For more than a decade, the conflict in Syria appeared too intense, too complex, and too intertwined in geopolitics to be resolved, with the international community choosing to prioritize managing and containing the symptoms rather than seeking to resolve their root causes. However, that all changed in late 2024, when armed opposition groups toppled the Assad regime in 10 days. Today, the country remains extraordinarily fragile and marked by the debilitating effects of a lengthy civil war. Despite a widespread national consensus on the need to reunify Syria, malign and destabilizing actors remain active, including ISIS, Iran, and pro-Assad loyalist insurgents. Nevertheless, there is now a historic opportunity to reshape Syria for the first time in more than half a century. And engagement by the international community will be critical to the country’s success.

Israel has passed a new bill which criminalises the questioning of the official narrative regarding 7 October 2023. The law, passed without opposition, bars non-Israeli citizens from entering or residing in the country if they or the organisations they represent deny the 7 October attack, question the Holocaust, or support the prosecution at international courts of Israeli security personnel for war crimes. It also expands a controversial 2017 amendment that prohibited visas for individuals associated with groups supporting the peaceful Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for a peaceful resolution to Russia’s now three-year war in Ukraine. VOA examined several approaches floated by think tanks recently aimed at achieving a lasting peace to the war.

The 24th February marks the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Neither side has been able to land a knockout blow. Donald Trump is back in the White House and promising to begin negotiations with Vladimir Putin to end the war. What should we expect in 2025 and beyond?

To understand how the war might end, a good place to start is why it began—putting aside Putin’s propaganda about Ukraine being run by Nazis, or having bioweapons labs, and so on.

This war is about how Putin and the people around him see the world and Russia’s place in it. To know what Putin is thinking, we must listen to what he is saying, but here there are two major problems. The first is the role of lying in Russian statecraft, at both the tactical and strategic levels—the latter being what I have called the “intercontinental ballistic whopper”. The second is much bigger. It is that we often don’t want to accept deeply unattractive facts or their consequences. We need to believe that Putin’s worldview can somehow be made to fit with ours and a compromise reached. It can’t.

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cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/17668694

Since October 2023, Israeli authorities have deliberately obstructed Palestinians’ access to the adequate amount of water required for survival in the Gaza Strip, according to a report published by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Because of the decimation of the healthcare system in Gaza since October 2023, including disease tracking, the true scale of those harmed or killed by Israeli authorities’ actions that have deprived Palestinians of adequate water is unknown and may likely never be fully understood. However, these policies have likely contributed to thousands of deaths. Doctors and nurses told Human Rights Watch that they had seen numerous infants, children, and adults die from a combination of malnutrition, dehydration, and disease.

[...]

Israeli authorities made clear their intention to deprive the population of Gaza of necessities after October 7, 2023. On October 9, then-Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered “a complete siege” on Gaza, stating “[t]here will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel, everything is closed.” On October 11, 2023, then-Energy Minister and current Minister of Defense Israel Katz echoed the call for electricity, water, and fuel to be cut, and on October 12, 2023, he called for humanitarian aid to be cut as well.

[...]

In the days after the Hamas-led attacks by Palestinian armed groups in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, senior Israeli officials, including former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and former Energy Minister and current Defense Minister Israel Katz made public statements expressing the government’s aim to deprive civilians in Gaza of water, HRW says, citing sources.

[...]

Israeli authorities have also significantly restricted humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, prevented aid deliveries to different areas within Gaza at various times, and have specifically blocked supplies related to water treatment and production, HRW says.

[...]

Israeli authorities have barred nearly all water-related humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, including water filtration systems, water tanks, and materials needed to repair water infrastructure.

[...]

Protests have now spread from Tbilisi to Batumi, Zugdidi, Kutaisi, Telavi, Gurjaani, and other Georgian cities, sparked by the government's decision to postpone EU accession talks.

Welp... looks like Russia is turning up heat and locals aint having it.

Hopefully Georgian security forces understand who they are supposed to protect here.

You probably already know that Russia’s war against Ukraine should have stopped this week.

That is, if we were to take seriously the self-imposed deadline U.S. President-elect Donald Trump advertised during the campaign. He said that the war can and should be “stopped” or “settled” within 24 hours, sometimes even implying that it would happen right after he’s elected, before he assumes office.

. . .

But it’s a good illustration of the incoming U.S. president’s perception of Ukraine, Russia, and the war. It’s one of the most memorable things he said, but there were others: dismissive remarks about aid to Ukraine, implying that President Volodymyr Zelensky was getting too much from the U.S. (“the greatest salesman on Earth,” Trump sarcastically called him), and a flattering tone he saved for talking about Russian dictator Vladimir Putin (he called his invasion of Ukraine “genius” and “savvy”).

. . .

It’s therefore understandable that Kyiv feels anxiety over Trump’s victory. As Ukrainians, we have no say in the U.S. election, but our future nonetheless depends on who wins it. If I had to capture the mood in Kyiv, I’d say it’s nauseating uncertainty.

