#Taiwan said on Thursday it detected 16 #Chinese warships in waters around the island, one of the highest numbers this year, as Beijing intensifies military pressure on #Taipei.

EU envoys agree on 15th package of anti-Russia sanctions
The new package adds more persons and entities to the already existing sanctions list, as well as constrains the activity of additional vessels of third states operating to contribute or support actions or policies supporting Russia’s actions against Ukraine

#DAMASCUS, Syria -Israel carried out a wave of heavy airstrikes across Syria as its troops advanced deeper into the country, a Syrian opposition war monitor said Tuesday, and the Israeli defence minister announced that his forces had destroyed Syria's navy.

#Israel acknowledged pushing into a buffer zone inside Syria following the overthrow of President Bashar Assad. But it remained unclear if its soldiers had gone beyond that area, which was established more than 50 years ago. Israel denied it is advancing on the Syrian capital of #Damascus.

Israeli officials have said they are striking military targets, including heavy weapons, suspected chemical weapons sites and air-defence systems, to prevent them from falling into the hands of extremists. Photographs circulating online showed destroyed missile launchers, helicopters and warplanes. Associated Press reporters in the capital heard heavy airstrikes overnight and into Tuesday morning.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel intended to establish a demilitarized zone in southern Syria.

Speaking at a navy base in Haifa, Katz said the army will create "defence zone free of weapons and terrorist threats in southern Syria, without a permanent Israeli presence, in order to prevent terrorism in Syria from taking root."

He gave few details on what that entailed, but warned Syria's rebels that "whoever follows Assad's path will end up like Assad. We will not allow an extremist Islamic terrorist entity to act against Israel."

In an area where so many geopolitical lines are packed together -- it is barely 25 miles (60 kilometres) from Damascus to the buffer zone, and only a few more miles to Israeli territory -- any military movement can spark regional fears.

There was no immediate comment from the insurgent groups -- led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS -- that have taken control of much of the country. Their lightning advance brought an end to the Assad family's half-century rule after nearly 14 years of civil war. There are concerns over what comes next.

'Damascus is more beautiful now'

Life in the capital is slowly returning to normal after the overthrow of Assad, who fled the country over the weekend and has been granted political asylum in Russia.

Private banks reopened on instructions from the central bank, said Sadi Ahmad, who runs a branch in the upscale Abu Rummaneh neighbourhood. He said all his employees returned to work.

Shops also reopened in the city's ancient Hamidiyeh market, where armed men and civilians could be seen buying perfume and ice cream. A clothing shop owner, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, said he hoped vendors would no longer have to pay bribes to security officials.

At Bakdash, a famous ice cream shop, a poster outside read: "Welcome to the rebels of free Syria. Long live free Syria."

"Damascus is more beautiful now," said Maysoun Qurabi, who was shopping in the market. "It has a soul, and people feel at ease and secure." Under Assad, she said, "people were hungry and scared. The regime was strong."

Israeli incursion draws condemnation

In the immediate aftermath of Assad's fall, Israeli forces moved into a roughly 400-square-kilometre (155-square-mile) buffer zone inside Syria that was established after the 1973 Mideast war, a move it said was taken to prevent attacks on its citizens.

Israel has a long history of seizing territory during wars with its neighbours and occupying it indefinitely, citing security concerns. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally, except by the United States.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has closely tracked the conflict since the civil war erupted in 2011, said Israel has carried out more than 300 airstrikes across the country since the rebels overthrew Assad.

The Observatory, and Beirut-based Mayadeen TV, which has reporters in Syria, said Israeli troops are advancing up the Syrian side of the border with Lebanon and had come within 25 kilometres (15 miles) of Damascus, which the Israeli military denied.

The suspected UnitedHealthcare CEO killer planned his attack well -- but made crucial mistakes, experts say.

“What surprises me is how well planned the actual attack was, and at the same time how sloppy the killer was in his movements – in his showing his face, in leaving behind items,” said Steve Moore, a retired FBI supervisory special agent.

“There’s kind of a dichotomy. It’s almost as if he read a book on how to do one of these attacks and didn’t read it carefully. He just made serious mistakes as he went along.”

The suspect’s evasion ended Monday at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania – where police arrested Luigi Mangione in connection with the killing.

Here’s a look at what police say are the suspect’s key moves, the evidence he left behind, and what experts say about his strategy:
Before the killing

He took a bus to New York and paid cash: The suspect cleverly avoided air travel – and the intense scrutiny that comes with it, experts said.

Had he taken a plane to New York, the suspect probably would have had to use a credit card, show his ID and reveal his entire face under security cameras. If he had a gun at the time, it probably would have been detected during luggage screening.

Instead, the suspect took a Greyhound bus to New York, law enforcement sources told CNN.

By travelling on Greyhound, the suspect “is paying cash, no ID,” former NYPD Deputy Commissioner Richard Esposito said.

“It’s one of the reasons people ride Greyhound buses. (There) is a great deal of freedom and anonymity to come and go as you please.”

Almost a week after the killing, it’s still not clear where the suspect got on the bus. The bus started its route in Atlanta, but authorities didn’t know whether the suspect boarded in Atlanta or elsewhere.

