Detective Chief Superintendent Emma Bond, Central South Borough Commander said: “We understand that incident will cause concern within the local community and an increased police presence will remain in the area throughout the day as our enquiries continue. Our thoughts remain with the victim’s family for their tragic loss.

Fire crews are currently tackling two wildfires in Blaenavon.

This morning, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service urged residents in Blaenavon, Brynmawr, Cwmbran, Newport, and Pontypool to all keep their windows and doors closed due to smoke.

They said they were aware of the incident and had crews at the scene.

This afternoon, the fire service confirmed there was another wildfire in the area. They wrote: “There is another wildfire in Blaenavon, our crews are in attendance and working hard to bring the incident to a safe close.

“Please avoid the incident ground and do not fly personal drones as this may affect our operational activity.”

People are urged to only call 999 if they have a new emergency to report.

Polly Bibby, 26, from Cambs, said she had a patch test done and, as she suffered no reaction, went ahead with the procedure

A bride-to-be who wanted to be a ‘princess’ on her wedding day ended up ‘looking like Sloth from The Goonies’ after a horror allergic reaction to fake eyelashes. Polly Bibby decided to try classic eyelash extensions as she wanted to feel like a ‘princess’ on her big day compared to her usual minimal make-up look.

The 26-year-old said she had a patch test done and, as she suffered no reaction, went ahead with the procedure on July 5. After getting the £65 treatment done, the illustrator claims she was initially happy with her ‘dressier’ appearance.

Just a few hours after the appointment, Polly’s eyes became watery and sore but she shrugged it off as hay fever. But when her eyes started to sting and stick together with yellow discharge, Polly says alarm bells began to ring and she called 111 and was advised to go to A&E.

A shocking photo shows her eyes red raw and swollen closed, with Polly admitting she looked like Sloth from the Goonies. After being seen by a nurse on the eye unit at Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Hinchingbrooke, Cambridge, it was confirmed she’d suffered an allergic reaction to her eyelash extensions.

She was then given a course of antibiotics, strong antihistamines, and was told to wait three days for the swelling to go down before getting them removed.

Now, Polly is sharing her experience to warn other brides about getting new treatments so close to their big day. Polly, from Sawtry, Cambridgeshire, said: “I don’t wear that much make-up.

“Getting married is the biggest day of your life so I just wanted to test out different make-up and actually feel like a princess for the day.

“This was a trial for the wedding, I’d never had my eyelashes done before. When I first had them done, I really liked them.

“With having hay fever, I thought it was that at first. My eyes were watery and sore.

“About four or five hours after the appointment, my partner looked at my eyes and thought they were a little red.

“By that evening, they had gone red raw and were stinging.

“The only way I can describe [how I looked] is the man from The Goonies with the big puffy eyes called Sloth. I just didn’t look like myself, I looked like a different person.

“They were burning and it got to the point where I was losing my vision and I couldn’t see at all.

“Every time I blinked, my eyes were sticking together as I had discharge building up on my eyes.

“It was a sticky yellow discharge pretty similar to when babies have conjunctivitis.

“They were quite taken back and shocked by it in A&E, they said it was an allergic reaction to the eyelash extensions.”

Polly said she had a patch test and a lash lift done at the same salon in May before her Italian Lake Garda hen do and suffered no allergic reaction then either.

During the removal process of her false lashes, she claims it felt like acid was being poured onto her face.

Polly said: “I was in so much pain. It was like pouring acid [on my face]. I was screaming, crying and tensing up.

“My eyes are still red, scabby and very ‘rashy’. The eyelids themselves are really swollen and I’ve still got quite blurry vision.

“I’m terrified of putting anything on my eyes [on my wedding day]. I might have to go make-up-less on my wedding day.

“I fear it’s going to look quite red on my wedding day.

“I didn’t realise that when people joke around and say things are going to go wrong [on your wedding day], I didn’t realise it would happen to me.”

Polly is now sharing her story to warn others about the potential risks of getting make-up treatments done for the first time so close to their wedding day.

Polly said: “I won’t be getting eyelash extensions for the big day.

