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Damascus free of the tyrant Bashar al-Assad.”Syrian rebel sources tell Al Jazeera Arabic that government forces have withdrawn from the Defence…

….Says Russia can’t Intervene having lost 600,000 soldiers In Ukraine The president-elect of the United States (US), Donald Trump, has called for the US government not to intervene in the ongoing war in Syria as opposition fighters make significant progress towards the capital, Damascus. In a statement via his verified X account on Saturday, Trump stated that the opposition forces have, in an unprecedented move, taken control of numerous cities…

Burkina Faso’s military ruler, Capt Ibrahim Traoré has sacked his Prime Minister, Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela and dissolved the entire government. Capt Ibrahim Traoré seized power in a coup two years ago. The dismissal of the head of government and his cabinet was announced in a decree signed by the junta leader on Friday. The decree did not specify why the prime minister was sacked, but said members of…

An alternative healer imprisoned in Australia who advocated “slapping therapy” to treat a range of illnesses was sentenced to 10 years in UK prison for the death of a 71-year-old diabetic woman who stopped taking insulin during one of his workshops. Hongchi Xiao, 61, was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence on Friday for failing to get medical help for Danielle Carr-Gomm, who later died in 2016. California-based Xiao promoted…

As Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House next month, businesses worldwide are bracing for a worsening US-China trade war. While electric vehicle (EV) makers were impacted by trade disputes during Trump’s first term, Tesla — and owner Elon Musk — could potentially benefit this time. Kyle Chan, a postdoctoral researcher in Chinese industrial policy at Princeton University, told the ABC’s Asia News Week that Mr Musk was…

….After losing appeal ordering sale from Chinese owner TikTok faces a US ban after an appeals court on Friday rejected its challenge to a law requiring the video-sharing app to divest from its Chinese parent company by January 19. The potential ban could strain US-China relations just as president-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office on January 20. The US government alleges TikTok allows Beijing to collect data and spy…

Nigerian-born UK Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch has declared that she loves being labelled a “culture warrior.” The Tory leader, in a speech in Washington DC, said being criticized for this by “the left-wing media” was meant to be an insult, “but I love the title”. According to Badenoch, her grandfather told her she was descended from warriors, so she was “keeping up the tradition,” she quipped. The term “culture war”…

Kensington Palace has announced that the Prince of Wales will attend the official reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris on Saturday, alongside US president-elect Donald Trump. The prince, who accepted an invitation from French President Emmanuel Macron, will mark the ceremonial event five years after the historic cathedral was severely damaged by fire. Prince William, 42, will join Mr Trump, other world leaders, and over 1,500 guests for a service…

In Syrian conflict, the recent seizure of Hama by rebel forces has sent shockwaves through the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, escalating initial tremors into what can only be described as an earthquake. Just days after rebels captured Aleppo, analysts and military observers predicted that Hama—located over 130 kilometres (80 miles) south of Aleppo—would pose an insurmountable challenge for the jihadist-led factions. Many believed that the forces loyal to Assad…

Melania Trump revealed how her 18-year-old son was “very vocal” in giving “advice to his father.” Barron Trump advised his president-elect father on the campaign trail — convincing him to sit down with internet personalities to reach a wider, younger audience in order to win back the White House, Melania Trump revealed. “He brought in so many young people. He knows his generation because nowadays the young generation, they don’t…

The days of France’s dominance in its former African colonies appear to be clearly over, as Paris is increasingly rejected in the region.In a matter of months, an anti-French wave in West and Central Africa has seen France’s once-trusted economic and military allies turn their backs against it. The latest are Senegal and Chad, who tore up security partnerships with Paris last week.The bitterness with France has also been publicly…

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said the right-wing venture capitalist, David Sacks would become “the White House AI & Crypto Czar,” a post on his social media platform Truth Social showed. Trump called artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrency “two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness.” Sacks, a confidant of tech billionaire, Elon Musk, will be charged with making the U.S. the clear world market leader in the AI and…