While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, Dec 9, 2024
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Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad visit the Hmeymim air base in Dec 2017.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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Syria’s Assad is in Moscow after deal on safety of military bases, say Russian news agencies
Syria’s former President Bashar al-Assad is in Moscow with his family after Russia granted them asylum on humanitarian grounds, a Kremlin source told Russian news agencies on Dec 8, and a deal has been done to ensure the safety of Russian military bases.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said earlier that Assad had left Syria and given orders for a peaceful transfer of power, after rebel fighters raced into Damascus unopposed on Dec 8, ending nearly six decades of his family’s iron-fisted rule.
“Syrian President Assad of Syria and members of his family have arrived in Moscow. Russia has granted them asylum on humanitarian grounds,” the Interfax news agency quoted the unnamed Kremlin source as saying.
Trump says he will not try to replace Fed’s Powell
REUTERS
US President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview aired on Dec 8 he will not try to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell upon taking office in January.
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t see it,” Trump said on NBC News’ Meet the Press with Kristen Welker when asked if he would seek to remove Powell, whose term ends in 2026.
Trump added that he didn’t think Powell, who he has sparred with in the past over interest rate levels, would go quietly.
Syrians stroll through Assad’s palaces, take furniture and ornaments
via REUTERS
Syrians strolled through the palaces of President Bashar al-Assad on Dec 8 following his sudden ouster, wandering from room to room, posing for photographs, and with some taking away items of furniture or ornaments.
Video obtained by Reuters showed people entering the Al-Rawda Presidential Palace, as children ran through the grand, formal rooms and men slid a large trunk across the ornate patterned floor.
Several men marched out of the building carrying chairs over their shoulders. In a storeroom, cupboards had been ransacked and objects strewn across the floor.
Anti-bullfight activists in Rome arrested in front of pope’s vehicle
via REUTERS
Four animal activists were arrested in Rome on Dec 9 after throwing themselves in the path of a car carrying Pope Francis, yelling “bullfighting is a sin”, animal rights group Peta said.
Video footage provided by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals showed three women jumping over a barricade and kneeling in the path of the approaching white Fiat carrying the pope as they raised signs in the air.
Security forces quickly whisked the women away, as another woman behind the barricade wielded a similar sign saying “bullfighting is a sin” in Spanish, the video showed.
Palmer on the spot as Chelsea roar back to beat Tottenham
AFP
Cole Palmer scored twice from the penalty spot as Chelsea roared back from two goals down after 11 minutes to beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-3 away in a frenzied London derby and close the gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool on Dec 8.
Two comical slips by Chelsea full back Marc Cucurella led to Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski giving the hosts a dream start but their joy turned to despair.
Jadon Sancho rifled in a shot after 17 minutes to give Chelsea momentum and Palmer equalised from the spot just past the hour mark as Chelsea dominated the second period.
