In a development that could reshape the Middle East, armed opposition groups have overthrown Bashar al-Assad in Syria following a lightning 12-day offensive. Assad has resigned and fled to Russia, where he has been granted asylum. Assad’s family had ruled Syria with an iron grip for over 50 years.
Thousands of Syrians living in exile have poured back into the country, while tens of thousands of prisoners held by the Assad government have been freed. At the Sednaya prison in Damascus, rescue workers are now trying to access underground cells at the site, which has been described as a “human slaughterhouse.”

The uprising was led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, a group listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the United Nations. Members of the group spoke on Sunday after seizing Syria’s state television.

Syrian rebel: “In the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful, by the grace of God Almighty, the city of Damascus has been liberated. The tyrant Bashar al-Assad has been toppled, and all the unjustly detained persons from the regime’s prisons have been released.”

A deal has been reached to allow Syria’s Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali to remain in his position to oversee the state’s institutions until a transition government is formed.

Many Syrians across the globe held celebratory rallies to mark the fall of Assad. Sabri Chikhou took part in a rally in London.

Sabri Chikhou: “We are going towards democracy and building a new Syria with a new system, democratic system. And we will depend on society and establishment, not to the single regime who control every part in our country.”

Many questions remain as to what will happen next in Syria, which has been devastated by a 13-year civil war that has been fueled in part by numerous foreign countries, including Russia, Iran, the United States, Turkey and Israel.

The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting today on Syria. The U.N. Syrian envoy, Geir Pedersen, has called for an inclusive transitional government to restore a unified Syria.

Geir Pedersen: “All armed actors on the ground maintain good conduct, law and order, protect civilians and preserve public institutions. Let me urge all Syrians to prioritize dialogue, unity and respect for international humanitarian law and human rights as they seek to rebuild their society.”

Israel responded to the uprising in Syria by invading and seizing part of Syria’s Golan Heights in violation of a 1974 agreement with the Syrian government. Israel also bombed a number of areas, including a Syrian air base and weapons depots. The United States carried out dozens of airstrikes inside Syria targeting areas held by the Islamic State. Meanwhile, in northern Syria, Turkish-backed armed groups have seized the city of Manbij, which had been controlled by U.S.-backed Syrian Kurdish forces. We will have more on Syria after headlines.

In news from Gaza, an Israeli attack on Rafah killed at least 10 Palestinians who had lined up to buy flour. In a separate attack, Israel struck a home, killing nine members of the same family in the Bureij refugee camp. Most of the victims were reportedly women and children. On Friday, an Israeli strike in the Nuseirat camp killed at least 20 Palestinians, including at least six children and five women. Survivors had to be pulled from the rubble.

Radi Abdulfatah: “There was suddenly an explosion. This was not an explosion; this was a tsunami. Like you see, it took not only one house, but many. There was fire and flames, flames that burned us. They burn us. They damage us. They cut us in pieces. There were bodies in pieces. I was pulled from under the rubble yesterday, and I have stitches in my head.”

Meanwhile, the head of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza is warning the lives of more than 100 patients are at risk after Israeli attacks cut off the hospital’s supply of electricity, oxygen and water. On Friday, Israeli troops stormed the hospital compound.

President-elect Donald Trump joined world leaders in Paris this weekend as France celebrated the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral five years after a devastating fire. Trump met with French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. After the meeting, Trump wrote on social media, “Zelensky and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness. There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin.”

On Saturday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced a new $1 billion military aid package for Ukraine that includes drones and ammunition. Austin spoke at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin: “I’m proud to announce today the commitment of a new Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative package worth nearly $1 billion. … Now, that package will provide Ukraine with more drones, more rockets for its HIMARS systems, and more support for crucial maintenance and sustainment. And that brings the total of U.S. security assistance committed to Ukraine since February 2022 to more than $62 billion.”

President-elect Donald Trump is vowing to pardon rioters who took part in the January 6 Capitol insurrection, on his first day in office. Trump made the comment in an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.”

President-elect Donald Trump: “Yeah, I’m going to look at everything. We’re going to look at individual” —

Kristen Welker: “Everyone?”

President-elect Donald Trump: — “cases. Yeah.”

Kristen Welker: “OK.”

President-elect Donald Trump: “But I’m going to be acting very quickly.”

Kristen Welker: “Within your first 100 days? First day?”

President-elect Donald Trump: “First day.”

Kristen Welker: “First day?”

President-elect Donald Trump: “Yeah, I’m looking first day.”

Kristen Welker: “And issue these pardons?”

President-elect Donald Trump: “These people have been there — how long is it? Three or four years.”

During the interview, Trump also said former Republican Congressmember Liz Cheney and other members of the House January 6 committee should be jailed.

