#alawite-unrest

#alawite-unrest

Kordia was arrested in 2024 during the Gaza solidarity protests at Columbia University. The charges against her were dropped the next day, but she was detained in March 2025 by ICE during a routine immigration check-in.

Campaigners believe Qesser Zuhrah was arrested due to an Instagram story that allegedly encouraged people to take direct action, highlighting concerns over freedom of expression.

Pahlavi pledged to lead a transition to a 'free and democratic Iran.' He called on President Trump to continue the American-Israeli military operation against Iran, in the hope of displacing a regime he decried for placing a 'sea of blood' between itself and its people.

"The news was both surprising and upsetting. Damascus has historically been a city that embraces everyone and diversity is its true identity. This decision makes us feel like we're losing a part of the city's open spirit. It's not just about the drink itself, but about freedom of choice."

The Israeli military has said four soldiers were killed in combat in southern Lebanon, where its forces are clashing with Hezbollah fighters after launching a ground invasion of the country.

Israeli strikes on Lebanon's Bekaa Valley have killed one person and wounded 29 others, the latest in a series of ceasefire violations. Lebanon's Ministry of Health announced that a 16-year-old Syrian boy was killed, the National News Agency (NNA) reported on Thursday. He was named as Hussein Mohsen al-Khalaf and was killed in a strike on Kfar Dan near Baalbek.

Butcher of Hama' and former Syrian vice president, convicted of money laundering in France and accused of war crimes in Switzerland, has died at age 89. Rifaat al-Assad, the uncle of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the former commander of the paramilitary Defence Companies (Saraya al-Difa), has died in the United Arab Emirates at the age of 89. The Reuters news agency cited two sources confirming his death on January 21, 2026.

I arrived in Aleppo early on Wednesday morning after receiving reports of serious clashes between the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). What I encountered was far worse than I expected. Heavy artillery shelling was constant, extreme. My team came under attack four times; one bullet hit our equipment. list of 3 itemsend of list This round of clashes, we quickly understood, would not be easily contained like earlier bouts over the past year.

All of a sudden, two major provinces that were under the Kurdish forces' control fell in a number of hours and Syrian government forces swept in, he tells Annie Kelly. Soon the forces were at al-Hawl camp, the largest camp holding suspected Islamic State militants and then they were taking it over. In the chaos of the handover, more than 100 prisoners escaped and not all were found again.