Syrian rebels overtake Aleppo in surprise offensive

The World

PRX

News, Lethaldissent

4.6 • 884 Ratings

🗓️ 2 December 2024

⏱️ 50 minutes

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Summary

Syria's anti-government rebels launched a massive offensive last week, taking most observers by surprise and gaining control over the largest city, Aleppo. The regime of President Bashar al-Assad has responded by conducting aerial attacks on Aleppo city and Idlib province. Also, the president of the International Criminal Court lashed out at the US and Russia for interfering with its investigations as the institution’s annual meeting opened on today. And, a gathering of more than 200 nations convened in Busan, South Korea, to reach a landmark agreement on ending plastic pollution, but left without achieving its goal after pressure from oil-rich nations. Plus, Hong Kong launches its “PANDA GO! FEST HK” festival with 2,500 panda statues made of recycled rubber barrels to be put on display this month.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The Syrian city of Aleppo has been captured by rebel insurgents, an offensive that came as a total surprise to everyone.
0:11.8	I think even the rebels themselves are surprised by their successes.
0:16.7	I'm Marco Wormon today, what the fall of Aleppo means in Syria and beyond.
0:20.7	Also, how opposition politicians in Russia are holding up against a seemingly impenetrable political wall.
0:26.7	This system was built by Putin step by step during more than 20 years.
0:32.2	Plus, many big Japanese companies require people to retire at age 60, leaving older people scrambling to find work.
0:39.3	It was very hard to find work at the public job centers because all the jobs has a age cap.
0:46.8	And salmon hats, a fashion trend among killer whales. That and more all ahead today on the world.
0:59.3	This is the world. I'm Marco Wurman. Thank you for being with us this Monday after a long holiday weekend. Carolyn Beeler is away.
1:05.2	Today, all eyes are on Syria where an anti-government coalition is taken the northern city of Aleppo.
1:12.1	This, after insurgents mounted a surprise offensive late last week against the forces of President Bashar al-Assad and his
1:17.2	allies. It is the largest rebel offensive in Syria in years. The Assad regime has responded with
1:22.7	aerial attacks on civilian neighborhoods. Meanwhile, Aleppo's captured by rebels has left many Syrians
1:28.2	especially stunned. Syrian activist Razanza, four, whose family in Aleppo, spoke to Al-Jazeera
1:34.4	and said there's widespread uncertainty about what comes next. I don't think I can even describe
1:39.5	to you the feelings that myself and many of my family and many of my friends are feeling right now we're very
1:44.9	confused, we're very scared, we're very apprehensive, but we're also very excited and very
1:51.3	hopeful. Natasha Hall has been closely following the news from Syria. She's a senior fellow at the
1:56.4	Center for International and Strategic Studies in Washington. So the offensive was launched from northwest Syria.
2:03.6	What we saw was regime forces and police just melt away in Aleppo city.
2:09.9	And so the rebels actually entered with very little resistance.
2:13.9	And this points to a couple of things.
	...

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