Kristen Welker: “So, you think Liz Cheney should go to jail?”

President-elect Donald Trump: “For what they did” —

Kristen Welker: “Everyone on the committee, you think should go to jail?”

President-elect Donald Trump: “I think everybody on the — anybody that voted in favor” —

Kristen Welker: “Are you going to direct your FBI director” —

President-elect Donald Trump: “No.”

Kristen Welker: — “and your attorney general to send them to jail?”

President-elect Donald Trump: “No, not at all. I think that they’ll have to look at that, but I’m not going to — I’m going to focus on 'drill, baby, drill.'”

Trump also vowed to end birthright citizenship, while falsely claiming the United States is the only country in the world to have such a policy.

Kristen Welker: “You’ve promised to end birthright citizenship” —

President-elect Donald Trump: “Yeah.”

Kristen Welker: — “on day one.”

President-elect Donald Trump: “Correct.”

Kristen Welker: “Is that still your plan?”

President-elect Donald Trump: “Yeah, absolutely.”

Kristen Welker: “The 14th Amendment, though, says that, quote, 'All persons born in the United States are citizens.' Can you get” —

President-elect Donald Trump: “Yeah.”

Kristen Welker: — “around the 14th Amendment with an executive action?”

President-elect Donald Trump: “Well, we’re going to have to get it changed. We’ll maybe have to go back to the people. But we have to end it. We’re the only country that has it.”

South Korea remains in a state of political crisis nearly a week after President Yoon Suk Yeol shocked the nation by declaring martial law, before revoking it six hours later. On Saturday, an effort to impeach Yoon failed after lawmakers from his ruling People Power Party boycotted the vote. Earlier in the day, Yoon apologized to the country while agreeing to shorten his term and hand over some power to his prime minister. But supporters of the opposition criticized the deal. One lawmaker called it “an illegal, unconstitutional second insurrection and a second coup.” Authorities have also placed a travel ban on the president, who is under investigation for committing treason. On Sunday, Yoon’s former defense minister was arrested.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has accused the leader of a powerful armed group in Haiti of killing as many as 184 people in the Cité Soleil area of Port-au-Prince. Most, if not all, of the victims were elderly residents. According to one Haitian human rights group, the head of the Wharf Jérémie gang ordered the killings because he believed practitioners of voodoo had sickened his child.

In Ghana, celebrations broke out in the streets as former president and opposition candidate John Dramani Mahama declared victory in this weekend’s presidential election. The ruling party’s candidate, current Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, conceded defeat Sunday. Ahead of the election, anger mounted against the ruling New Patriotic Party over the government’s handling of Ghana’s economic crisis. Mahama was previously president of Ghana between 2012 and 2017. His campaign largely appealed to Ghana’s young voters as he vowed to “reset” the country.

In New York, a judge on Friday dismissed the most serious charge of second-degree manslaughter against a white former U.S. marine who choked Black street performer Jordan Neely to death on a subway last May. The ruling clears the way for the jury to consider the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide against Daniel Penny, who held Neely in a chokehold until he died. This is Chivona Newsome, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter New York chapter.

Chivona Newsome: “No matter the expert witnesses, no matter the people yelling on that train that day to 'let Jordan go, you will kill him,' they will not find a white man guilty of killing a Black man in modern-day America. This is no different than Jim Crow.”

If convicted, Penny faces up to four years in prison. Neely, a 30-year-old beloved street performer, was unhoused and hungry, and crying out for help when the ex-marine attacked him. Neely was well known to New Yorkers and tourists as a talented Michael Jackson impersonator.

In Indiana, two Indianapolis police officers have been acquitted in the 2022 killing of Herman Whitfield III, an award-winning African American piano virtuoso, who died after the officers repeatedly tasered him, handcuffed and pinned him to the ground as he cried out he couldn’t breathe. The jury found Indianapolis police officers Adam Ahmad and Steven Sanchez not guilty on all counts of involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide and battery. In April 2022, Whitfield’s parents called 911 to ask for help as their son experienced a mental health crisis in their home. The officers found Whitfield without clothes on and bleeding from the mouth. Instead of helping him, they attacked the 39-year-old with a stun gun and then restrained him. Whitfield’s death was later ruled a homicide.

Pope Francis has repeated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza. On Saturday, the pope unveiled this year’s nativity scene at the Vatican. It portrays baby Jesus in a crib lined with a Palestinian keffiyeh. At the ceremony, a top Palestinian official praised the pope for his “ongoing efforts to end the genocide in Gaza and his steadfast support for the Palestinian cause.” Over the weekend, Pope Francis also called on U.S. authorities to commute the sentences of prisoners on death row.