Connect with us

Published

on

Rebel forces claim to have taken control of the Syrian capital after storming through the country in less than two weeks.

According to reports, authoritarian ruler Bashar al Assad has fled Damascus on a plane headed to an unknown destination, ending his 24-year rule.

While Syrians celebrate in the streets with chants for freedom, attention will also turn to the insurgents and what happens next.

Who are the rebels?

The initial assault on regime forces, which began in the northern city of Aleppo last week, was carried out by a variety of Mr Assad’s opponents.

This included rebels under the banner of the Syrian National Army, backed by Turkey, but the offensive has mostly been led by jihadi group Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS).

Once known as the Nusra Front, a former wing of al Qaeda, HTS is said to have around 30,000 troops and has long been designated a terrorist group by the US and Russia.

It was formed to oppose the Syrian government and was founded by Abu Muhammed al Jolani, cutting ties with al Qaeda in 2016 and making an effort to appear moderate.

Read more: Latest as Assad ‘flees’ Syria

Rebel fighters in Homs. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Rebel fighters in the city of Homs. Pic: Reuters

As rebels entered Aleppo, video showed him issuing orders by phone, forbidding fighters from entering homes and reminding them to protect citizens.

Aron Lund, a fellow at think-tank Century International, said Mr Jolani and HTS have clearly changed, while adding they remain “pretty hardline”.

“It’s PR, but the fact they are engaging in this effort at all shows they are no longer as rigid as they once were,” he said.

“Old-school al Qaeda or the Islamic State would never have done that.”

But the US’s Commission on International Religious Freedom said in 2022 that despite the “rebrand”, HTS “restricts religious freedom” and threatens the safety of religious minorities.

What plans do they have?

Mr Jolani, himself designated a terrorist by the US in 2013, has tried to reassure Syrian minorities who fear jihadists.

In 2023, he allowed the first Christian mass in years in the northwestern city of Idlib, and on Wednesday insisted he would protect residents of a Christian town south of Aleppo.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Syrian rebels announce Damascus ‘freed’

The group’s political plans remain to be seen, with Robert Ford, former US ambassador to Syria, telling Sky News he has not seen “detailed programs”.

“We don’t know exactly what they’re going to do,” he said. “I would say here that after a 13-year incredibly bloody and vicious civil war, right now it’s a day for Syrians to celebrate, and to hope for things that will turn out better.

“There will be plenty of hard work quickly waiting for them.”

Why has this happened now?

These anti-Assad victories are years in the making, more than a decade on from the start of Syrian civil war.

But the rapid rebel progress has stunned the international community.

Key locations in Syria as well as the Iraqi town of Al Qaim, where troops are seeking refuge
Image:
Key locations in Syria as well as the Iraqi town of Al Qaim, where troops sought refuge.

Former head of the British Army’s chemical weapons unit, Hamish De Bretton-Gordon, said the timing is “no coincidence”.

“With Hezbollah much diminished, the Iranian proxy in the region, and also other Iranian militias, it gave the rebels an opportunity,” he told Sky News.

“With Russia taking so many forces away from Syria to bolster their special military operation in Ukraine, it left Assad exposed and the rebels have really taken advantage of it.”

What other nations have interests in Syria?

The assault had raised the prospect of another front reopening in the Middle East, at a time when US-backed Israel has been fighting Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, both Iran-allied groups.

Russia, which was Mr Assad’s main international backer, is also preoccupied with its war in Ukraine.

Previous military intervention by Russia and Iran – alongside support from other groups – had allowed Mr Assad to remain in power and retain 70% of Syria under his control.

Read more:
Middle East power dynamics will utterly change
Fast-moving conflict is unique geopolitical challenge

The US has about 900 troops in northeast Syria to guard against a resurgence by the Islamic State, which was defeated in Syria and Iraq by 2019, by a US-led coalition that included Kurdish fighters and UK air support.

Turkey, which also opposes Kurdish expansion, has forces in Syria alongside its reported influence with the broad alliance of opposition forces.

Continue Reading

World

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

Published

on

By

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
Image:
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.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

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.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

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.”

Continue Reading

World

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

Published

on

By

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?

Read more:
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.

Continue Reading

World

Court confirms sacking of South Korean president who declared martial law

Published

on

By

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
Image:
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.

Read more from Sky News:
Highs and lows of Five-Year Keir
MP tells Sky News she was targeted online by Tate brothers

More on South Korea

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

Continue Reading

Trending