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The Syrian government has fallen after a lightning offensive by anti-regime forces across the country – ending President Bashar al Assad’s 24-year rule.

Mr Assad has left office and the country after giving orders for there to be a peaceful transfer of power, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

Russia was not involved in the talks surrounding his departure, the ministry said, but has been in touch with opposition groups – and urged all sides to refrain from violence.

The leader’s whereabouts now – and those of his wife Asma and their two children – remain unknown.

Footage circulating on social media as the news emerged showed families ransacking presidential palaces in Damascus, with some taking selfies in the grand settings.

Read more: Latest updates from Syria

FILE - Syrian President Bashar Assad looks on at his country's flag at the opening of the 16th ordinary session of Arab Summit in Tunis, May 22, 2004. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)
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Bashar al Assad has left the capital Damascus, Russia says. Pic: AP/Amr Nabil

Tehran, another of Mr Assad’s allies, said it would continue to closely monitor developments in Syria and the region.

The fate of the country lies in the hands of the Syrian people and should be pursued without foreign imposition or destructive intervention, Iran’s foreign ministry said.

Syrian rebels, made up of various opposition groups, said they were working to transition power to a new governing body with full executive powers.

“The great Syrian revolution has moved from the stage of struggle to overthrow the Assad regime to the struggle to build a Syria together that befits the sacrifices of its people,” the coalition said in a statement, describing events as a new birth for “great Syria”.

Later, in a post on the social media platform X, it added it aimed to build strategic partnerships within the region and the world.

Syrian opposition fighters celebrate the collapse of the government in the capital Damascus. Pic: AP
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Syrian opposition fighters celebrate the collapse of the government in Damascus. Pic: AP

Rebels burn down a military court in the capital: Pic: AP
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Rebels burn down a military court in the capital: Pic: AP

People holding a Syrian opposition flag celebrate in Damascus. Pic: Reuters
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People holding a Syrian opposition flag in Damascus. Pic: Reuters

Syria’s prime minister, who remains in the country, said he was ready to co-operate and offered a peaceful transition.

“I am here in my home,” Mohammed Ghazi al Jalali said. “I have not left it and do not intend to leave, except in a peaceful manner that ensures the continued functioning of public institutions and state facilities, promoting security and reassurance for our fellow citizens.”

Read more:
How the rebel assault unfolded

Assad fall ‘not surprising’

Thousands celebrating in the streets

Thousands of Syrians, in cars and on foot, gathered in a main square in the capital Damascus chanting for freedom.

Saturday’s advances on the capital marked the first time the rebels have reached the outskirts of the city since 2018, when government forces recaptured the area after a years-long siege.

In the key city of Homs – which rebel fighters seized after just a day of fighting – thousands more filled the streets after the army withdrew, dancing and chanting “Assad is gone, Homs is free”, and “Long live Syria and down with Bashar al Assad”.

The rebels have also claimed Deir el Zor in the east, and Suweida, Quneitra and Deraa in the south.

Mr Assad and his forces had faced a battle on three fronts – Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS) from the north, the Southern Front, and a Kurdish group in the east.

HTS leader Abu Mohammed al Jolani, who led the insurgency, declared “the future is ours” in a statement read out on Syrian state TV.

He said there was “no room for turning back” and his group was “determined” to continue on the path it started in 2011.

Rebel leader Abu Mohammed al Golani. Pic: Syrian Rebel Operations via Reuters
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Rebel leader Abu Mohammed al Jolani. Pic: Syrian Rebel Operations via Reuters

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Footage circulating on social media showed families ransacking presidential palaces in Damascus and taking selfies in the grand settings.

Soldiers were reported to have deserted their posts and changed into civilian clothes as the rebels closed in.

Mohammed Amer al Oulabi, 44, was one of the many residents celebrating on the streets.

“From Idlib to Damascus, it only took them (the opposition forces) a few days, thank God. May God bless them, the heroic lions who made us proud,” he said.

Rebels announced a curfew starting from 4pm (1pm UK time) on Sunday until 5am on Monday.

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Inside Assad’s private residence

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Syrians inside presidential palace

The country’s international airport in Damascus was abandoned and rebels said they had entered the notorious Saydnaya military prison north of the capital and freed inmates.