“Going through that pain was not worth it. If I knew in hindsight, I’d just use mascara.

“I’d hate anyone else to go through this.”

Most people set out in life wanting to believe the world is fair. They expect people to wait their turn in queues, to be treated equally in their job, and to be rewarded for hard work. These expectations influence how they understand the world around them, and shape their responses to it.

But what happens when life repeatedly challenges those assumptions? Psychologists have long been interested in this question. Our new research, published in the British Journal of Psychology, suggests adverse experiences shape both how fair people believe the world is, and how they view their place in society.

Over the course of a lifetime, personal setbacks – from illness and bereavement to being a victim of crime – may have a cumulative effect, leading to a growing sense that the world is unfair. We think this is important in the context of today’s increasingly polarised societies, in which trust in institutions has declined severely in the UK and many other countries.

Adversity and unfairness

Our research set out to answer two key questions: do experiences of adversity influence whether people see the world as fundamentally unfair – and if so, what are the societal consequences? We conducted three surveys involving more than 1,200 British participants with an equal gender split and average age of 39.

In one study, we found that people who reported experiencing more lifetime adversity – including illness, bereavement, financial hardship and violence – were more likely to believe the world was unfair.

In another, we compared people who had experienced violent victimisation with those who had not. After accounting for demographic factors, people who had experienced violent crime reported stronger perceptions of injustice.

Our final study found that greater lifetime adversity was associated with lower trust in institutions through perceptions of injustice. This is important because trust underpins many aspects of society, from confidence in public institutions to democratic participation.

Together, these findings suggest that people don’t simply interpret information based on the facts available to them. They also interpret it through the lens of their previous experiences.

Two people can read the same news story, watch the same political debate or hear the same public health advice, yet come away with very different conclusions that may not simply reflect differences in knowledge or politics. It may also reflect differences in how they have come to see the world as a result of the hardships they have faced.

Furthermore, if someone increasingly believes that the world is unfair, they may be more likely to notice fresh examples of perceived injustice, corruption or hidden motives – and interpret new events through that lens.

Belief in conspiracy theories

Previous research has shown that people who feel uncertain, powerless or threatened are often more likely to endorse conspiracy theories. Most of this work, however, has focused on their identities, traits and beliefs.

In our investigation of the impact of adverse life experiences on people, we found a remarkably consistent pattern. When these hardships are associated with stronger perceptions of injustice in the world, the same people more strongly endorse conspiracy beliefs.

Conspiracy theories rarely describe events as random. Instead, they tend to suggest that powerful individuals or organisations are secretly responsible for what happens. They offer explanations that identify intentional causes behind events that might otherwise seem confusing or unjust.

Research suggests that across societies, the level of belief in conspiracy theories is relatively stable over time. But once these beliefs become part of how someone understands the world, they can be difficult to shift.

This makes it all the more important to understand the experiences and psychological processes that may contribute to these worldviews developing in the first place. Our findings suggest that perceptions of injustice are one such pathway.

For someone who increasingly feels the world is unfair, conspiracy theories may become more psychologically appealing – providing a way of making sense of experiences that otherwise feel difficult to understand.

Our research does not suggest that adversity inevitably leads to conspiracy beliefs; nor that conspiracy theories are an inevitable consequence of trauma. Rather, it highlights a long-term psychological process that may help explain why some people become more receptive to these ideas.

In an increasingly polarised world, the media and political focus is often concentrated on what information people consume. But our research suggests we should pay more attention to the experiences that shape the lens through which people interpret information. This could help explain why people can look at the same events and reach very different conclusions.

Ultimately, people’s experiences don’t just affect them in the moment. They shape their worldview – which can influence how they interpret and respond to events and other people’s behaviour far into the future.

So, we believe any effort to reach greater consensus in society may require a deeper understanding of the hardships people have lived through over the course of their lives – and how these can affect their sense of injustice.

What we watch on television, hear on the radio and see on our screens is shaped by decisions that are still largely made in Westminster. That includes the rules governing broadcasters, how public service media are funded and regulated and how the UK’s nations and regions are represented.

