As Damascus teetered, Assad's aide orchestrated a shadowy airlift, spiriting millions and secrets to Russia, paving his own escape route.
Livid after consecutive losses in the ODI tri-series, Australia coach Mickey Arthur on Saturday said the side and its "jaded" stand-in skipper Ricky Ponting would have to face the consequences if they don't atone for the defeats with an improved performance against India in Brisbane on Sunday.
Gill, Rahul, Pant and the irrepressible Yashasvi Jaiswal will now have a chance to script the next glorious chapter in Indian cricket.
India now need to beat Bangladesh and Myanmar in their remaining two games to qualify for the second round. Myanmar beat Bangladesh 4-2 in the other group game earlier.
Sources close to the top BJP leadership tell me that Tharoor has already had secret meetings with the BJP's top brass and is waiting patiently to make his next move, reports Ramesh Menon.
Shilpa Shetty to launch ready made food range in memory of the late reality star.
Moggina Jade is a film for those who want to see artistic films. But this is not a patch on Naidu's previous film, Mussanje, a classic. Moggina Jade focuses on the effect that urbanisation and outsourcing cause on the middle class and the creation of a neo-rich culture in cities.
Jade Goody left the world securing her sons' future, leaving behind a four-million-pound legacy for them.
There was a late flurry of sympathy for Goody after she wept on last night's show and made an impassioned plea that she was not racist.
Chennai Super Kings batting coach Michael Hussey reacts after the team's fifth consecutive defeat in the ongoing Indian Premier League, their first of the first in the cash-rich league's history.
China's first lunar probe on Sunday successfully separated from the lander and left deep traces on its loose soil, hours after the communist giant carried out the world's first soft landing on the lunar surface in nearly 40 years.
The Big Brother star has continued with media interviews despite her illness to make as much money as possible to leave behind for Bobby and Freddie.
Terminally ill British television reality star Jade Goody died in her sleep in the wee hours on Sunday, her publicist Max Clifford announced.
There are challenges galore before him, and it is not going to be easy. In the next four years, he has to conjure a system that changes the optics about him and the BJP both nationally and internationally so that he can ride back on his own, claim the top slot, and not have to lean on a coalition, asserts Ramesh Menon as Modi 3.0 completes a year in power.
There's not any effort -- not even a smidgen -- to resurrect a superstar on the wane in Sikandar, sighs Sukanya Verma.
China's troubled moon rover Yutu or Jade Rabbit has come back to life from a troubled dormancy although experts are still trying to figure out the cause of its abnormality, officials said on Thursday.
November was high on the fashion meter as a lot of celebs made dazzling appearances while attending promotional events and at parties.
Varun flying around in over-the-top stunts, showing off his dance moves, taking his shirt off and throwing dialogues in masala hero style. A padded-up star vehicle churned out for the nth time, sighs Mayur Sanap.
China's first moon rover has begun sending back photos, a day after the communist giant carried out the world's first lunar soft landing in nearly 40 years, making a huge advance in its ambitious space programme.
Former pacer Mitchell Johnson reckons that Australia should drop out-of-form Marnus Labuschagne from the playing XI for the day-night Adelaide Test against India.
Senior players Sohail Abbas, Rehan Butt and Shakeel Abbasi were on Wednesday dropped from the 18-member Pakistan squad for next month's Azlan Shah hockey tournament in Ipoh, Malaysia.
Pakistan captain Younis Khan believes the "jaded and tired" Indian team is a perfect example of how non-stop cricket can affect a side's performance, highlighting an urgent need to "reinvent" the international calendar. Younis said the exhaustive and gruelling schedule is leading to many fitness issues for players and also early burnout of many promising careers.
The Bollywood stunner and the TV celebrity appeared on Big Brother in 2007, where Goody sparked thousands of complaints from viewers for her allegedly racist abuse of Shetty.
The second teaser of the international series Dune: Prophecy is out and it has our very own Tabu looking very intense.
'I'm not a racist, but I accept I made racist comments'.
Namrata Thakker picks her favourite looks and asks you, dear reader, for your opinion too!
According to reports, the trustees of reality TV star's estate are keen on making a movie on her second autobiography Catch A Falling Star.
The $22.8 billion CK Hutchison ports deal intensifies geopolitical tensions between the US and China. Chinese media has already called it 'a betrayal of all Chinese people'. Shyam G Menon explains how the proposed sale will reshapes global trade infrastructure.
Tabu's character is described as 'strong, intelligent and alluring'.
Former captain Michael Vaughan feels Australia looked jaded in the recent home Test series against the West Indies and said England stand a great chance in next year's Ashes if a "Dad's Army" is fielded by their arch-rivals.
Varun Tej's committed performance somehow rescues Matka from being a pointless venture with stylish flourishes and interesting ideas, observes Arjun Menon.
On the highest step of the Olympic podium, US basketball player Brittney Griner wept, tears trickling down her face as her country's national anthem serenaded her for a gold medal she could not have imagined winning while in a Russian prison.
Kanguva is a mishmash of conceptually strong set pieces that feels bloated, as the central scaffolding holding together the core themes of love that heals over time and eternity, feels like an afterthought, observes Arjun Menon.
For all its oddball energy and earnest ambition, Fairy Folk cannot be missed, applauds Mayur Sanap.
Coach Stephen Fleming said nothing was wrong with the captain.
With Vinesh Phogat's heartbreaking disqualification over discrepancies in weight at the Paris Olympics just when India was keeping its fingers crossed for a sure shot victory at the finals, spirits have hit an all-time low. Art mirrors life and it won't be a surprise if our sports biopic obsessed film-makers turn this dramatic change of events into a movie one day.
Coming back to the Australian Open as defending champion has felt surreal at times for Stanislas Wawrinka but the Swiss fourth seed was all business in his first-round thrashing of Turkish trailblazer Marsel Ilhan.
Adelaide Strikers claimed their second straight Women's Big Bash League title on Saturday
Stumbling England and Netherlands get shot at redemption
