Good morning.

It was a monumental weekend in and for the Middle East as the Assad regime fell after 50 years of brutal rule in Syria. After a startlingly fast and relatively bloodless sweep of the country by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels, HTS is now in charge of Damascus and most of Western and central Syria from the Turkish border to Jordan. I was wrong in my assessment on Friday as I anticipated elements of the regime to put up some kind of resistance, but it seems that the majority of the military either surrendered or melted away, allowing the rebels to take Damascus essentially unopposed.

What’s next is a big question: there are legitimate concerns that there could be a rerun of the chaos that unfolded in Libya after the fall of Muammar Qadaffi, or that the more recent softening of HTS will quickly be replaced by a more stringent form of Islam. Islamic State is still active in parts of Syria and Turkey is fighting the Kurdish YPG in the north east so a peaceful, united Syria is a long way away. However, as of Monday morning, the situation appears calm and there are positive overtures from regional and some Western powers toward HTS, all of which are positive signs.

On the the headlines.

Weekend Stories of Note

The biggest story this weekend was Syria and the remarkable speed with which the Assad regime fell and the ease with which HTS-led rebels were able to take control of Damascus. By Sunday evening Assad and his family were believed to be in Moscow after he had resigned as president and the Prime Minister was in the process of handing over control to the rebels. Significant parts of the Syrian military had laid down their weapons and refused to fight, while others had headed to the Iraqi border and surrendered to the Iraqi forces. Hezbollah had retreated to Lebanon and the Russian military was also believed to be packing up their bases and preparing to leave.

HTS has been remaking itself for many years to shed its previous affiliations with Al-Qaeda: notably, its leader, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, just dropped his ‘jihadi’ name, Abu Mohammed Al-Jawlani. The group has been careful to telegraph its intentions, conducting significant amounts of diplomatic outreach and regularly communicating with the people of Syria as they made their advance. So far, it appears that they have a well-thought-out plan for taking control of Damascus and the areas previously under the control of the Assad regime, and the Syrian population generally seems to be pleased with their arrival. What happens after this euphoria wears off is unclear, but the speed and relatively bloodless nature of Assad's fall may offer a real opportunity for Syria’s future. [SOURCE - Multiple news outlets plus social media. Live Coverage on the BBC]

Due to concerns about the significant amount of Russian interference via social media with the first round of presidential elections, the Supreme Court in Romania annulled those results and demanded that the election be rerun. [SOURCE - Euronews]

A much-anticipated attempt to impeach South Korea's president following his declaration of martial law earlier in the week failed as the majority of his party's MPs left parliament and refused to participate in the vote. This adds to the confusion and turbulence in South Korea and it is unclear what will happen next. [SOURCE - Bloomberg]

Opposition candidate and former President, John Mahama, won Ghana's presidential election. [SOURCE - BBC]

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