In Wales, there is now a growing argument that those decisions shouldn’t be made without Wales having a much stronger say.

Following Plaid Cymru’s victory in May’s Senedd (Welsh parliament) election, the Welsh government has announced plans to establish a shadow broadcasting and communications authority for Wales, akin to the UK-wide regulatory body Ofcom.

It’s intended as the first step towards seeking the devolution of broadcasting powers. The authority would advise the Welsh government on matters relating to media and communication in Wales and would provide a focal point for public debate and engagement. It could also gather data and provide insight on media and communications in Wales, beyond what is currently offered by Ofcom.

The new UK government under Andy Burnham’s leadership has spoken positively about devolving power more generally. However, its initial response to the Welsh government’s announcement has given little indication that broadcasting is likely to be high on its list of constitutional reforms. As things stand, broadcasting and media policy won’t be leaving Whitehall any time soon.

But the Welsh government’s move comes at a time when Scotland also has a nationalist government. Devolving broadcasting powers was not part of the SNP’s 2026 election manifesto. But its 2024 document argued that it wanted “to develop a broadcasting strategy that better reflects and prioritises the specific needs and interests of Scottish audiences and our creative economy”.

Meanwhile, Sinn Féin remains the largest party in Northern Ireland, while Burnham has promised greater devolution within England.

Together, these developments raise certain constitutional questions: should decisions about broadcasting continue to be made almost exclusively in London? Or is it time for the UK’s nations to have a greater say?

Currently, Westminster decides the legislative framework of broadcasting while Ofcom regulates broadcasting across the UK. The BBC’s royal charter is negotiated with ministers in London. Although broadcasters produce programmes for audiences across the UK, the rules under which they operate remain largely centralised.

Whether that model still reflects the political reality of today’s UK is the question colleagues and I are exploring through an ongoing research project on broadcasting policy in a devolved UK. There are two main reasons why Wales, in particular, has argued for a stronger voice.

The first is broadcasting’s place in Welsh history and public life. Historian John Davies argued that broadcasting has played an unusually important role in shaping modern Welsh identity. For a nation with its own language and distinct cultural traditions, television and radio have never simply been about just entertainment. They have helped sustain national conversations, reflected Welsh life back to audiences and supported the Welsh language.

The second reason is concern about the future of public service broadcasting itself. Public service broadcasters such as the BBC and S4C have a responsibility to inform, educate and entertain. But they also provide trusted news and programmes that reflect the lives of people across the UK’s nations and regions.

Those responsibilities are becoming harder to fulfil in an increasingly crowded media landscape dominated by international technology companies and changing audience habits. For the Welsh government, this is about more than preserving the Welsh language, now spoken by around 800,000 people. It is also about ensuring that Welsh stories, communities and democratic institutions continue to be properly represented in both Welsh- and English-language broadcasting.

There are also serious concerns regarding the recent announcements from the BBC about job cuts and the likely effects of these on production in the regions and nations.

This concern is not new. In 2023, an independent expert panel recommended establishing a shadow broadcasting authority to strengthen Wales’s influence over broadcasting policy. The previous Labour-led Welsh government did not take the proposal forward, but the new Plaid Cymru administration has now revived it.

Potential reforms

Some reforms could be introduced relatively easily. The Senedd, for example, could play a greater role in appointments to bodies such as the S4C Authority, the independent body which oversees the management of the channel. This may give Wales a stronger voice over institutions that primarily serve Welsh audiences.

More ambitious changes would be more complicated. One possibility would be separate BBC charters for each nation of the UK. This could allow for greater accountability to audiences in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England while maintaining the BBC as a UK-wide institution. Other proposals would require a more fundamental rethink of where broadcasting powers should sit within the UK’s constitutional arrangements.

That is where the politics become much more difficult. Any meaningful transfer of broadcasting powers would require cooperation between Westminster and the devolved governments. The UK government has already said the Welsh government should “focus on better running the services they have”.

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Plaid Cymru’s independence dilemma – from protest to power

This debate is unlikely to disappear. As political power becomes increasingly dispersed across the UK, questions about who controls broadcasting, how national identities are represented and who is accountable for public service media will only become more pressing.

