Syrian rebels have claimed victory over the Assad regime and taken the capital of Damascus, bringing an end to Bashar al-Assad’s more than two decade rule. What we know: After the military command of the Syrian opposition launched a surprise offensive in Aleppo just a week ago, the rebels over the weekend took control of the key city of Homs and the capital of Damascus ( Reuters ); According to Reuters , Syria’s army command told its officers on Sunday that the Assad government had been toppled and the dictator had fled to an unknown location; The rebel group in a statement claimed that Damascus was free of Assad’s rule, bringing an end to the “dark period and the beginning of a new era in Syria” ( The Age ); Russia confirmed that Assad had left office and fled the country, with a spokesperson for the foreign ministry saying he had given orders for a peaceful handover of power ( The Guardian ); It brings an end to the reign of the Assad family, which ruled over Syria for more than 50 years, while Bashar al-Assad had been in power since 2000; In a televised statement on Sunday afternoon, the Syrian rebels said they had released all the people being held at the large military prison on the outskirts of Damascus ( ABC ); The Syrian civil war has been raging for 13 years, with about 600,000 people killed and 12 million displaced, about half of the country’s population ( The Saturday Paper ); Assad’s family reportedly fled to Russia earlier on the weekend, but the Kremlin has since said that Moscow does not plan to assist the leader ( The Australian ); The Assad regime received little help from its key allies to repel the rebels, with Russia focused on its ongoing war with Ukraine and Hezbollah weakened by its conflict with Israel; UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres overnight praised the end of Syria’s “dictatorial regime” and said that “today the people of Syria can seize an historic opportunity to build a stable and peaceful future” ( Reuters ). Australia’s national science agency has rejected Peter Dutton’s claims that nuclear power is cheaper than renewable energy due to its operating life, with the Opposition Leader expected to reveal costings for the Coalition’s plan this week. What we know: CSIRO has today released its draft GenCost report, an annual assessment of electricity prices, which backs in its previous findings that nuclear energy is too slow to be implemented and too costly ( AFR ); The Coalition has previously railed against these claims and said that nuclear power plants could be established in Australia in less than 15 years, and that their longer operating life makes them cheaper; The CSIRO analysis , conducted with the Australian Energy Market Operator, rejected these claims; CSIRO chief energy economist and report lead Paul Graham said that the longer lifetime of nuclear energy gave it “no unique cost advantage” due to the substantial re-investment costs across this time, and that “similar cost savings can be achieved with shorter-lived technologies, including renewables ( The Guardian ); Dutton is expected to this week reveal costings of the Coalition’s plan to build seven nuclear reactors around Australia, with an aim for the first to come online in 2035 or 2037 ( The Saturday Paper ); The CSIRO report claimed that a nuclear reactor would not be able to produce any energy in Australia until at least 2040, and that it would cost between $145 and $238 per unit of generation, well above the price of firmed renewables; The report found the cost of electricity from a grid dominated by renewable energy with firming support in 2030 would be at least 50% and up to 300% cheaper than nuclear energy; It said the cost of building a 1000 megawatt nuclear plant in Australia for the first time would be up to $18bn; Following similar findings earlier this year, opposition energy spokesperson Ted O’Brien met with CSIRO and asked it to redo its modelling with key assumptions changed ( SMH ). The latest draft report has accommodated these changes and still found nuclear power to be far more expensive than “variable renewables” such as wind and solar power backed up with batteries and a transmission-line rollout. Victoria Police and the AFP will meet in Melbourne today to determine whether the firebombing of a synagogue on Friday was an act of terrorism, with the leaders of the two major parties both saying they believe it was ( The Age ). Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Sunday said he believed that the attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea was an act of terrorism ( ABC ). “If you want my personal view , quite clearly terrorism is something that is aimed at creating fear in the community and the atrocities that occurred at the synagogue in Melbourne clearly were designed to create fear in the community and, therefore, from my personal perspective, certainly fulfil that definition of terrorism,” Albanese said. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton earlier described it as a “national disgrace” and an “act of terrorism”, and blamed the federal government for its “grotesque stance” on the Israel-Palestine conflict ( The Australian ). In a social media post over the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directly linked the attack to Australia's voting record on the Gaza conflict at the UN. The federal government on Sunday announced a further $32.5m over 18 months as part of a new round of funding for Jewish communities, aiming to combat the rise in anti-Semitic incidents ( The Conversation ). The number of Australians becoming homeless has increased by more than 20% in the last three years, with a sharp increase in employed people accessing support services, according to a new report ( The Guardian ). The report by UNSW and Homelessness Australia found that an additional 10,000 Australians are becoming homeless every month, with about half of these people sleeping rough and the rest couch surfing or living in short-term accommodation. There has been a major increase in the number of people with jobs accessing homelessness services, up from 10.9% to 15.3% or 33,000, over the five years to 2022-23 ( Canberra Times ). UNSW Professor of Housing Research and report lead Hal Pawson said that the increase was largely driven by the increase in rent prices and that “rental affordability stress has deepened to such a degree that more people are being forced into situations of severe instability and rough sleeping” ( news.com.au ). Homelessness Australia chief Kate Colvin said that support services are “buckling” under pressure and that the new statistics need to be a “wake-up call for action”. South Korea’s former defence minister has been arrested over his role in the brief declaration of martial law in the country last week ( Reuters ). Prosecutors said that Kim Yong-hyun, who stepped down as defence minister last week following the rescinding of martial law, was arrested on Sunday, with reports he directly proposed martial law to President Yoon Suk Yeol. Yoon survived an attempt to impeach him in parliament on Saturday, but the leader of his party said that he would need to step down eventually ( The Guardian ). Members of the president’s party boycotted the impeachment attempt, with not enough votes cast for it to be counted ( SBS ). It comes after South Korea’s three minority opposition parties filed a complaint with the prosecution against the president, ex-defence minister and the martial law commander, accusing them of treason. Yoon imposed martial law in an unscheduled televised address late on Tuesday night last week, but the order was rescinded by the National Assembly just hours later ( The Saturday Paper ). Insiders have told The Saturday Paper that party members are not happy about the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's treatment of Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek when he overturned a deal on strengthened environmental laws that was struck with concessions from the Greens ( The Saturday Paper ). The creator of Raygun: The Musical, comedian Steph Broadbridge, confirmed on social media the show had been cancelled after receiving notice from lawyers, adding, “We will be back soon and with a whole new story arc to add" ( The Guardian ).LINCOLN — Former Nebraska receiver Malachi Coleman, who redshirted this season after a fruitful freshman campaign, announced his transfer to Minnesota on Tuesday. Let’s rock. @GopherFootball pic.twitter.com/sUwysPBI3V The 6-foot-4, 190-pound Coleman, a top-100 recruit out of Lincoln East High School, caught eight passes for 139 yards and one touchdown as a true freshman. He sustained an injury that kept him out of spring camp, however, and, after switching jersey numbers from 15 to 80 to accommodate quarterback Dylan Raiola, Coleman appeared in just one game, vs. Rutgers, in 2024. NU also recruited transfers Jahmal Banks and Isaiah Neyor, who had similar size and skillsets, to play over Coleman at his position. Coleman redshirted and will have three seasons of eligibility left as he plays for the Gophers, who visits Oct. 18. Get local news delivered to your inbox!