Detectives from the New York Police Department travelled to Georgia and reviewed surveillance footage from the Greyhound station in Atlanta – but saw no sign of the suspect, law enforcement officials told CNN. The detectives returned to New York.

#TUNIS, December 9. Syria’s government is ready to transfer power peacefully, Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali pledged.

According to al-Jalali, talks with the armed opposition which has taken power in Syria continue. "We are ready to cede our authority as soon as we are asked to," he told the Al Arabiya television channel. "Our top priority today is to make sure the basic needs of the Syrian people are provided for," he stressed.

Syria’s armed opposition units launched a large-scale offensive on government troops in the Aleppo and Idlib governorates on November 27. By the evening of December 7, they seized several large cities, including Aleppo, Hama, Deir ez-Zor, Daraa, and Homs. On December 8, they entered Damascus while government troops withdrew from the city. The head of the Syrian government, Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali, expressed his readiness for a peaceful transfer of power in the country. According to a statement from the Russian foreign ministry, Bashar Assad resigned as president of Syria and fled the country, instructing for the peaceful transfer of power.

Who is Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of the insurgency that toppled Syria's Assad?

Beirut -Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the militant leader whose stunning insurgency toppled Syria’s President Bashar Assad, has spent years working to remake his public image, renouncing longtime ties to al-Qaida and depicting himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance. As he entered Damascus behind his victorious fighters Sunday, he even dropped his nom de guerre and referred to himself with his real name, Ahmad al-Sharaa.

The extent of that transformation from jihadi extremist to would-be state builder is now put to the test.

Insurgents control #Damascus, Assad has fled into hiding, and for the first time after 50 years of his family’s iron hand, it is an open question how Syria will be governed.

Syria is home to multiple ethnic and religious communities, often pitted against each other by Assad’s state and years of war. Many of them fear the possibility that Sunni Islamist extremists will take over. The country is also fragmented among disparate armed factions, and foreign powers from Russia and Iran to the United States, Turkey and Israel all have their hands in the mix.

Hours after Damascus' capture, the 42-year-old al-Sharaa made his first appearance in the city's landmark Umayyad Mosque, declaring Assad's fall “a victory for the Islamic nation.” A senior rebel commander, Anas Salkhadi, appeared on state TV to declare, “Our message to all the sects of Syria, is that we tell them that Syria is for everyone.”

Al-Sharaa, who has been labeled a terrorist by the United States, and his insurgent force, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS – many of whose fighters are jihadis -- now stand to be a major player.

For years, al-Sharaa worked to consolidate power, while bottled up in the province of Idlib in Syria’s northwest corner as Assad’s Iranian- and Russian-backed rule over much of the country appeared solid.

He maneuvered among extremist organizations while eliminating competitors and former allies. He sought to polish the image of his de-facto “salvation government” that has been running Idlib to win over international governments and reassure Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities. And he built ties with various tribes and other groups.

Along the way, he shed his garb as a hard-line Islamist guerrilla and put on suits for press interviews, talking of building state institutions and decentralizing power to reflect Syria’s diversity.

“Syria deserves a governing system that is institutional, no one where a single ruler makes arbitrary decisions,” he said in an interview with CNN last week, offering the possibility HTS would eventually be dissolved after #Assad falls.

“Don’t judge by words, but by actions,” he said.

#DAMASCUS, Syria -Ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad fled to Moscow on Sunday, Russian media reported, hours after a stunning rebel advance took over the capital of Damascus and ended the Assad family’s 50 years of iron rule.

The Russian agencies, Tass and RIA, cited an unidentified Kremlin source on Assad and his family being given asylum in Moscow, his longtime ally and protector. The Associated Press was not immediately able to verify the reports but contacted the Kremlin for comment.

RIA also said Moscow had received guarantees from Syrian insurgents of the security of Russian military bases and diplomatic posts in Syria.

Jubilation and gunfire as #Syrians celebrate the end of the Assad family's half-century rule.
Assad reportedly left #Syria early Sunday, and Syrians have been pouring into streets echoing with celebratory gunfire after a stunning rebel advance reached the capital, ending the Assad family’s 50 years of iron rule.

The swiftly moving events have raised questions about the future of the country and the wider region. Russia has requested an emergency session of the UN Security Council discuss the situation in Syria, Russia’s first deputy permanent representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, posted on Telegram.

Joyful crowds gathered in squares in Damascus, waving the Syrian revolutionary flag in scenes that recalled the early days of the Arab Spring uprising, before a brutal crackdown and the rise of an insurgency plunged the country into a nearly 14-year civil war.

Others gleefully ransacked the presidential palace and residence after Assad and other top officials vanished.

Abu Mohammed al-Golani, a former al-Qaida commander who cut ties with the group years ago and says he embraces pluralism and religious tolerance, leads the biggest rebel faction and is poised to chart the country's future.

In his first public appearance since fighters entered the Damascus suburbs Saturday, al-Golani visited the sprawling Umayyad Mosque and called Assad's fall “a victory to the Islamic nation.” Calling himself by his given name, Ahmad al-Sharaa, and not his nom de guerre, he told hundreds of people that Assad had made Syria “a farm for Iran’s greed.”

