NEW YORK (AP) — Columbia University limits campus access to students and essential employees after anti-war protesters occupy building.
Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has become Syria’s new strongman, replacing the Alawite regime of Bashar al-Assad. Once a partner of al Qaeda, Jolani now speaks the language of tolerance towards Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities and told his fighters to refrain from extrajudicial violence. Videos emerging on social media, including one apparently showing the execution of four suspected regime collaborators, suggest that not all of his fighters are following hi
Bashar al-Assad confided in almost no one about his plans to flee Syria as his reign collapsed. Hours before he escaped for Moscow, Assad assured a meeting of about 30 army and security chiefs at the defence ministry on Saturday that Russian military support was on its way and urged ground forces to hold out, according to a commander who was present and requested anonymity to speak about the briefing. Assad told his presidential office manager on Saturday when he finished work he was going home but instead headed to the airport, according to an aide in his inner circle.
Israel wasted no time after Bashar al-Assad’s fall to bomb all the Syrian military assets it wanted to keep out of the rebels’ hands – striking nearly 500 targets, destroying the navy, and taking out, it claims, 90% of Syria’s known surface-to-air missiles.
BEIRUT (AP) — After insurgents toppled Syrian President Bashar Assad this month, many senior officials and members of his dreaded intelligence and security services appear to have melted away. Activists say some of them have managed to flee the country while others went to hide in their hometowns.
How the rebels governed Idlib offers insight into how they might rule Syria. Experts and residents of Idlib describe their governance as pragmatic and influenced by internal and external pressure. However, their rule was far from democratic or liberal.
Insurgents seized Myanmar's border with Bangladesh in one of the bloodiest battles of the civil war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a video message addressed to the Iranian people Thursday celebrating the weakening of the "Iranian regime's axis of terror." Speaking in English in a video with Farsi subtitles, Netanyahu said that Israeli attacks on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon had set off a "chain reaction" in the Middle East.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has ordered Israeli troops to prepare to stay over the winter on Mount Hermon, a strategic location overlooking Damascus, adding to signs that Israel's presence in Syria is set to continue for a prolonged period. "Due to what is happening in Syria - there is enormous security importance to our holding on to the peak of Mount Hermon," a statement from Katz's office said on Friday. The order suggests that Israeli troops who moved into a buffer zone inside Syrian territory as well as a "few additional points" following the collapse of President Bashar al-Assad's government are likely to remain.
The 35 or so bodies were found in a military hospital in the Syrian capital of Damascus, days after the regime fell. They are believed to be among the last victims of Assad.
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Hundreds of Syrians marched through central Damascus in a funeral procession Thursday to honor one of the country's most prominent anti-government activists, whose body was found after the ouster of President Bashar Assad.
Tens of thousands of Syrians, mostly Shi'ite Muslims, have fled to Lebanon since Sunni Muslim Islamists toppled Bashar al-Assad, fearing persecution despite assurances from the new rulers in Damascus that they will be safe, a Lebanese official said. At the border with Lebanon, where thousands of people were trying to leave Syria on Thursday, a dozen Shi'ite Muslims interviewed by Reuters described threats made against them, sometimes in person but mostly on social media. Their accounts reflect fears of persecution despite promises of protection by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) - the Sunni Islamist group which has emerged as the dominant force in the new Syria but is far from being the only armed faction on the ground.
The police chief for the University of California at Los Angeles, who was criticized for the handling of a violent mob attack in May on pro-Palestinian activists encamped at UCLA, has left the campus police department. "December 10, 2024, was former UCLA Police Chief John Thomas' last day with UCLA and the UCLA Police Department," the department said on Thursday. UCLA Police Captain Scott Scheffler will serve as interim police chief until a permanent chief is selected, the department added.
STORY: :: Syria's interim PM calls for mercy and unity as he leads Friday prayers at the Umayyad Mosque:: December 13, 2024:: Damascus, Syria:: Mohamed al-Bashir, Syrian Caretaker Prime Minister:: "Have mercy. You should be merciful. You should take Syria as a symbol of freedom. Let Syria be a symbol of mercy.":: "Victory and the liberation of the land is not just about breaking chains or raising flags. It is the birth of a nation, the restoration of dignity, and the writing of history.":: "He (ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad) thought his rule would last forever, but God brought him to ruin, just as He did to Pharaoh."Since Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group swept Bashar al-Assad from power on Sunday (December 8) at the head of a rebel alliance, its bureaucrats - who until last week were running an Islamist administration in a remote corner of Syria's northwest - have moved into government headquarters in Damascus.The appointment of Mohammed al-Bashir, the head of the regional government in HTS' enclave of Idlib, as Syria's new interim prime minister on Monday (December 9) underlined the group's status as the most powerful of the armed groups that battled for more than 13 years to end Assad's iron-fisted rule.
Putin had been propping up the Syrian regime for years.
An Israeli airstrike hit the central Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least 37 Palestinians and wounding dozens more, according to Palestinian medics. (Production: Wafaa Shurafa)
DAMASCUS (AP) — Exuberant Syrians observed the first Friday prayers since the ouster of President Bashar Assad, gathering in the capital's historic main mosque, its largest square and around the country to celebrate the end of half a century of authoritarian rule.
LATAKIA, Syria (Reuters) -A Russian cargo plane departed from Russia's air base in the Syrian port city of Latakia for Libya on Saturday, a Syrian security official stationed outside the facility said, following rebels' overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad last weekend. The official told Reuters that additional Russian departures from the Hmeimim air base in Syria's coastal Latakia province were expected in the coming days. Increased activity has been observed at the air base throughout the day.
The move follows reports of a jihadist attack said to have killed 91 soldiers and 50 civilians.
Rumours that the leader of Syrian rebel group HTS Abu Mohammed al-Jolani has been wearing a shirt manufactured by an Israeli military supplier have been circulating on X since December 9, based on a blog post published by the brand that made the shirt, Emersongear. However, it turns out that Emersongear is a Chinese brand, not an Israeli one. This fake news story has nonetheless fed into claims by supporters of the regime of Bashar al-Assad that al-Jolani is backed by Israel. Rumours that the le
Rome's Jewish community expressed dismay on Friday after two unions called a nationwide strike to protest against Italy's "support for the genocidal Israeli government" amongst other complaints. Friday's strike by the USB and Cobas unions has primarily hit public transport and is due to last 24 hours. "Ours is a strike against the war economy and thus also against our government's support for the Israeli state," a spokesperson for the USB union told Reuters.