Broadcasting has long been treated as something that should be governed from the centre. But in a UK where political authority is becoming steadily more devolved, that assumption looks less secure than it once did.

This change will affect around 3,500 workers, who are set to transfer to one of two external companies.

The supermarket chain said there are no plans for redundancies as part of the move, which will see cleaning duties in northern England and Scotland go to Bidvest, while NIC Services will take on stores in southern England.

David Lepley, chief operating officer at Asda, said: “Our ambition is to deliver the cleanest stores in retail.

“We continue to review and invest in ways to enhance the customer experience, partnering with industry leaders to deliver the best solutions.

“This latest investment is another important step in our mission to raise the bar for customers.

“Having taken the time to learn from others, by partnering with Bidvest and NIC Services we have access to the very latest machinery and cleaning technology.”

Asda said customers will see improvements such as cleaner toilets, steam-cleaned trolleys and baskets, and greater use of robotic cleaning equipment.

The company notified staff of the proposals on Tuesday, August 11, and expects the transition to be completed by October 1.

All affected employees are expected to transfer to the new employers under TUPE regulations, which are designed to protect workers’ rights during changes of employer.

However, the GMB union has criticised the decision and called for the process to be paused.

Rachelle Wilkins, GMB organiser, said: “Outsourcing companies have a proven track record of slashing pay, terms, conditions and even jobs as soon as they have their feet under the table.

“Now loyal, hard-working cleaning staff will be worried sick about whether their job will still pay the bills or whether the axe will fall on them.

“Morale in stores is already at rock bottom.

“GMB calls on Asda to halt this process now – at least until the other consultations are finished – and consider what is best for its customers and staff.”

The union also said it asked Asda in April if more outsourcing was planned and was told there was not.

This latest announcement follows a similar move earlier this year, when Asda said it would outsource around 1,700 in-store security roles to Mitie.

The owner of the unique house, which has a 25 foot shark sticking out of its roof, has claimed its Airbnb short-term let ban should be lifted on the grounds that it is public art

The owner of a peculiar property featuring a 25-foot shark stuck in its roof has argued its Airbnb ban should be reversed – claiming it is public art.

Owner Dr Magnus Hanson-Heine has marked the 40th anniversary of his distinctive dwelling by urging planners to grant it special status and identify a loophole permitting tourists to experience it.

Known as ‘Shark House’, the unusual four-bedroom, four-bathroom residence in Headington, Oxford, ran for five years as an Airbnb for short-term lettings before the local council banned it from doing so.

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Four decades ago this week, Magnus’ late father Bill Heine built the 25 foot structure which appeared overnight on the roof of his terraced property without formal planning consent from Oxford City Council.

The American-born journalist and broadcaster had arrived in Oxford during the 1960s to pursue studies at Oxford University.

It was constructed over three months, though nobody knew its intended location until it was transported to New High Street on a tractor-trailer where a crane positioned it into the roof. A six-year planning dispute then erupted.

Oxford City Council objected to the installation, claiming it posed a danger to the public, but engineers and inspectors declared it structurally sound.

To safeguard the shark, Bill’s son Magnus purchased the property in 2016, and it became a popular attraction on Airbnb. In March 2025, Magnus was then told he could no longer use the house as a short-term rental – a decision he says would damage Oxford’s wider tourism sector.

Marking the 40th anniversary this week, Magnus expressed continued hope about discovering a solution enabling the public to experience it going forward.

He stated: “The previous planning inspector accepted that the Shark House was an appropriate location for the use and found no evidence that it had caused problems for neighbours or highway safety.

“The main obstacle was Oxford’s general policy against the loss of a residential dwelling. With Oxford’s new Local Plan going through independent examination, we’ve made representations asking for greater flexibility for genuinely exceptional properties such as the Shark House.

“If the planning position changes sufficiently, either through that process or through changes to the national rules, I would certainly look at applying again.

“I think there is a strong case for treating the Shark House a little differently from an ordinary rental property. It is obviously a house, but it’s also one of Oxford’s best-known pieces of public art.

