‘Endless torture’: Turkish inmate recalls hell of Syria jails

MAGARACIK, TURKEY — Finally home in Turkey, Mehmet Erturk cannot eat the bread his wife has made him. After 20 years jailed in Syria, half his teeth are missing and the other half are threatening to fall out. “It was torture after torture,” he told AFP, miming the truncheon blows to the mouth the guards would give him at a notorious Damascus prison known as the …

read me leave comment

Iran currency slips to new lows amid US, Europe tensions

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — The Iranian currency extended its fall Saturday, hitting a new all-time low against the U.S. dollar amid uncertainties about Donald Trump’s imminent arrival in the White House and tensions with the West over Tehran’s nuclear program.  The rial plunged to 756,000 to the dollar on the unofficial market Saturday, compared to 741,500 rials on Friday, according to Bonbast.com, which reports exchange …

read me leave comment

India’s Supreme Court takes note of judge’s ‘communal’ speech

India’s Supreme Court has said it would review the controversial speech by a top court judge in which he said that the country would function according to the demands or wishes of the Hindu majority community.  Many are demanding the impeachment of the judge, Shekhar Kumar Yadav, who practices at the High Court of Allahabad, the topmost court in the north Indian state of Uttar …

read me leave comment

Who is Han Duck-soo, South Korea’s acting president after Yoon impeachment?

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who became South Korea’s acting president after Saturday’s impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol, is a career technocrat whose wide-ranging experience and reputation for rationality could serve him well in his latest role.  With parliament’s impeachment vote against Yoon passed after his short-lived attempt to impose martial law, Yoon is suspended from exercising presidential powers, and the constitution requires …

read me leave comment

Before ouster, Syria’s Assad told Iran Turkey was aiding HTS rebels

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — In the final days leading to his ouster, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad complained to Iran’s foreign minister that Turkey was actively supporting Sunni rebels in their offensive to topple him, two Iranian officials told Reuters this week. Five decades of rule by Assad’s family ended Sunday when he fled to Moscow, where the government granted him asylum. Iran had backed Assad …

read me leave comment

At least 18 killed in Israeli Gaza strikes, Palestinian medics say

At least 18 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza Saturday, medics said, while the Israeli military said it targeted gunmen operating from shelters and aid storages. At least 10 people were killed in an airstrike near the municipality building in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, where people gathered to receive aid, medics said. Casualties were being carried by foot, on rickshaws …

read me leave comment

VOA Kurdish: Turkey prepares for return of 3 million refugees to Syria

With the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Turkey is preparing for nearly 3 million Syrian refugees to return to their country. But experts say the process will be challenging. Metin Corabatir, head of the Research Center on Asylum and Migration, discusses the complexities of their return. Click here for the full story in Kurdish. …

read me leave comment

12 conservatives join opposition to impeach Yoon

South Korean lawmakers have impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his attempt to impose martial law. In a vote Saturday, 12 conservative lawmakers joined opposition forces to impeach Yoon, whose powers will now be suspended until the country’s Constitutional Court decides whether to formally remove him from office. Here is more from VOA’s Bill Gallo in Seoul. …

read me leave comment

A look at the South Korean leader who has been impeached

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — South Korea’s parliament has voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol, a stunning fall from grace for a man who rose from political obscurity to the height of political power. His decades of achievement could be on the verge of crumbling due to a single, baffling decision to send out troops under martial law over vague claims that one of Asia’s leading …

read me leave comment

South Korea’s parliament votes to impeach president over martial law order

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — South Korean lawmakers have impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol over his attempt to impose martial law, a high-stakes move that must now be approved by judges. In a Saturday vote, 12 conservative lawmakers joined opposition forces to impeach Yoon, who is just halfway through his single five-year term. The impeachment suspends Yoon’s powers until the Constitutional Court decides whether to formally remove …

read me leave comment

Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup. But when exactly?

ZURICH — Saudi Arabia scored a major win in its campaign to attract major sports events to the kingdom when it was formally appointed as the 2034 World Cup host on Wednesday. Still, many questions remain about the tournament as well as the 2030 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Spain, Portugal and Morocco, with three games in South America. Here are some of the …

read me leave comment

Indonesia still eyes BRICS membership despite Trump tariff threat 

Jakarta, indonesia — Indonesia remains cautiously determined to join BRICS despite a threat from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to double tariffs on members of the Russia- and China-led bloc if it pursues its stated goal of establishing an alternative to the U.S. dollar in international trade. At a parliament meeting this month with the Indonesian Foreign Ministry, legislators expressed their concern about Trump’s threats. “Although we …

