Bashar Assad’s Russian-backed reconquest of most of Syria over the past two years is beginning to look like a Pyrrhic victory, as protest and even armed resistance re-emerge in regime-controlled territory. Insurgency is especially mounting in southern Daraa province—where the… Read moreArmed struggle re-emerges in regime-controlled Syria
UN General Assembly members approved a resolution supporting Ukraine's territorial integrity on the day marking the third anniversary of Russia's massive invasion of the country. The resolution won 93 votes in favor, with 18 votes against and 65 abstentions. Washington sided with Russia, as well as Belarus, North Korea and Sudan, to vote against the measure. Hungary, Israel, Eritrea, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Nicaragua also voted against. China and Iran were among the abstentions. The US had declined to co-sponsor the resolution, instead pushing its own language that failed to blame Russia for the war or mention Ukraine's borders. (Map: PCL)
On Aug. 21, seventh anniversary of the chemical weapon attack on the Damascus suburb of Ghouta, which left 1,400 civilians dead, the Syrian opposition issued a statement protesting that the responsible parties are still yet to be held accountable—while gas attacks have continued in… Read moreSyrian opposition marks seven years of chemical terror
US troops clashed this week with an Assad regime unit in northeast Syria, an incident that illustrates the uneasy patchwork of power in the region. One regime soldier was reportedly killed and two wounded. No US personnel were injured, according… Read moreSyria: US troops clash with Assad regime forces
In its latest annual report, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) found that the armed conflict in Colombia saw the "worst humanitarian consequences" of the past decade in 2025. The number of people killed or injured by explosive devices rose by 34% to 965, overwhelmingly non-combatants. The number of individual disappearances doubled to 308. Violations of international humanitarian law documented by the ICRC reached 845 cases, while figures for displacement and "confinement" doubled. According to the Comprehensive Victim Support & Reparation Unit (UARIV), at least 235,619 people were displaced individually in 2025, while 87,069 were displaced in mass displacement events, and 176,730 remained "confined" in communities under siege by armed actors. (Map: PCL)
As rescue workers continue to look for survivors amid the rubble of a massive explosion that killed a reported 130 people in Beirut’s port on Aug. 4, the humanitarian implications of the blast in Lebanon’s capital will likely not be… Read moreWhat Beirut blast could mean for battered Lebanon
To nobody’s surprise, Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s bloc won a majority of seats in the country’s parliamentary election, dismissed as a farce by the exiled opposition. Assad’s “National Unity” list won 177 seats in the 250-member parliament, the electoral commission announced July… Read moreSyria: controlled elections amid deepening crisis
Member states of the Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on July 9 voted 29-1 to condemn Syria’s Bahsar Assad regime over chemical attacks on civilians in opposition-held areas. Overriding a sustained propaganda campaign by Russia, the regime and… Read moreOPCW condemns Assad regime over chemical attacks
Police in Yekaterinburg stormed an event hosted by Russian pro-democratic opposition party Yabloko (Apple), aimed at supporting political prisoners. Authorities detained 10 attendees, with charges against them now pending at the prosecutor's office. The raid targeted the first of a planned series of "evenings of letters," where attendees can carry out correspondence with imprisoned individuals. According to Yabloko, a total of 952 Russians are currently imprisoned because of their political beliefs or affiliations. (Photo: Yabloko)
Documentation is mounting of Greek authorities carrying out violent “pushbacks” of asylum-seekers and migrants at the country’s land and sea borders with Turkey. The practice violates EU and international law, but in the past four months human rights groups and… Read moreGreece: violent ‘pushbacks’ of asylum seekers
The US government announced that it will settle a 2018 class-action lawsuit that challenged the Trump administration's family separation practice at the US-Mexico border. The proposed settlement would create a process to reunify families who were separated. Additionally, the government is to provide health services and housing support for affected families, and arrange legal services through the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Another provision of the deal bars the federal government from immigration policies that separate parents from children for eight years. The settlement does not provide any monetary relief for affected people. (Photo: BBC World Service via Flickr)
Protesters gathered in the town of Atmeh in Syria’s opposition-held Idlib province on June 23 to demand the release of a locally based British aid worker arrested by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist militia formerly known as the Nusra… Read moreSyria: protests against ex-Nusra rule in Idlib
