Syrian rebels seized the capital Damascus unopposed on Sunday after a swift advance, forcing President Bashar al-Assad to flee to Russia, ending a 14-year civil war and six decades of his family's autocratic rule. We unpack Basher al-Assad administration's downfall and what this pivotal moment means for the Middle East with Julia Roknifard, International Relations expert.

· Mufti Bill memorandum: Civil society groups, including ReformARTsi, PEN Malaysia, and Centre for Independent Journalism, submitted a memorandum urging MPs to fully debate the controversial Mufti Bill and its impacton culture and freedoms, calling for its rejection if necessary. We hear from Arief Hamizan, spokesperson of PEN Malaysia, on how the bill could impact freedom of expression and the effect of regulating culture.

· Protecting open spaces in Malaysia: Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming urged local councils to speed up gazetting public spaces, as only 39% of Malaysia's 21,000 hectares are officially protected. He encouraged turning these areas into parks to prevent misuse or development. We spoke to Tan Booi Charn, Chairperson of the Kuala Lumpur Residents' Association Plus Sustainable Development group to understand how Kuala Lumpur can respond to the ministry's call to protect our open spaces.

· Littering racers: The litter left behind at sporting events like marathons and jungle runs have prompted calls for stricter waste management, due to its harm on local communities and wildlife. We speak to Nik Jassmin Hew, Chairperson of Persatuan Alam & Warisan Bukit Fraser, on what could be done to curb this issue.

· Popek Popek Parlimen: Today's session kicked off with a discussion on the separation of the roles of the Attorney General and the Public Prosecutor role, a topic that has been receiving a fair bit of criticism in the news, especially following the appointment of Dusuki Mokhtar as the country’s latest AG. We also hear about the government's plans to support struggling cooperatives, as well as how they plan to tackle issues of child abuse, especially since we have been seeing a number of abuse cases in childcare centers.

Image Credit: hanohiki, Shutterstock

Produced by: Sharaad Kuttan, Alena Nadia, Juliet Jacobs, Alia Zefri

Presented by: Lee Chwi Lynn, Sharaad Kuttan

This and more than 60,000 other podcasts in your hand. Download the all new BFM mobile app.

Categories:  politics,  government,  international,  Law/Activism,  corruption,  environment,  education,  controversies

Tags:  childcare centre abuse,  parks,  urban planning,  basher al-assad,  Mufti Bill,  popek popek parlimen,  racing,  litter,  waste management,  separation of powers,  cooperatives,  dewan rakyat,  open spaces,  arts and culture,  syria,  freedom of expression,