read me leave comment

Syrian refugees in Somalia hope to return home

MOGADISHU, SOMALIA/WASHINGTON — Expressing a renewed desire to return to their homeland, some Syrian refugees residing Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, are hopeful that recent developments, including the ousting of the Assad family regime that brutally ruled Syria for 53 years, might signal a safer future in Syria. Since the Syrian civil war broke out more than a decade ago, Syrians have fled to countries in the Middle …

read me leave comment

China’s Xi to attend Macau 25th handover anniversary next week, state media says

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Macau next week for a gathering marking 25 years since the former Portuguese colony’s handover to China, state news agency Xinhua said Saturday. Xi will also attend the inauguration of Macau’s incoming administration and conduct an inspection tour during the December 18-20 visit, according to Xinhua. Macau grew into a trading post with a mixed Portuguese-Chinese population and cultural …

read me leave comment

Israeli airstrikes kill at least 30 in Gaza

Palestinian health officials and U.N. aid workers report at least 30 people killed in Israeli strikes in central Gaza overnight, while the Israeli military reports that it conducted operations in Gaza and southern Lebanon in the past 24 hours. Senior emergency officer Louise Wateridge with the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees — UNRWA — reported Friday that 30 people were killed in Israeli strikes …

read me leave comment

Syrian Kurds seek to preserve autonomy following Assad’s fall

WASHINGTON — Syrian Kurdish groups have welcomed the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, viewing it as a historic opportunity for change after 54 years of rule by the Assad dynasty. However, concerns remain among Kurdish communities about potential opposition to Kurdish rights from the Islamist rebels who led the regime’s overthrow. Following Assad’s fall on Sunday, Mazloum Abdi, the top commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian …

read me leave comment

Blinken travels to Iraq, Turkey for Syria-focused talks

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Iraq on Friday after Syria-focused talks with his counterpart in Turkey. Blinken met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Baghdad, after flying from Ankara on a C-17 U.S. Air Force plane. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Blinken “underscored the U.S. commitment to the U.S.-Iraq strategic partnership and to Iraq’s security, stability and sovereignty.” “The …

read me leave comment

China jails former national football coach for 20 years for bribery

BEIJING — The former coach of the Chinese men’s national football team has received a 20-year-prison sentence for bribery, Chinese state media reported Friday. Liu Tie, who once played in the English Premier League as a midfielder for Everton, was found guilty of “leveraging his positions” as head coach of the national football and national selection team to receive bribes of more than 50 million yuan …

read me leave comment

South Korea opposition leader says impeaching Yoon best way to restore order

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said on Friday the best way to restore order in the country is to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol, a day ahead of a planned parliamentary vote over Yoon’s short-lived imposition of martial law. Yoon’s move to impose military rule on December 3 was rescinded barely six hours later but it plunged the country into a …

read me leave comment

‘We have nowhere to go’: Exiled from Myanmar, journalists fear new Thai law

BANGKOK — Fleeing an arrest warrant issued by Myanmar’s junta, journalist Nyan Linn Htet moved to neighboring Thailand three years ago. From there, the founder and managing editor at the Mekong News Agency has continued to provide coverage of issues affecting his home country. But a new law being debated in the Thai parliament could damage the fragile existence that he and so many others in …

read me leave comment

Impeaching Yoon best way to restore order, S. Korean opposition leader says

Seoul, south korea — South Korean opposition leader Lee Jae-myung said on Friday the best way to restore order in the country is to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol, a day ahead of a planned parliamentary vote over Yoon’s short-lived imposition of martial law.  Yoon’s move to impose military rule on December 3 was rescinded within six hours, but it plunged the country into a constitutional …

read me leave comment

As Syria’s prison doors open, tens of thousands remain missing 

united nations — As Syrians celebrate the collapse of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime after more than 50 years of brutal father-son rule, the search continues for tens of thousands of Syrians who are still missing after having been arrested, detained or “disappeared.” Human rights experts are urging the preservation of evidence of the torture and death of political prisoners as the doors of the country’s prisons …

read me leave comment

US officials stress collaboration with Japan, South Korea amid Seoul leadership crisis

WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers and diplomatic officials stressed the need for close cooperation among the United States, South Korea and Japan in response to the possible impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.  The officials say that Yoon, who could be removed from office as soon as this weekend over a short-lived imposition of martial law that threw his country into turmoil, has played an …

read me leave comment

ByteDance seeks to delay US TikTok ban, putting hope on Trump administration

WASHINGTON — As the deadline approaches for ByteDance to divest from TikTok or face a ban in the United States, the Chinese company made an appeal Monday to U.S. courts to extend the date of the ultimatum until after President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. The current deadline requires ByteDance to divest from TikTok by Jan. 19, 2025, a day before Trump is sworn into office. Despite an …

read me leave comment