The rebels face the daunting task of healing bitter divisions in a country ravaged by war and still split among armed factions. Turkey-backed opposition fighters are battling U.S.-allied Kurdish forces in the north, and the Islamic State group is still active in some remote areas.

Syrian state television broadcast a rebel statement early Sunday saying Assad had been overthrown and all prisoners had been released. They called on people to preserve the institutions of “the free Syrian state.” The rebels later announced a curfew in Damascus from 4 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The rebels said they freed people held at the notorious Saydnaya prison, where rights groups say thousands were tortured and killed. A video circulating online purported to show rebels breaking open cell doors and freeing dozens of female prisoners, many of whom appeared shocked. At least one small child was seen among them.

“This happiness will not be completed until I can see my son out of prison and know where is he,” said one relative, Bassam Masr. "I have been searching for him for two hours. He has been detained for 13 years.”

Rebel commander Anas Salkhadi later appeared on state TV and sought to reassure Syria's religious and ethnic minorities, saying: “Syria is for everyone, no exceptions. Syria is for Druze, Sunnis, Alawites, and all sects.”

“We will not deal with people the way the Assad family did," he added.
Celebrations in the capital

Damascus residents prayed in mosques and celebrated in squares, calling, “God is great.” People chanted anti-Assad slogans and honked car horns. Teenage boys picked up weapons apparently discarded by security forces and fired into the air.

Revelers filled Umayyad Square, where the Defense Ministry is located. Some waved the three-starred Syrian flag that predates the Assad government and was adopted by the revolutionaries. Elsewhere, many parts of the capital were empty and shops were closed.

Soldiers and police left their posts and fled, and looters broke into the Defense Ministry. Videos showed families wandering the presidential palace, some carrying stacks of plates and other household items.

Not waiting until the official swearing-in, Donald Trump has already begun to exert his influence over U.S. foreign policy as president-elect.

Threatening tariffs(opens in a new tab) on America’s largest trading partners; attending the re-opening of the historic Notre Dame cathedral(opens in a new tab) in Paris; and even threatening Hamas(opens in a new tab) directly with the release of hostages, or else. The incoming president is making his presence known in ways big and small, all of which are overshadowing the current commander-in-chief.

Taking calls with foreign leaders and dispatching Elon Musk(opens in a new tab) as his emissary with global dignitaries and business leaders, Trump is once again taking the nation to the great unknown as he is now operating as the de-facto president.

Always one to take up space and never cede the foreground, Trump is shaping the #geopolitical landscape and global markets are reacting to the moves being made by the mercurial leader.

From his most recent warning of 100 per cent tariffs on the BRICS nations(opens in a new tab), to his constant bromides of mass deportations, quickly and surreptitiously presidents, prime ministers, and chancellors have moved on from the Biden administration and begun bracing for an America first agenda.

Case in point, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already begun engaging with the soon-to-be 47th president even as the current White House is still feverishly and aggressively hoping to find daylight between Hamas and Israel on the remaining hostages. In fact, Trump’s initial shadow moves are now being made openly to tremendous aplomb.

The night before, opposition forces had taken the central city of Homs, Syria's third largest, as government forces abandoned it. The government denied rumors that President #Bashar #Assad had fled the country.

The loss of Homs represented a potentially crippling blow for Assad. It stands at an important intersection between Damascus, the capital, and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus — the Syrian leader’s base of support and home to a Russian strategic naval base.

Sham FM reported that government forces took positions outside Homs without elaborating. Rami Abdurrahman who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Syrian troops and members of different security agencies withdrew from the city, adding that rebels entered parts of it.

The insurgency announced later Saturday that it had taken over Homs. The city's capture was a major victory for the rebels, who have already seized the cities of Aleppo and Hama, as well as large parts of the south, in a lightning offensive that began Nov. 27. Analysts said rebel control of Homs would be a game-changer.

The rebels' moves around #Damascus, reported by the monitor and a rebel commander, came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including several provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters.

Should Damascus fall to the opposition forces, the government would have control of only two of 14 provincial capitals: Latakia and Tartus.

The advances in the past week were by far the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. In their push to overthrow Assad's government, the insurgents, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have met little resistance from the Syrian army.

The rapid rebel gains, coupled with the lack of support from Assad's erstwhile allies, posed the most serious threat to his rule since the start of the war.

The U.N.’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, called Saturday for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.” Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the situation in Syria was changing by the minute. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose country is Assad's chief international backer, said he feels “sorry for the Syrian people.”

In Damascus, people rushed to stock up on supplies. Thousands went to Syria's border with Lebanon, trying to leave the country.

Many shops in the capital were shuttered, a resident told The Associated Press, and those still open ran out of staples such as sugar. Some were selling items at three times the normal price.

“The situation is very strange. We are not used to that,” the resident said, insisting on anonymity, fearing retributions.

“People are worried whether there will be a battle (in Damascus) or not.”

It was the first time that opposition forces reached the outskirts of Damascus since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured the area following a yearslong siege. The U.N. said it was moving noncritical staff outside the country as a precaution.