Hafez al-Assad, son of the Syrian president, is participating in the mathematics Olympiad in Brazil

Hafez al-Assad, the eldest son of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, competes in the Rio Olympics. According to a Brazilian newspaper, the boy defended his father by saying, "He knows what kind of man his father is." Hafez al-Assad, 15, the eldest son of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is currently taking part in the Rio Sports Olympiad, and Brazilian media reported on Tuesday that his participation in the competition proved Syria was "much better" despite the civil war. "We came to show the world that the country is doing better, and even better," he told Brazil's Globo newspaper. "I know which kind of man is my father ... and as president, people say a lot about him, many of them do not look at reality," he said in excellent English. "I have always lived like an ordinary child and my friends see me as a normal person," Assad's son said. The newspaper said it had accidentally discovered the son of the Syrian presiden