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Bassel Al-Assad
Bassel al-Assad (; 23 March 196221 January 1994) was a Syrian military officer, engineer and politician. He was the eldest son of the 18th Syrian president Hafez al-Assad. He was expected to succeed his father as president until his death in a car crash in January 1994. After his death, his younger brother Bashar became heir apparent to the Syrian presidency and ultimately succeeded their father upon his death. Early life Bassel al-Assad was born on 23 March 1962 in the national capital city of Damascus, in the Syrian Arab Republic (Syria), into an Alawite family. He was the son of Hafez al-Assad, and Anisa Makhlouf. He had an older sister named Bushra and three brothers named Bashar, Majd, and Maher. He was trained as a civil engineer, and held a PhD in military sciences. He said about his childhood: Career Trained in parachuting, he was commissioned in the Special Forces and later switched to the armoured corps after training in Soviet military academies. He wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assad Family
The Assad family ruled Syria from 1971, when Hafez al-Assad became president under the Ba'ath Party following the 1970 coup, until Bashar al-Assad was ousted on 8 December 2024. Bashar succeeded his father, Hafez al-Assad, after Hafez's death in 2000. The Assads are from Qardaha, Latakia Governorate. They attributed themselves to the Kalbiyya tribe. In 1927, Ali Sulayman arrived as an immigrant originally Kaka'i (Yarsanism) from Iran and changed his last name from ''al-Wahsh'', Arabic for 'the savage', to ''al-Assad'', 'the lion', possibly in connection with his social standing as a local mediator and his political activities. All members of the extended Assad family stem from Ali Sulayman and his second wife, Naissa, who came from a village in the Syrian Coastal Mountains.Martin Stäheli: ''Die syrische Außenpolitik unter Hafez Assad'', Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ; p. 40 During his early reign in the 1970s, Hafez al-Assad created patronage networks of Ba'at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capital City
A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its Seat of government, seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the government's offices and meeting places; the status as capital is often designated by its law or constitution. In some jurisdictions, including several countries, different branches of government are in different settlements, sometimes meaning multiple official capitals. In some cases, a distinction is made between the official (constitutional) capital and the seat of government, which is in list of countries with multiple capitals, another place. English language, English-language media often use the name of the capital metonymy, metonymically to refer to the government sitting there. Thus, "London-Washington relations" is widely unde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equestrianism
Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding ( Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the use of horses for practical working purposes, transportation, recreational activities, artistic or cultural exercises, and competitive sport. Overview of equestrian activities Horses are trained and ridden for practical working purposes, such as in police work or for controlling herd animals on a ranch. They are also used in competitive sports including dressage, endurance riding, eventing, reining, show jumping, tent pegging, vaulting, polo, horse racing, driving, and rodeo (see additional equestrian sports listed later in this article for more examples). Some popular forms of competition are grouped together at horse shows where horses perform in a wide variety of disciplines. Horses (and other equids such as mules ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Academies In Russia
Russia has a number of military academies of different specialties. This article primarily lists institutions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation rather than those of the Soviet Armed Forces. Russian institutions designated as an "academy" are post-graduate professional military schools for experienced commissioned officers who graduated from higher military school or military training center within civilian university and have some years of active duty service after graduation. Thus, military academies are educational institutions conducting the advance training career commissioned officer programmes. These programmes are named magistratura () and take 2 years. Military academies are the second (operational-tactical) level of officer training. Their graduates can be appointed to battalion/regiment/brigade commander or equivalent positions. At the moment, some military academies also conduct programmes for the training of warrant officers and commissioned officers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syrian Special Mission Forces
The Syrian Special Mission Forces () was a quick reaction force of the Ministry of Interior of Ba'athist Syria. They were tasked with defending against attacks on government-controlled parts of Aleppo and Damascus, and other urban settings. Equipment The unit received military training and weapons from Russia. The unit was comparable to the Russian ODON. The SSMF used Russian-suppiled AK-103 and AK-104 as the main service rifles, the former main rifles were the AK-47 and most likely, the AKM as well. From 2023 to 2024, SMF also used Iranian copy of the M4 carbine, Fajr 224. According to Al-Masdar News, the Special Mission Forces were mainly, although not exclusively, intended for urban security actions, as well as carrying out force protection and security operations against terrorist activities. Battles Al-Masdar News reported in 2017 that the force had foiled attacks by terrorists in the western suburbs and the Old City of Aleppo. Not limited to city defense, the Syrian Sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parachuting
Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or multiple parachutes. For human skydiving, there is often a phase of free fall (the skydiving segment), where the parachute has not yet been deployed and the body gradually accelerates to terminal velocity. In cargo parachuting, the parachute descent may begin immediately, such as a parachute- airdrop in the lower atmosphere of Earth, or it may be significantly delayed. For example, in a planetary atmosphere, where an object is descending "under parachute" following atmospheric entry from space, may occur only after the hypersonic entry phase and initial deceleration that occurs due to friction with the thin upper atmosphere. History The first parachute jump in history was made on 22 October 1797 by Frenchman André-Jacques Garnerin above Parc Monceau, Pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patrick Seale
