The Russian leader, who has offered Bashar al-Assad asylum, also sought to reassure citizens tired of Russia’s war on Ukraine during his end-of-year news conference.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has more than doubled the number of its forces in Syria to fight the Islamic State group — a dramatic increase that the Pentagon revealed Thursday, acknowledging that the added troops have been there for months or even more than a year.

Georgina Deiratani, a Syrian Christian who has lived in Moscow for over two decades, says she is still in shock at the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad and his escape to Russia."We lived well together,