In exclusive, leaked 2018 footage aired by Al Arabiya, ousted Syrian regime leader Bashar al Assad is seen driving with former adviser Luna al Shibl as he mocks a destroyed mosque in Eastern Ghouta — an area where his forces committed some of the civil war’s worst atrocities, including a chemical weapon massacre. He cursed the region, calling its people the “worst" of society, while blaming them for building mosques despite struggling for money, comparing them to irresponsible "pharaohs." | TRT

US President Donald Trump spritzed new Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa with Trump branded cologne during a White House meeting. A former rebel fighter, Mr Sharaa is the first Syrian president to visit the Oval Office after the US lifted sanctions on him, removing the designation Specially Designated Global Terrorist and a $13 million bounty on his head. | The Straits Times