The new Syrian government flag is raised for the first time outside UN headquarters

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani raised his country’s new flag at the United Nations headquarters in New York Friday, the first public appearance by a high-ranking Syrian government official in the United States since the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a lightning rebel offensive in December. The three-starred flag that had previously been used by opposition groups has replaced the two-starred flag of the Assad era as the country's official emblem.