As Asma Assad and deposed dictator husband arrive in Moscow where family ‘owns £30m portfolio of luxury flats’ – after pair fled Damascus through secret tunnels President Assad, his British-born wife and their three adult children have left behind their Syrian palaces and will begin a new life in Russia after being granted asylum by Vladimir Putin.Asma Al-Assad, a London-born doctor’s daughter who married into the brutal autocratic dynasty, has…

The UN Security Council is to convene for an emergency session on Monday after Syrian rebels declared President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster and seized control of Damascus on Sunday. The meeting, requested by Russia, will take place behind closed doors, diplomatic sources told dpa. Syrians were facing a new political reality on Sunday after rebels took the capital Damascus, ending the two-decade regime of al-Assad, who was reported to have fled…

South Korean President, Yoon Suk-yeol has been banned from leaving the country over a failed attempt at imposing martial law, amid growing calls for him to step down and a deepening leadership crisis. Oh Dong-woon, the head of the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, said on Monday he ordered a ban on foreign travel for Yoon when asked at a parliament hearing what actions have been taken against the…

As teams investigate ‘hidden underground cells’ Thousands of people, including women and children, have been released from Syria’s infamous prisons – as civil defence teams work on freeing those who may still be detained in hidden underground cells.After insurgents swept across the country in little more than a week to topple the Assad family’s half-century rule, families wept as they reunited with inmates held on political charges.At Sednaya prison near…

Rachel Fatuma, a young Congolese woman, could be mistaken for one among thousands of youths in the Democratic Republic of Congo trying to find their feet in an evolving and demanding world.But she isn’t just another face in the crowd.As someone nurturing an unbridled passion for science, this final-year engineering student at Ruwenzori University in Kinshasa is always challenging herself to achieve something that reflects her strength of character and…

At least 20 people were injured in clashes with police in Mozambique at the weekend as violent protests against the disputed presidential election of October 9 continued, with two state buildings in the capital Maputo set on fire by arsonists, a senior police official said.Presidential candid ate Venancio Mondlane has called for a week-long new phase of protests across the country, beginning on Wednesday.National police spokesperson Orlando Mudumane told the…

An amended lawsuit filed in federal court on Sunday alleges that rap mogul, Jay-Z raped a 13-year-old girl along with Sean “Diddy” Combs a party after the MTV Video Music Awards in 2000. Jay-Z denied the allegations on social media and blasted the lawsuit, calling it part of a “blackmail attempt” by the plaintiff’s lawyer. Lawyers for Jay-Z did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The lawsuit was…

President Joe Biden of the United States has said his administration would engage with “all Syrian groups” over the political transition. Biden’s stand comes after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s government, which was toppled by Islamic rebels in the country over the weekend. The rebels entered Damascus and seized control of the nation’s capital on Sunday, ending Assad’s family’s iron-fisted rule that has lasted for over 13 years of…

Syria’s former President, Bashar al-Assad and his family have arrived in Russia and have been granted asylum by the Russian authorities, Russian news agencies reported on Sunday, citing a Kremlin source. The Interfax news agency quoted the unnamed source as saying: “President Assad of Syria has arrived in Moscow. Russia has granted them (him and his family) asylum on humanitarian grounds.”

….After dictator fled the country SUVs, motorcycles, ATVs, and what appears to be an armored truck also awaited the rebels, who traipsed through the sprawling mansion taking selfies, firing guns into the air and making off with anything that wasn’t bolted down, videos shared on X show. The palace is a sprawling, blocky fortress of stone and marble perched on a hill on the outskirts of Damascus; the Guardian once…

In what would be a piece of distressing news to people, including Nigerians, who flock to the United States to give birth, with the sole purpose of bestowing American citizenship on the babies, the President-elect, Donald Trump said in an interview aired Sunday he would end birthright citizenship, calling the policy ‘ridiculous.’ Trump also said he would “have to” deport all undocumented immigrants in the US. The former president spoke…

Syria’s armed opposition says they have captured the capital, Damascus, and that President Bashar al-Assad has fled the country.The announcement comes after rebels seized the city of Homs in a lightning offensive hours earlier. “The tyrant Bashar al-Assad has fled,” the armed opposition said in a statement. “We declare Damascus free of the tyrant Bashar al-Assad.”Syrian rebel sources tell Al Jazeera Arabic that government forces have withdrawn from the Defence…