“When it was available on Airbnb, people could actually experience that extraordinary place from the inside and make it part of birthdays, reunions, visits to Oxford and other special occasions, rather than only ever seeing the Shark from the pavement.

“I hope there is ultimately room within the planning system for an imaginative solution which recognises that unusual cultural role.”

After being banned as a short term rental, the property has been listed for a longer term rental at a cost of £4,000 a month.

It’s listing states: “Nestled in the heart of Headington – Oxford, The Headington Shark House isn’t just accommodation; it’s a dive into a piece of living art history.

”Featuring the awe-inspiring 25ft fiberglass and steel shark sculpture that spectacularly ‘crashes’ through the roof, this Victorian marvel offers a one-of-a-kind stay. Experience the comfort of modern living while enveloped in a story that has captivated the world.

”’The Shark House stands as a testament to creativity, freedom, and the voice against conformity. Erected by my late father, Bill Heine, and sculptor John Buckley, it sparked a national debate on public art and personal expression.

”Today, it invites you to ponder its deeper meanings or simply enjoy its whimsical defiance.”

Magnus also said a screenplay adaptation had now been written of his father’s book The Hunting of the Shark, based around the true story of the shark’s creation and the six-year battle that followed.

He added: “It’s really a very British story about art, war, freedom, authority and the right to dissent, all with an American out-of-water at the centre of it.

“There is some comedy there, but also a real weight underneath: the shark was put up against the background of the bombing of Libya, nuclear anxiety, censorship of speech and expression, and the attempt to remove it became a six-year struggle over who gets to decide what people may create, see and do with their own homes.

“Forty years later, the object they fought over has become part of Oxford’s cultural heritage without losing any of the provocation that made it matter in the first place.

“I’m obviously biased, but I think that’s a fairly rare proposition for a film: an extraordinary true story, an instantly recognisable visual identity, an established place in British culture, great characters, humour and conflict, and something genuinely worth saying underneath it all.

“If there are filmmakers, producers or actors out there who know the Shark and see the potential in that story, I’d genuinely love to hear from them.”

Turning his attention to the future of Shark House, Magnus went on to say: “I’m also beginning to think seriously about the Shark’s next 40 years.

“That means looking at professional conservation advice and the longer-term care of the Shark, roof and surrounding structure, as well as investigating what grant funding might be available.

“It’s still early days, but depending on what is needed and the level of public interest, some form of fundraising or crowdfunding might eventually form part of that too.”

The council, however, has stood firmly behind its decision to impose a short-term let ban on the Shark House.

It stated that the growing trend of renting out entire properties for the majority of the year has led to the “loss of valuable homes in the UK’s most unaffordable city”.

The council also highlighted that nearly 3,500 households are currently on the waiting list for social housing in Oxford.

One councillor previously remarked: “Where properties have changed from being residential homes to becoming short let businesses without planning approval, we do take enforcement action.

“We live in one the least affordable places for housing in the UK. There are nearly 800 properties let out entirely as short lets in Oxford and we need those for people to live in and not as holiday accommodation.”

A Syrian court sentenced ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad along with his younger brother to death in absentia today for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The offences took place during Syria‘s 14-year conflict, which began in 2011 and left an estimated half a million people dead.

The sentences at the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus are the first against Assad or members of his inner circle since the Assad family’s five decades in power came to an end in December 2024. 

His humiliating retreat from the country he once called home saw him cash in a favour with Russian president Vladimir Putin, who airlifted him and his family to Moscow.  

‘Bashar Assad used state agencies to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity,’ said judge Fakhareddine al-Aryan during a court session that was aired live on state TV.

Also sentenced to death in the same case was Assad’s maternal cousin Atef Najib, who was convicted of overseeing a deadly crackdown in the southern province of Daraa that led to the uprising and later the civil war.

Amid tight security, Najib stood inside a cage wearing a prisoner’s uniform as the judge read the sentence. A crowd of people gathered outside the courthouse in central Damascus to hear the verdict.

Assad and his brother Maher fled to Russia after the government’s fall 20 months ago and received political asylum. Syria’s new rulers have asked Russia to hand the Assads over.

