World News

The longtime Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is facing threats from rebellions on numerous fronts as his key ally, Iran, is paring back support.

President Bashar al-Assad landed in Russia, according to state media outlets there and two Iranian officials, after fleeing the country as rebels took control of Syria’s capital.

Human-caused global warming helped increase dry conditions on every continent, scientists said in a new report, as talks on halting desertification were underway in Saudi Arabia.

Bashar al-Assad’s downfall evokes memories of uprisings in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen, each of which brought civil war or authoritarian rule. Syrians hope for better.

Tehran’s main regional allies are weakened or collapsing: Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, has fled his country, Hezbollah is battered by conflict with Israel, and Hamas is still at war.

President Biden faces the challenge of deciding how to engage the main armed group that toppled President Bashar al-Assad, even though it remains designated a terrorist organization by the United States.

President Bashar al-Assad had kept opposition forces at bay for a decade with help from Russia and Iran. But rebels struck at a moment of weakness for those countries.

While multiple factors contributed to the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, corrosion inside his own military did not help, analysts say.

President Bashar al-Assad landed in Russia, according to state media outlets there and two Iranian officials, after fleeing the country as rebels took control of Syria’s capital.

A reckoning emerged in Iran on Sunday as officials and commentators swiftly moved to distance the government from a tyrant it had supported.