In the days following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, Syrians have crowded his regime’s notorious detention facilities in a desperate search for loved ones who were jailed or forcibly disappeared. Thousands of prisoners have now been freed, many after decades of incarceration in brutal conditions. Yet many more of the missing have yet to…
The bruised and battered bodies inside the morgue of Mujtahid Hospital are hard to look at — tangible evidence of the brutal regime of toppled Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. But crowds of desperate people wait to see them, hoping finally for an answer to what happened to a loved one. “Where are they?” pleads one…
Nine years ago, the UN established 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which included ending poverty and hunger. Yet last year, nearly 750 million people faced hunger — an increase of around 152 million compared to 2019. The G20 Leaders’ Summit in November marked the launch of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, an initiative…
A man thought to be a missing US citizen has been found in Damascus, Syria, telling reporters he had recently been freed from jail. The man is believed to be Missouri resident Travis Timmerman, 29, and he was found by residents wandering barefoot in a neighborhood just south of Damascus. In video posted Thursday, the…
Russian forces are now just three kilometers (1.9 miles) from the outskirts of the key eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk after making advances Wednesday, according to Ukrainian mapping service DeepState. They have also destroyed or captured Ukrainian positions near the city, a Ukrainian army spokesperson said. “The enemy attacked our fortifications in the Pokrovsk sector…
Slender shoulders, a limp handshake and soft-spoken lisp. Those were the most vivid memories from my meeting with Bashar al-Assad. It was 2007 and the insurgency against US troops was raging next door in Iraq. Toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, a fellow secular Baathist like Assad, had been executed just six months earlier. But Syria’s…
A ten-year-old boy has been killed in a shooting attack in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to the Hadassah Medical Center, after an assailant opened fire at an Israeli civilian bus. Three others were injured when the bus was shot, according to authorities. A manhunt is underway for the attacker, according to the Israel Defense…
South Korea’s ruling party has thrown its support behind attempts to impeach embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol over his ill-fated decision to declare martial law that sparked a political crisis and widespread public anger in the country. The announcement came moments before Yoon delivered a defiant speech on Thursday in which he justified his hugely…
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is expected to undergo an additional medical procedure on Thursday as part of his treatment following the emergency surgery he had Tuesday to drain a bleed on his brain. The president’s doctor, Roberto Kalil, told Reuters the procedure was considered a “complement” to Tuesday’s surgery. “This involves a…
Editor’s Note: Help is available if you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters.In the US: Call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.Globally: The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide have contact information for crisis centers around the world. Former South Korean Defense Minister Kim…
