Russian news reports say that ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his family arrived in Moscow Sunday, after a stunning rebel advance through Syria forced him flee. The Russian media reports said the Assad family was granted asylum. Russia has been a close ally of Assad. Earlier, joyful crowds jammed into the capital city’s squares, waving the three-starred Syrian revolutionary flag reminiscent of the earliest days of the Arab Spring uprising, before Assad’s brutal crackdown and the rise of an insurgency plunged the country into a nearly 14-year civil war. Some Syrians prayed in mosques. Rebel forces opened the cell
