Author: Deutsche Presse-Agentur - Dpa
Pep Guardiola admitted he is grappling with self-doubt as Manchester City’s struggles deepen, with their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread after a 2-0 loss to Juventus on Wednesday. Second-half goals from Dusan Vlahovic and Weston McKennie at the Allianz Stadium condemned City to their seventh defeat in 10 matches across all competitions, leaving them in a dismal 22nd place in the standings. With only two games left in the group phase, automatic last-16 qualification seems out of reach. Guardiola’s men now face a fierce battle to remain in the top 24 and secure a playoff spot. “Of course,…
The head of the Syrian anti-regime alliance led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) said on Tuesday he plans to publicly name the ex-officers involved in state torture in Syria and hold them accountable as war criminals. “We will offer rewards to anyone who provides information about high-ranking officers of the army and security authorities who were involved in war crimes,” said HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who previously went by his nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Joulani. The anti-regime alliance led by HTS seized power in Syria at the weekend and ended decades of rule by the al-Assad family. “We…
The long-time Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad personally and independently decided to resign, the Kremlin said on Tuesday. “Withdrawing from the process of performing the duties of head of state was al-Assad’s personal decision,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media agencies. Peskov refused to comment further on Moscow’s role following the dramatic end to the regime of al-Assad. The former president and his family fled to Russia, where they were granted asylum, after a coalition of rebel groups swept through formerly government-held areas of Syria in a rapid offensive, seizing control of the capital Damascus on Sunday. Russian President Vladimir…
A day after Syrian rebel groups seized control of the capital Damascus, senior leaders of Germany’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc suggested encouraging refugees to return to the country. Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s strongman president, fled to Russia after a coalition of anti-regime groups swept through formerly government-held areas of the country in a rapid offensive. Germany should now charter aircraft to send Syrians who had fled from al-Assad’s regime back to their home country, and offer cash incentives to encourage people to take the flight, a deputy leader of the conservative CDU/CSU bloc said on Monday. “As a first step, I would…
Following the end of the government of Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad, the embassy of Iran in Damascus – previously one of al-Assad’s most important supporters – has been stormed. The news channel Al Arabiya released videos showing people tearing down a large poster from the fence of the Iranian embassy. The poster featured the powerful Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in 2020 in Iraq by a US drone strike, and Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia, who was killed in September in an Israeli airstrike near Beirut. The news channel Al Jazeera reported that…
Syrian opposition members entered the presidential palace in Damascus early Sunday while chanting “God is most great,” eyewitnesses told dpa. A resident in the area told dpa, “We saw armed fighters entering the gates of the palace while chanting ‘God is most great.'” The palace is called The People’s Palace, and is located in the Mezzeh district in the west of the city. Videos circulating on social media also showed the rebels in the courtyard of the palace and at its entrance gates. Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad had fled Damascus shortly before. The rebels entered the grounds of the…
Residents have taken to the streets of the Syrian capital Damascus after Bashar al-Assad fled the capital Damascus to an unknown destination. Videos circulating on social media show people singing and dancing and eyewitnesses said celebratory gunfire could be heard. Residents living in Damascus told dpa that many Syrian soldiers had left their military positions. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, citing the army officers, said that al-Assad had left Damascus after the advance of opposition groups into Damascus early on Sunday. The anti-regime forces’ official channel confirmed the advance, stating, “Our forces started to enter the capital, Damascus.” The…
The Syrian state army says the rule of President Bashar al-Assad has come to an end, with the army command informing government soldiers they are no longer in service, dpa has learned from Syrian military circles.
Inmates of Syria’s prisons are being subjected to systematic torture and physical and psychological harm, according to a new human rights report from the United Nations based on testimony from more than 300 witnesses. “Former detainees described severe physical and psychological abuse, including beatings, stress positions and sexual violence. The investigation documented inhumane conditions characterized by overcrowding, insufficient food and water, lack of hygiene and denial of medical care,” the report released in New York on Friday says. It cites medical evidence and the Syrian government’s own documentation and reveals violations including sexual violence and enforced disappearance. “Our report lays…
Russia intends to deploy its new Oreshnik missile system, recently used against Ukraine for the first time, in neighbouring Belarus as a deterrent to the West. “These complexes will be put into service with the Russian Strategic Missile Forces and, in parallel, we will begin deploying them on the territory of Belarus,” President Vladimir Putin said in Minsk on Friday at talks with Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. Putin named the second half of 2025 as the date for the deployment of what he described as a “terrible” weapon. Russia fired the newly developed medium-range missile at the Ukrainian city of…