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Navalny’s memoir, “Patriot,” which he began writing in Germany after recovering from being poisoned by a Novichok nerve agent in 2020 and continued writing during his imprisonment by smuggling out the notebooks through his lawyers, was released posthumously in English translation on Oct. 22. Its publication has sparked a new wave of accolades for the former opposition leader, who died on Feb. 16 in one of Russia’s most notorious penal colonies.

. . .

From prison, Navalny condemned the full-scale war against Ukraine and acknowledged it was unprovoked, directly challenging Putin's narrative that justifies the aggression through claims of NATO expansion and the need to protect Russia’s "sphere of influence."

. . .

At the same time, Navalny also used words like “fratricidal” to describe the war and wrote that “the reasons for (it) are the political and economic problems within Russia, Putin’s desire to hold on to power at any cost, and his obsession with his own historical legacy,” which ultimately overlooks the genocidal intent behind it, such as the destruction of Ukrainian cultural sites, the forced relocation of thousands of Ukrainian children to Russia, and “re-education” programs implemented by occupation authorities.

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We, Israeli citizens residing in Israel and abroad, call on the international community – the UN and its institutions, the United States, the European Union, the League of Arab States, and all states around the world – to intervene immediately and implement every possible sanction towards achieving an immediate ceasefire between Israel and its neighbors, for the future of both peoples in Israel and Palestine and the peoples of the region and for their rights to security and life.

Many of us are veteran activists against the occupation, for peace and mutual existence in this land. We are motivated by our love for the land and its residents, and we are concerned for their future. We have been horrified by the war crimes committed by Hamas and other organizations on 7 October and we are horrified by the countless war crimes that Israel is committing. Unfortunately, the majority of Israelis support the continuation of the war and massacres, and a change from within is not currently feasible. The state of Israel is on a suicidal path and sows destruction and devastation that increase day by day.

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While Europe may be “sleepwalking into a far-right trap”, Austria is consciously walking straight into it. After all, polls had predicted the most recent electoral success of the Austrian Freedom party (FPÖ) for almost two years. While the far-right party’s leader, Herbert Kickl, heralded its victory as the beginning of “a new era”, it is better understood as a seemingly unavoidable progression. If anything, the country’s recent election results confirmed a broader pattern of far-right normalisation in Europe in general and in Austria in particular.

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YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) — Cameroon’s President Paul Biya returned to his home country after weeks abroad amid rumors that his health is failing, a state-run television station reported Monday.

The 91-year-old president of the West African country appeared on television at the airport in the capital Yaounde, shaking hands with officials next to his wife Chantal and greeted by a cheering crowd of supporters.

“Finally, this is not a phantom, it is President Paul Piya having a lengthy discussion with government officials,” a presenter from the state-run broadcaster Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV) said.

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Residents of Iraq’s semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region went to the polls in long-awaited parliamentary elections Sunday under the shadow of ongoing rivalries, economic instability and unresolved disputes with Baghdad.

The primary competitors are the two dominant Kurdish parties: the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. The two have historically controlled different parts of the region, with the KDP overseeing the regional capital, Irbil, and Dohuk and the PUK governing Sulaymaniyah.

This division has frequently led to political deadlock. The parliamentary elections, originally set for 2022, were postponed several times amid disputes over the election law and procedures.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Newly inaugurated President Prabowo Subianto swore in Indonesia’s largest Cabinet since 1966 on Monday, with 109 members representing his pledge for a strong government.

He announced the lineup late Sunday and named his Cabinet of ministers, vice ministers and head of national agencies the “Red and White Cabinet,” referring to the colors of Indonesia’s flag.

Subianto became the eighth president of Southeast Asia’s largest economy on Sunday.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam elected Luong Cuong, a military general, as its new president on Monday, the fourth official to fill the largely ceremonial role in 18 months.

Cuong, 67, was elected by the National Assembly to replace To Lam, who remained president even after he was formally appointed as the general secretary of the ruling Communist Party in August.

The role of the general secretary is the most powerful position in Vietnam while the presidency is mostly ceremonial and involves meeting foreign dignitaries.

SAN ANDRES LARRAINZAR, Mexico (AP) — Hundreds gathered Monday to mourn Catholic priest Marcelo Pérez, an activist for Indigenous peoples and farm laborers who was killed in the southern Mexico state of Chiapas.

It was a killing that many say was a tragedy foretold, in a state where drug cartels have caused thousands of people to flee their homes.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru’s former President Alejandro Toledo on Monday was sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison in a case involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which became synonymous with corruption across Latin America, where it paid millions of dollars in bribes to government officials and others.

Authorities accused Toledo of accepting $35 million in bribes from Odebrecht in exchange for allowing the construction of a highway in the South American country. The National Superior Court of Specialized Criminal Justice in the capital, Lima, imposed the sentence after years of legal wrangling, including a dispute over whether Toledo, who governed Peru from 2001 to 2006, could be extradited from the United States.