Putin says he saved Russia, but a year of challenges suggests Moscow’s position is precarious
Marking 25 years in office, Vladimir Putin says he has remade Russia as a sovereign power and will prevail in Ukraine, but ...
In post-Assad Middle East, Russia enters 2025 at a crossroads
Having lost it's Syrian ally in the former Assad regime, Russia is shifting forces from Syria to other places.
25 years ago today Vladimir Putin took power… but his brutal mafioso regime is only ever ONE STEP away from collapse
DESPITE his tyrannical rule, Putin’s fragile regime always sits just one step from collapse. The bloodthirsty tyrant seized ...
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Putin Turns His Back on Bashar al-Assad After Harsh Kremlin Criticism
Assad's rule in Syria remains one of the most controversial in modern Middle Eastern history. For over two decades, his ...
How well do you know the newsmakers of 2024? Test your knowledge with Mark Knight’s cartoon
The year 2024 was a tumultuous period for news, one to be remembered for elections, wars, Olympics and a record-breaking concert tour that stormed not just Melbourne but the world.
Now Syria’s long-ruling Baath party is collapsing, too
The party that for decades ruled as part of the Assad dynasty is now being blamed for damaging relations with other Arab ...
Brit wife of exiled Syria dictator Bashar Al-Assad 'barred from UK' amid cancer battle
London-born Asma Al-Assad is said to have a "50-50" chance of surviving leukaemia, but won't be allowed back to the UK after ...
Exiled dictator Assad’s ‘Desert Rose’ wife Asma BARRED from UK return amid cancer treatment and divorce rumours
Assad’s wife Asma has been effectively barred from returning to the UK. The 49-year-old – who was born in London – will be unable to return home as her passport has ...
Fall of Assad’s regime disrupts Russian army recruitment in Syria
The collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria following a lightning rebel offensive in November has shaken Assad-ally ...
The rise and fall of strongmen, and justice for a woman unbowed
It was a year of wars, election surprises, royal health scares and the reign of new queens. Within this maelstrom, one ...
Asma al-Assad: from private schoolgirl in Acton to being reportedly severely ill with leukaemia
She was once fawned over for her good looks and sharp mind, but is now seen as an accomplice to her husband’s cruelty. Claudia Cockerell on the fall of Syria’s first lady ...
Putin falsely boasts of having military alliances with 'most countries around the world'
Five ex-USSR countries maintain military alliances with Russia. Moscow also is engaged in transactional military partnerships ...