the introduction of a new programme.

9:05-9:50am: Syria - The fall of Syria's Bashar al-Assad

9:05am-9:50am: James Dorsey, Adjunct Senior Fellow at the S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

9:05am-9:50am: Eyal Mayroz, Senior Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The University of Sydney

9:30am-9:50am: Moamen Gouda, Professor of Middle East Economics at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

9:50am-10:00am: Chinese medicine usage in psychiatry
9:50am-10:00am: Dr .May Lam, Founder & President of the Hong Kong Mental Wellness Association