Najib, who was sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury in April 2011, was later detained in rural Latakia, in Syria’s north-west, and is one of the highest-ranking officials to be put on trial.

People check the damage at the scene of a Syrian regime airforce strike that targeted a neighbourhood in Syria’s rebel-held northern city of Idlib on December 1, 2024

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A member of the security forces loyal to the interim Syrian government guards a checkpoint previously held by supporters of deposed president Bashar al-Assad, in the town of Ayn Shiqaq, in the coastal province of Latakia, on March 11, 2025

Najib is a former Syrian army brigadier general who was head of the Political Security Branch in southern Syria’s Daraa province under Assad in 2011.

During his tenure, more than a dozen teenagers who scrawled anti-government graffiti on a school wall in Daraa were arrested and tortured. The case became a catalyst for mass protests against the repressive policies of Assad’s security forces.

The protests were met by a brutal government crackdown and spiralled into a 14-year civil war that ended with Assad’s ouster in a lightning rebel offensive.

Maher Assad was a former commander of the Syrian military’s 4th Armoured Division – which Syrian opposition activists have accused of killings, torture, extortion and drug trafficking, in addition to running its own detention centres.

The court sentenced six former military and security officials in absentia to death. Those convicted included former defence minister Fahd al-Freij and Louay al-Ali, who headed military intelligence in Daraa province in 2011.

Al-Assad, whose brutal treatment of his fellow countrymen gave him the nickname ‘The Butcher’, fled Syria when he was toppled in December 2024 by a collection of rebel forces led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), whose leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani is now the president of the country. 

Under al-Assad’s rule, Syrian government forces killed civilians en-masse as part of its strategy to defend against the civil war that decimated the nation between 2011 and December 2024. 

The government is believed to have been responsible for killing 90 per cent of the more than 300,000 civilians estimated to have died in that period. 

Between 2011 and 2023, an additional 154,000 were forcibly disappeared or arbitrarily detained by government forces, while more than 135,000 people, including women and children, were tortured, incarcerated or killed in Ba’athist prison networks. 

Images of Assad wearing speedos generated ridicule on social media following the fall of his regime

Exiled Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad reportedly spends his days playing video games in his luxury Moscow flat

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Armed groups opposing the Assad regime seizing control of Aleppo on November 30, 2024

But Mr al-Assad is perhaps most infamous for his forces’ use of chemical weapons during the civil war. According to a study by the Global Public Policy Institute, pro-Assad forces carried out around 330 chemical attacks between 2012 and 2019. 

The most common chemical used was chlorine gas, though Sarin gas and sulphur mustard were also used as well. All three are banned from use in war by international law. 

Stephen Rapp, the US’ former Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues, said in 2014 following the release of evidence of torture under the Assad regime: ‘This is… the kind of machinery of cruel death that we haven’t seen, frankly, since the Nazis.’ 

He added at the time: ‘If it is as it appears thus far, we’re talking about more than 10,000 individuals being killed in custody over the period from 2011 to 2013, including largely men but also some very, very young men and boys and women… It’s shocking to me, as a prosecutor. I’m used to evidence not being so strong.’

The civil war also saw the exodus of 6.6million people from the country, who all fled for fear of their lives. 

These refugees contributed to the European migrant crisis that dominated the mid-2010s. UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, received almost one million asylum applications in Europe by August 2017. 

Many European nations also had to temporarily host vast numbers of refugees. Turkey was the largest host nation, in 2023 holding 3.3million Syrian refugees in 2023.

The deposed ruler is now believed to live in three apartments in a luxury high-rise with a mall downstairs in Moscow after his former ally Vladimir Putin airlifted him and his family out of the country. 

One picture found following the regime’s fall shows Assad in nothing but white pants and a vest, clearly posing for the camera

A picture showing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is taken by Rebels following the capture of his palace in Aleppo

A car burns following clashes between Syria’s new authorities and supporters of deposed president Bashar al-Assad near the town of Jableh in the coastal province of Latakia on March 10, 2025

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Since fleeing, he took up his old job as an eye doctor – a role he trained for in London as a young man – to treat the elite of Russia’s capital. 

