Hafez al-Assad

People pose for photos with balloons near Al-Hamidiyeh Souq on New Years Eve, in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024

Syria's minister of information in the country's transitional government told AFP he is working towards a free press and committed to "freedom of expression", after decades of control under the former rulers.

A delegation from the Turkish parliament will visit the notorious Saydnaya prison in Syria on Dec. 30, following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's government.

Asma al-Assad, the wife of Syria’s former dictator Bashar al-Assad, has filed for divorce, expressing dissatisfaction with life in Moscow, where she has been residing since the regime’s fall earlier this month.

Former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has issued his first public statement since his regime was toppled earlier this month. Shared via the Syrian presidency's Telegram channel, Assad defended his leadership and claimed he never intended to leave Syria, asserting that his departure occurred only after rebel forces overtook Damascus.

Ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad said he had no plans to leave the country and wanted to keep fighting, but the Russian military evacuated him after their base in western Syria came under attack.

The comments are the first by Assad since he was overthrown by the rebel groups on Dec. 8.

Iran, a staunch supporter of the deposed Syrian president, has repatriated 4,000 of its nationals since rebels seized Damascus and toppled Bashar al-Assad on Sunday, according to the Iranian government.

With Sunday's collapse of Syria's Baath regime and the end of the Assad family era, Syrians were seen toppling statues of Hafez al-Assad, the late father of ousted President Bashar al-Assad, in various cities across the country.

Syrian politician Ammar Haidar, imprisoned by the Bashar Assad regime in 2009, reunited with his daughter Marwa Haidar in the Turkish metropolis Istanbul after 12 years.

Born in Hama, Syria, Haidar, since his youth, has opposed the Assad family due to their anti-democratic practices.

The United States on June 17 imposed sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's wife and dozens of others as it vowed a vast pressure campaign under a new law that has already rattled the war-torn nation's economy.

Russia on Tuesday said there were no plans for a major assault on Syria's Idlib, despite President Bashar al-Assad earlier saying it was a priority to retake the province.