Like every team in the National Hockey League, the Vancouver Canucks have played their final game before the short holiday break. Per the AHL transactions page , the Canucks have papered down forwards Phillip Di Giuseppe , Max Sasson , and Linus Karlsson bringing their roster down a minimum of 18 skaters and two goalies. The roster moves will give Vancouver a relatively large window of salary cap relief despite all three players earning below $900K on their current contracts. The Canucks don’t play until Saturday when they take on the Seattle Kraken meaning all three players will likely be recalled then. The veteran Di Giuseppe played in three games for Vancouver during his recent call-up from December 17th to today, tallying two assists and 12 hits while averaging 12:39 of ice time. He’ll likely spend more time on the Canucks roster for the rest of the season after returning from an injury earlier in the year. Di Giuseppe is in the final season of a two-year, $1.55MM agreement signed with Vancouver and can bring quality defensive play toward the bottom of the lineup. Sasson, the second forward included in today’s transaction, is starting to rack up playing time in the NHL. The former Western Michigan University standout has scored one goal and five points in 12 games for the Canucks this season and has seen his ice time climb to or near 13 minutes in three of his last four games. There’s a legitimate chance his playing days in the AHL are over for the foreseeable future unless Vancouver makes a notable outside addition to their bottom six. Karlsson also sustained an early-season injury keeping him out of the lineup for both Vancouver and the Abbotsford Canucks for much of the 2024-25 regular season. He’s gotten off to a hot start in Abbotsford scoring five goals and six points in seven games but he failed to find the scoresheet during his pair of contests in the NHL. He’s an interesting offensive weapon Vancouver could toy with toward the bottom of their forward grouping given that Karlsson is only a year removed from scoring 23 goals and 60 points in 60 AHL games. This article first appeared on Pro Hockey Rumors and was syndicated with permission.
Vance takes on a more visible transition role, working to boost Trump's most contentious picks
The TOI Entertainment Desk is a dynamic and dedicated team of journalists, working tirelessly to bring the pulse of the entertainment world straight to the readers of The Times of India. No red carpet goes unrolled, no stage goes dark - our team spans the globe, bringing you the latest scoops and insider insights from Bollywood to Hollywood, and every entertainment hotspot in between. We don't just report; we tell tales of stardom and stories untold. Whether it's the rise of a new sensation or the seasoned journey of an industry veteran, the TOI Entertainment Desk is your front-row seat to the fascinating narratives that shape the entertainment landscape. Beyond the breaking news, we present a celebration of culture. We explore the intersections of entertainment with society, politics, and everyday life. Read More Mrunal Thakur’s style journey is where fashion meets acting excellence Top 10 countries with the highest lactose intolerance 10 high-protein foods to include in soups When Kriti Sanon steps out in a saree, it's a sight to behold Ananya Panday's mom Bhavana Pandey's quirky earrings collection Baby girl names inspired by the Indian months How to make spicy one-pot Chicken meal 10 best books to magically fuel your child’s love for reading 10 most expensive animals in the worldGoogle, Salesforce, H&M and other brands have turned to unlikely allies to help them clean up their carbon pollution: sewage treatment plants and paper mills. The companies joined an $80 million plan to take CO2 out of the atmosphere, though the strategies they're using have yet to show whether they can have a meaningful impact on climate change. They're paying $32.1 million to a startup called CREW that aims to trap carbon dioxide emissions produced at wastewater treatment facilities. And $48 million will go to another startup called CO280 that retrofits pulp and paper mills with controversial carbon capture technologies. The two agreements were facilitated by a carbon removal initiative called Frontier that's led by led by Stripe, Google, Shopify, and McKinsey Sustainability on behalf of those founding companies and other brands trying to meet their own sustainability goals. Companies are increasingly looking for ways to try to cancel out the damage caused by their greenhouse gas emissions Companies are increasingly looking for ways to try to cancel out the damage caused by their greenhouse gas emissions. They've funneled millions into startups building new-fangled industrial plants that filter CO2 out of the ambient air or seawater. Frontier's latest announcement shows they're also open to backing even more novel tactics for drawing down carbon dioxide. "We do need to be looking at a lot of different kinds of approaches," says Wil Burns co-director of the Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal at American University, who is also... Justine Calma