John Hayward - Page 27

CNN’s viral video sensation has turned into an embarrassment as a rescued “Syrian prisoner” is reportedly an intelligence agent from Assad’s regime.

Selcuk Bayraktar, chief technology officer of Turkey’s drone powerhouse Baykar, said on Thursday that Turkish companies now control 65 percent of the worldwide market for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).

A spokesman for the victorious jihadi rebels in Syria said on Thursday that the national constitution and parliament will be suspended during a three-month “transition period,” after which a new constitution will be created.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikahil Bogdanov told state media on Thursday that Moscow had made “direct contact” with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the al-Qaeda offshoot that toppled Syrian dictator Bashar Assad last weekend.

Former South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun reportedly attempted to kill himself on Tuesday night while in police detention.

Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei claimed on Wednesday that Tehran’s “Axis of Resistance” was only made stronger by the fall of Bashar Assad.

Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani insists his forces have abandoned terrorism and wish to build a more free and inclusive Syria.

The Foreign Ministry of Saudi Arabia on Monday accused Israel of “sabotaging chances for Syria to reclaim its security, stability and its territorial integrity” by controlling territory in the Golan Heights after the fall of dictator Bashar Assad.

Russia may lose its base at the Syrian port of Tartus after the fall of dictator Bashar Assad, which would deprive the Russians of their only fueling port on the Mediterranean Sea and cripple Moscow’s ability to threaten the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) from the south.

Turkish mayors belonging to the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) are offering Syrian refugees free one-way tickets back home, now that dictator Bashar Assad has been overthrown.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday urged the al-Qaeda-linked jihadi rebels who toppled Syrian dictator Bashar Assad to consider teaming up with Turkish forces against the Kurds.

Christians in parts of Lebanon celebrated the downfall of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad over the weekend, gathering in town squares to launch celebratory fireworks and gleefully tearing down pictures of Assad from border crossings.

The regime in Iran is scrambling to explain why it was unable to protect its client Bashar Assad in Syria from being overthrown by a lightning-fast jihadi offensive that accomplished in less than two weeks what a decade of civil war could not.

China’s state-run Global Times on Monday tried to take credit for the restoration of the fire-damaged Notre Dame cathedral.

Canadian Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc announced on Thursday that 324 more “assault-style firearms” have been added to Canada’s list of banned guns.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian says relations with Russia have deteriorated beyond the “point of no return.”

A senior Iranian official said on Friday that his country will send missiles, drones, and more “military advisers” to Syria.

The Romanian Constitutional Court on Friday annulled the first round of the presidential election after declassified intelligence documents suggested Russian influence operations gave nationalist candidate Calin Georgescu his surprising victory.

President Joe Biden toured the National Museum of Slavery in Angola’s capital of Luanda on Tuesday, delivering a speech in which he described slavery as America’s “original sin” and claiming it still taints American public discourse.

Syrian rebel commander Hassan Abdul Ghany says his forces have begun to penetrate the strategic city of Hama.

South Korean President Yoon Sook-yeol on Thursday accepted the resignation of Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun, even as critics demanded Yoon step down over his aborted attempt to impose martial law on Tuesday.

Humanitarian groups are concerned that the surprise offensive launched by al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) against the Syrian government last week could put Syrian Christians in even greater danger, and they were already struggling to survive after a decade of civil war and the rise of the Islamic State.

The Pentagon said on Tuesday that U.S. forces in Syria were compelled to conduct a “self-defense” strike against rocket launchers, mortars, and at least one tank in eastern Syria, where a jihadi insurgent group is fighting the Syrian government.

China expects fellow members of the BRICS economic bloc to push back against President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threats.

The Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale University published a study on Tuesday that found at least 314 children kidnapped from Ukraine by Russian forces have been offered for adoption on websites funded by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said on Monday that up to half of Haiti’s armed gang members are children, employed as “informants, cooks and sex slaves” in addition to being “forced to perpetrate violence.”

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S.-backed Syrian militia group led by Syrian Kurdish forces, said on Tuesday that its fighters clashed with Syrian government troops and took control of seven villages near Deir al-Zor, potentially opening a new front against the regime of dictator Bashar Assad.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) personnel on Tuesday accused peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) of ignoring ceasefire violations by Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Lawmakers from South Korea’s opposition Democratic Party (DP) managed to defy a lockdown on parliamentary headquarters to table a motion that would invalidate President Yoon Suk-yeol’s declaration of martial law at roughly 1:00 a.m. local time – even as armed soldiers smashed through the windows of the building and moved to clear the assembly floor.

South Korean Yoon Suk-yeol stunned the world on Tuesday morning by declaring a state of “emergency martial law” because “subversive, anti-state elements” among the opposition are blocking his agenda.

Violence erupted in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi on Sunday, the fourth day of massive protests that began after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze suspended talks to join the European Union (EU).

Hundreds of Iran-backed Shiite militia fighters from Iraq have reportedly crossed the border into Syria to help dictator Bashar Assad battle a surprise offensive from Islamist insurgents in Aleppo.

President Joe Biden unleashed a firestorm of controversy and further eroded public trust in his already damaged party by giving a shocking blanket pardon to his son, Hunter, on Sunday.

Russian warplanes joined Syrian government jets for intense airstrikes against the rebel-held city of Idlib on Saturday and Sunday, killing dozens of civilians along with the militants, including at least ten children.

A delegation of politicians from Iran visited Algeria and Tunisia this week, hoping to increase Iran’s presence in Africa, find new friends after Tehran’s disastrous proxy war in Gaza, and turn the page on some unfortunate history in Algeria.

Alibaba founder Jack Ma, once the richest man in China before he was ruined and exiled for daring to criticize the Chinese Communist Party, paid a visit to his company’s main campus in Hangzhou on Friday.