Bashar al-Assad, the former Syrian dictator, has been sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity. A Syrian court handed down the sentence against the former president and Maher Assad, his younger brother, on Tuesday. During the fighting, the Assad regime perpetrated numerous war crimes, including the repeated use of poison gas against civilians. Mr Sharaa is a former al-Qaeda militant who spent time in US military detention in Iraq and allegedly had links to Islamic State. It also faces acts of terrorism from Islamist factions loyal to Islamic State.