A friend of the family told The Guardian in 2025, a year after he was deposed: ‘He’s studying Russian and brushing up on his ophthalmology again.  

‘It’s a passion of his, he obviously doesn’t need the money. Even before the war in Syria began, he used to regularly practice his ophthalmology in Damascus’.

He trained in ophthalmology in London in the early 1990s, but was recalled back to his home nation following the unexpected death of his brother in a car crash in 1994.

Shortly after, he entered military academy and took over as the heir apparent to the regime. 

Now he spends much of his time playing online video games, despite being freely allowed to move around Moscow and his country villa outside of the Russian capital.

He has been provided with bodyguards from a private security firm paid by the Russian government.

The friend said he now lives ‘a very quiet life’, adding: ‘He has very little, if any, contact with the outside world. He’s only in touch with a couple of people who were in his palace, like Mansour Azzam [former Syrian minister of presidency affairs] and Yassar Ibrahim [Assad’s top economic crony].’

Atef Najib, wearing a striped prison uniform, sat seemingly emotionless on Sunday in a cage in a courtroom in Central Palace of Justice, in Syria’s capital, Damascus

Najib was a former brigadier-general and head of political security in the southern province of Daraa, where uprisings against the oppressive regime first erupted in 2011

One image shows him in a khaki hunter costume with a gun and fur accessory, standing alongside friends who are also in costume

The fall of the Assad regime in Syria was widely seen as being a major embarrassment for Putin, who offered him refuge

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A general view shows hundreds of people gathered in Al-Assi Square during celebrations marking one year since the city’s liberation, in Hama, Syria, December 5, 2025

Part of this comes from Putin’s apparent dismissal of Mr al-Assad following the fall of the regime in Syria.

A source close to the Kremlin told the newspaper: ‘Putin has little patience for leaders who lose their grip on power, and Assad is no longer seen as a figure of influence or even an interesting guest to invite to dinner.’

In April, Atef Najib, al-Assad’s cousin who was also sentenced to death, was paraded in a cage wearing a striped prison uniform as he went on trial accused of mass shootings and torturing children. 

He was seen perching on the corner of a wooden bench as hordes of people filmed and took pictures of him through the metal bars at the Central Palace of Justice, in Damascus.

In February 2011, he ordered the arrest of perpetrators who graffitied walls in the city of Daraa, calling for the end of the regime. 

Police apprehended two teenage boys after they found their names scribbled next to offending graffiti, which was sprayed on a wall outside their school.

The teenagers were tortured and beaten while imprisoned, until the actual culprits, aged between 18 and 30, confessed.

The treatment of the school boys, under Najib’s command, catalysed further demonstrations, leading to police firing on protestors on March 18 and killing several people.

In April 2011, a separate teenage boy called Hamza al-Khateeb vanished after a protest. The body of the 13-year-old boy was returned to his parents heavily mutilated. 

Najib was removed from his role by Assad, branded the ‘Butcher’ for killing his own people, after the atrocities. However, he was reinstated in the same role in the north-west Idlib province.

The crackdown by security forces on peaceful pro-democracy protests sparked the civil war, which killed more than half a million people and displaced millions of others. 

As the civil war progressed through its 13 years, Najib was increasingly sidelined by the regime. 

He stayed in Damascus after Assad fled the country in December 2024, following the toppling of the government by rebels, and was arrested in January 2025.

A 26-year-old healthcare worker said she tried to help a man who was lying on the ground with “lots of blood around him”.

She said members of the public were assisting the man before officers arrived and took over.

She added that there was a large emergency services response, including armed police at one stage.

The woman said she had initially believed the gunshots were the sound of a car backfiring.

Det Ch Supt Emma Bond, central south borough commander, said: “We understand that this incident will cause concern within the local community, and an increased police presence will remain in the area throughout the day as our inquiries continue.

“Our thoughts remain with the victim’s family for their tragic loss.”

Police are asking anyone with any information that could help the investigation to come forward.

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