Iran’s embassy was also stormed by Syrian rebels, Iran’s English-language Press TV reported.

In a sign of perhaps what was to come – protesters on Saturday brought down a statue of the president’s late father in a main square in a suburb a few miles from the centre of the capital.

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Damascus: Protesters topple statue

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Syrians react to Damascus being ‘freed’

Mr Assad had relied on his main allies, Russia and Iran, to counter insurgencies during his decades in power.

But with Russia now busy with its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Iran’s proxies Hezbollah and Hamas embroiled in a conflict with Israel, Syria’s army was left exposed.

The fall of Mr Assad’s regime marks a turning point for Syria after 13 years of civil conflict.

Towns and cities have been reduced to rubble, hundreds of thousands of people have died, and millions have been forced abroad as refugees.

It’s a new dawn – but there are dark clouds on the horizon

It’s over.

Fifty-four years of brutal Assad dynasty rule has come to an end. The streets of Damascus have erupted in celebration, President Assad has fled the country and the capital has fallen.

What comes next is of great concern. Syria is deeply divided, geographically and socially. This is a moment of huge peril.

Once the euphoria cools there will be deep hatred and anger towards former Assad loyalists after decades of murderous rule. Containing that will be difficult.

Who will govern Syria is unknown. Multiple rebel groups control different parts of the country and, we assume, they will all want their slice of power. That is a recipe for further civil war unless this can be managed in an orderly way.

Syria’s prime minister, Mohammed Ghazi al Jalali, has remained in Damascus and offered a peaceful transition. How he is treated will be a good indicator.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the main group that started this rebellion with the capture of Aleppo, was once affiliated with Al Qaeda. It has renounced those links but remain a proscribed terror organisation by the US and others.

Russia and Iran, Assad’s two main state sponsors, abandoned him when his fate seemed inevitable. It’s unlikely they will abandon Syria quite so quickly though. Moscow has key military bases on the Mediterranean coast which opens up a part of the world to them – giving these up would be a huge strategic blow.

To Iran, Syria was a centrepiece in its axis of resistance, the funnel through which weapons were channelled to Hezbollah and vital territory in its arc of influence. But Assad and Hezbollah have now both collapsed, and Iran’s network of Shia influence is in tatters.

It’s a new dawn for Syria, but there are dark clouds on the horizon.

Trump: Syria is ‘not our friend’

The White House said US President Joe Biden and his team were monitoring the “extraordinary events” in touch with regional partners.

Daniel Shapiro, from the US Department of Defense, said they would continue to maintain their presence in eastern Syria “solely to ensure the enduring defeat” of the Islamic State.

President-elect Donald Trump said the US should not get involved in the conflict.

“Syria is a mess,” he posted on his social media site Truth Social, adding the country is “not our friend”.

In a fresh post this morning, he added: “Assad is gone. He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer.

“Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, the other because of Israel and its fighting success.”

President Bashar al Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in July 2024. Pic: AP
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Mr Assad and Mr Putin in Moscow in July 2024. Pic: AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the ousting of Mr Assad as a “historic day”.

On a visit to the area near the border with Syria, he said he had ordered Israeli forces to seize areas in the buffer zone, adding: “We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border”.

The UN’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, urged all Syrians to prioritise dialogue, unity, and respect for international humanitarian law and human rights as they seek to rebuild their society.

British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips she “welcomed” news of Assad’s regime falling, adding: “He wasn’t exactly good to the Syrian people.”

Ms Rayner said: “We want to see a political resolution so that we can get that stability for Syrians and make sure that they have their infrastructure so that they have a political government there that is working in the interest of the Syrian people.”

Asked for her message to UK citizens in Syria, Ms Rayner said the foreign secretary was “very clear” that they should leave.

“We’ve had a plan to ensure that people were evacuated ahead of what’s happened over the weekend and we continue to support our UK nationals,” she added.

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Stock markets slump for second day running after Trump announces tariffs – in worst day for indexes since COVID

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Stock markets slump for second day running after Trump announces tariffs - in worst day for indexes since COVID

Worldwide stock markets have plummeted for the second day running as the fallout from Donald Trump’s global tariffs continues.