Patrick Abram Seale (7 May 1930 – 11 April 2014) was a British journalist and author who specialised in the Middle East. A former correspondent for ''The Observer'', he interviewed many Middle Eastern leaders and personalities. Seale was also a literary agent and art dealer. Background Patrick Abram SealeTim LlewellynObituary: Patrick Seale, ''The Guardian'', 13 April 2014 was a Belfast-born journalist. His father was Morris Siegel Seale (1896–1993), the Arabist and theologian, who was a Russian Jewish convert to Presbyterianism and Christian missionary in Syria, where Patrick spent most of his first 14 years. Seale's mother was Reine Attal, a Tunisian-Italian midwife. Seale attended Balliol and St Antony's College, Oxford, where he specialised in Middle Eastern history. He obtained his D.Litt. at Oxford University. His sister was the fashion designer Thea Porter. Career His journalistic experience includes six years with Reuters, mainly as a financial journalist, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latakia
Latakia (; ; Syrian Arabic, Syrian pronunciation: ) is the principal port city of Syria and capital city of the Latakia Governorate located on the Mediterranean coast. Historically, it has also been known as Laodicea in Syria or Laodicea ad Mare. In addition to serving as a port, the city is a significant manufacturing center for surrounding agricultural towns and villages. According to a 2023 estimate, the population of the city is 709,000, its population greatly increased as a result of the ongoing Syrian Civil War, which led to an influx of internally displaced persons from rebel held areas. It is the List of cities in Syria, 5th-largest city in Syria after Aleppo, Damascus, Homs and Hama. Cape Apostolos Andreas, the north-eastern tip of Cyprus, is about away. Although the site of the city has been inhabited since the 2nd millennium BC, the city was founded as a Greek city in the 4th century BC under the rule of the Greek Seleucid Empire. Latakia was subsequently ruled by t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Science
Military science is the study of military processes, institutions, and behavior, along with the study of warfare, and the theory and application of organized coercive force. It is mainly focused on theory, method, and practice of producing military capability in a manner consistent with national defense policy. Military science serves to identify the strategic, political, economic, psychological, social, operational, technological, and tactical elements necessary to sustain relative advantage of military force; and to increase the likelihood and favorable outcomes of victory in peace or during a war. Military scientists include theorists, researchers, experimental scientists, applied scientists, designers, engineers, test technicians, and other military personnel. Military personnel obtain weapons, equipment, and training to achieve specific strategic goals. Military science is also used to establish enemy capability as part of technical intelligence. In military hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doctor Of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original research. The name of the degree is most often abbreviated PhD (or, at times, as Ph.D. in North American English, North America), pronounced as three separate letters ( ). The University of Oxford uses the alternative abbreviation "DPhil". PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Since it is an earned research degree, those studying for a PhD are required to produce original research that expands the boundaries of knowledge, normally in the form of a Thesis, dissertation, and, in some cases, defend their work before a panel of other experts in the field. In many fields, the completion of a PhD is typically required for employment as a university professor, researcher, or scientist. Definition In the context o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maher Al-Assad
Major General Maher Hafez al-Assad (, born 8 December 1967) is a Syrian former military officer who served as commander of the Syrian Army's elite 4th Armoured Division, which, together with Syria's Military Intelligence, formed the core of the Ba'athist regime's security forces until its collapse in 2024. He is the younger brother of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, and also was a member of the Central Committee of the Syrian Ba'ath Party. At the onset of the Syrian Revolution, Maher was thought by some to be the second-most powerful man in Syria after his brother Bashar, the president. Maher is considered a regime hardliner, who reportedly favored the crackdown against the Damascus Spring movement and has been implicated in UN reports of orchestrating the killing of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri. Maher oversaw the crackdown against Syrian protestors at Daraa, which led to the US and the European Union announcing sanctions against him. Maher is de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Majd Al-Assad
The Assad family ruled Syria from 1971, when Hafez al-Assad became president under the Ba'ath Party following the 1970 coup, until Bashar al-Assad was ousted on 8 December 2024. Bashar succeeded his father, Hafez al-Assad, after Hafez's death in 2000. The Assads are from Qardaha, Latakia Governorate. They attributed themselves to the Kalbiyya tribe. In 1927, Ali Sulayman arrived as an immigrant originally Kaka'i (Yarsanism) from Iran and changed his last name from ''al-Wahsh'', Arabic for 'the savage', to ''al-Assad'', 'the lion', possibly in connection with his social standing as a local mediator and his political activities. All members of the extended Assad family stem from Ali Sulayman and his second wife, Naissa, who came from a village in the Syrian Coastal Mountains.Martin Stäheli: ''Die syrische Außenpolitik unter Hafez Assad'', Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ; p. 40 During his early reign in the 1970s, Hafez al-Assad created patronage networks of Ba'at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
