Syrian President Bashar Assad is due to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. China has long provided diplomatic support to Assad's regime, and could play a role in reconstructing war-battered Syria.

Since the start of the Syrian crisis in 2011, the European Union has been the largest donor of humanitarian, stabilisation and resilience assistance to Syrians, with another conference known as Brussels VII – aimed at supporting Syria and the region – held on June 14 and 15 in the Belgian capital. But the recent rehabilitation of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by regional players has arguably complicated the EU's task.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been shunned internationally for over a decade, due to the brutal repression of anti-government protesters and the use of chemical weapons by his regime during the country's civil war. Despite numerous reported atrocities, the leader has clung onto power with the sole support of two major powers: Iran and Russia.

Syrian President Bashar Assad has arrived for his first summit since the 22-member league suspended his country over the brutal crackdown on protesters that led to civil war in 2011.

Is Bashar al-Assad's isolation on the world stage coming to an end? The Syrian dictator has been shunned by the international community since 2011, when his regime brutally crushed anti-government protests, triggering the civil war in Syria. But in recent months, a growing number of countries have been coordinating with Assad's government.

Last month's deadly earthquakes sped up efforts by Arab nations to reconcile with Damascus after years of civil war. President Bashar Assad needs international help to rebuild his country but many roadblocks remain.

The White Helmets rescue group spoke out against what it said was the UN allowing the Syrian president to make decisions over aid deliveries.

In light of much-needed aid, President Bashar al-Assad accelerates his ambitions to end Syria's international isolation, have sanctions lifted and return to the international stage.

We look at press reaction stateside to the removal of Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Also, French newspaper Libération shines a light on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's potential return to the international political stage. In other news, an Italian mafia member has been apprehended in France after 16 years on the run. Finally, the annual Groundhog Day celebrations didn't go as smoothly as planned in Quebec!

A leaked six-minute video shows scenes of a grizzly Damascus massacre by Assad forces. The perpetrators have been identified.

At least 10 civilians were killed and another 35 injured on Wednesday by an Assad regime attack in Idlib, northwestern Syria, according to medical sources. Artillery of regime forces and Iranian-backed foreign terrorist groups targeted a marketplace in the center of the town of Ariha in rural southern Idlib, an area under opposition control.

Rifaat al-Assad, dubbed the butcher of Hama, was exiled by the Syrian president's late father. He was facing four years behind bars in France for laundering embezzled funds.