'From Syria With Love': State TV Claims World Record

A youth channel owned by Syrian state television claims to have broken the record for the longest non-stop chat show ever broadcast, airing a program that ran 70 hours.

Two hosts, Areej Zayat and Reine Neilah, broadcast the "From Syria With Love" show on the Talaqi channel from 9:00 pm local time (1900 GMT) on Tuesday to 7:00 pm on Friday.

The channel, based in central Damascus, said it hoped the performance would be recognised by Guinness as an official world record.

The current record stands at 62 hours held by a channel in Nepal.

The broadcast, posted on YouTube, features telephone call-ins, music and dancing.

"We wanted to send a message through this programme that this country, beset by all kinds of suffering, can send a message of love to the world and that life goes on for the Syrian people," channel director Maher al-Khaouli told AFP. 

The channel is aimed at young people and was launched in October 2012, more than a year after the start of a revolt against President Bashar Assad that has morphed into a bloody civil war that has killed close to 200,000 people.