Assad: As terrorist forces infiltrated Damascus, I moved to Latakia but with no viable means of leaving the base, Moscow requested evacuation to Russia
The Kremlin said on December 9 that President Vladimir Putin had made the decision to grant Assad asylum in Russia, which deployed its airforce to Syria in 2015 to help him repel rebel forces.
Syrian Christians attend Sunday services in test of Islamist rulers’ promise to protect minorities
In the coastal city of Latakia, long an Assad stronghold, Lina Akhras, a parish council secretary at the St George Greek Orthodox Cathedral, said on Sunday that Christians had been “comfortable” under his rule in terms of freedom of belief but that they just wanted to live in peace and harmony.
Missing American Austin Tice still can’t be traced among thousands of prisoners freed by Syrian rebels
When Ausitn Tice escaped, he was spotted by people living in the Mazzeh neighbourhood, wandering the street. He entered the house of a well-known Syrian family, the name of which is being withheld for security reasons, a person familiar with the escape said. Tice was recaptured soon after his escape, one current and one former US official said.
Israeli war crimes: Neutrality principle espoused by aid agencies is deathly complicity in rights abuse
International aid groups must do what their Palestinian colleagues have been doing for a long time, and speak out – in plain language – about Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. If not, history will judge this as moral cowardice or, worse still, complicity.
UN Security Council concerned Taliban’s ‘Islamic vision’ is eroding freedoms in Afghanistan
The Taliban de facto authority’s enforcement of the so called “Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” law amplified the erosion of basic freedoms, Ms Otunbayeva said, noting that monitoring by “inspectors” extended into public spaces, NGO offices, mosques, bazars and even weddings.
Assad’s escape from Syria to Moscow was marked with deception, despair, flight and even left food cooking on the stove
Bashar al-Assad didn’t even inform his younger brother, Maher, commander of the Army’s elite 4th Armoured Division, about his exit plan, according to three aides. Maher flew a helicopter to Iraq and then to Russia, one of the people said. His maternal cousins, Ehab and Eyad Makhlouf, were similarly left behind as Damascus fell to the rebels, according to a Syrian aide and Lebanese security official. The pair tried to flee by car to Lebanon but were ambushed on the way by rebels who shot Ehab dead
Migrant workers in Lebanon tell of horrors of slavery, inhuman living conditions as they wait to return to Africa
The kafala system has long been criticised by human rights groups, but the government rarely if ever addresses the criticism. But Bah knew little of that when she came to Lebanon in 2022. She was promised a job at a supermarket with a $200 monthly salary, she said. Instead, she was sent to care for an older woman once she arrived.
Fifa comes under scathing criticism for awarding Saudi Arabia 2034 World Cup despite poor human rights record
Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in sport, revamping its domestic soccer league by signing global superstars such as Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Brazil’s Neymar. The kingdom’s Public Investment fund (PIF) acquired English Premier League club Newcastle United and founded the LIV Golf tour, challenging the US-based PGA Tour’s dominance.
Syria’s Golani vows retributive justice to officials in ousted Assad regime who tortured, killed detainees
Mohammad al-Bashir, the man installed by Golani’s fighters to lead an interim administration, said he aimed to bring back millions of refugees, create unity and provide basic services. But rebuilding would be daunting with little funding on hand.
US wants new regime in Syria to uphold minority rights as refugees return, caretaker PM named
Rebuilding Syria will be a colossal task following a civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people. Cities have been bombed to ruins, swathes of countryside depopulated, the economy gutted by international sanctions and millions of refugees still live in camps after one of the biggest displacements of modern times.
