Video shows Syrian prime minister escorted by armed men
Damascus (AP): A video shared on Syrian opposition media showed a group of armed men escorting Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali out of his office and to the Four Seasons hotel on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Syrians have crowded the Lebanese side of the Masnaa border crossing Sunday waiting to cross back into Syria after the fall of Bashar Assad.
Lebanon's General Security closed the crossing overnight but reopened it in the morning, allowing Syrians to freely cross out of Lebanon while restricting their entry from Syria into the country.
Lebanese officials have long complained about the country's population of refugees — the largest per capita in the world. As of Sept 30, some 768,353 Syrian refugees were registered with the UN refugee agency in Lebanon, with hundreds of thousands more believed to be unregistered.
Many fled Lebanon after the escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in late September, but others crossed back from Syria into Lebanon in recent days as insurgents marched toward Damascus.
With Syrian officials having abandoned the Syrian side of the border, an Associated Press photographer who crossed from Lebanon into Syria said he saw some people taking the opportunity to loot the duty-free store between the two borders.
Qatari official says there is regional consensus on engaging all parties in Syria
DOHA, Qatar — Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman and adviser to the prime minister, Majed bin Mohammed al-Ansari, says participants of the emergency meeting of foreign ministers and top officials from eight countries with interests in Syria, agreed on the need “to engage all parties on the ground and be inclusive in our engagement.”
The late Saturday meeting, hosted by Qatar, included Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Turkey.
Al-Ansari also said that would include the HTS, the main rebel group that has taken control of Damascus, branded a terrorist organization by the US and United Nations.
He said the meeting participants were caught off guard by how quickly Assad was toppled and that the Syrian leader had not reached out to Qatar, but had spoken to other countries in the region in his final days. He said he did not know where Assad was.
Al-Ansari said the international community must now work together to create conditions where all Syrians can live in peace, regardless of their religious or ethnic group.
The main concern is “stability and safe transition,” he said. “No one group or party should feel unsafe in a future Syria.”
Al-Ansari spoke to reporters on the sidelines of the Doha Forum.
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali was escorted by opposition forces out of his #Damascus home early this morning to hand over control of state institutions to the opposition leader.#دمشق #Syria pic.twitter.com/jmYLAvrJnj
— Pamir News (@PamirNews) December 8, 2024
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