While European and Asian markets suffered notable falls, American indexes were the worst hit, with Wall Street closing to a sea of red on Friday following Thursday’s rout – the worst day in US markets since the COVID-19 pandemic.

As it happened: Worst week’s trading in five years

All three of the US’s major indexes were down by more than 5% at market close; The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 5.5%, the S&P 500 was 5.97% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 5.82%.

The Nasdaq was also 22% below its record-high set in December, which indicates a bear market.

Read more: What’s a bear market?

Ever since the US president announced the tariffs on Wednesday evening, analysts estimate that around $4.9trn (£3.8trn) has been wiped off the value of the global stock market.

More on Donald Trump

Mr Trump has remained unapologetic as the markets struggle, posting in all-caps on Truth Social before the markets closed that “only the weak will fail”.

The UK’s leading stock market, the FTSE 100, also suffered its worst daily drop in more than five years, closing 4.95% down, a level not seen since March 2020.

And the Japanese exchange Nikkei 225 dropped by 2.75% at end of trading, down 20% from its recent peak in July last year.

Pic: Reuters
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US indexes had the worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pic: Reuters

Trump holds trade deal talks – reports

It comes as a source told CNN that Mr Trump has been in discussions with Vietnamese, Indian and Israeli representatives to negotiate bespoke trade deals that could alleviate proposed tariffs on those countries before a deadline next week.

The source told the US broadcaster the talks were being held in advance of the reciprocal levies going into effect next week.

Vietnam faced one of the highest reciprocal tariffs announced by the US president this week, with 46% rates on imports. Israeli imports face a 17% rate, and Indian goods will be subject to 26% tariffs.

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Do Trump’s tariffs add up?

Read more:
Markets gave Trump a clear no-confidence vote
There were no winners from Trump’s tariff gameshow

China – hit with 34% tariffs on imported goods – has also announced it will issue its own levy of the same rate on US imports.

Mr Trump said China “played it wrong” and “panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do” in another all-caps Truth Social post earlier on Friday.

Later, on Air Force One, the US president told reporters that “the beauty” of the tariffs is that they allow for negotiations, referencing talks with Chinese company ByteDance on the sale of social media app TikTok.

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Tariffs: Xi hits back at Trump

He said: “We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say, ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?’

“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.”

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Financial markets were always going to respond to Trump tariffs but they’re also battling with another problem

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Financial markets were always going to respond to Trump tariffs but they're also battling with another problem

Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.

The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.

The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.

Tariffs latest: FTSE 100 suffers biggest daily drop since COVID

Financial investors had been gradually re-calibrating their expectations of Donald Trump over the past few months.

Hopes that his actions may not match his rhetoric were dashed on Wednesday as he imposed sweeping tariffs on the US’ trading partners, ratcheting up protectionism to a level not seen in more than a century.

Markets were always going to respond to that but they are also battling with another problem: the lack of certainty when it comes to Trump.

More on Donald Trump

He is a capricious figure and we can only guess his next move. Will he row back? How far is he willing to negotiate and offer concessions?

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There were no winners from Trump’s tariff gameshow
Trade war sparks ‘$2.2trn’ global market sell-off

These are massive unknowns, which are piled on to uncertainty about how countries will respond.

China has already retaliated and Europe has indicated it will go further.

That will compound the problems for the global economy and undoubtedly send shivers through the markets.

Much is yet to be determined, but if there’s one thing markets hate, it’s uncertainty.

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Court confirms sacking of South Korean president who declared martial law

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Court confirms sacking of South Korean president who declared martial law

South Korea’s constitutional court has confirmed the dismissal of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached in December after declaring martial law.

His decision to send troops onto the streets led to the country’s worst political crisis in decades.

The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.

The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.

Demonstrators who stayed overnight near the constitutional court wait for the start of a rally calling for the president to step down. Pic: AP
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Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP

Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.

The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.

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More on South Korea

The Constitutional Court is under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement of the impeachment trial. Pic: AP
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The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP

After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.

He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.

His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.

The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.

South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.

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