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WASHINGTON — When news broke about the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria this week, photojournalist Paul Conroy found himself thinking about a former colleague, Marie Colvin.   An American journalist, Colvin was killed in February 2012 in the city of Homs when the Syrian military shelled the media center she was in. French photographer Remi Ochlik was also killed, and Conroy and two other …

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping and other foreign leaders to his January 20 inauguration, but it is not known yet whether any of them plan to attend the ceremony on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. Trump transition spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Fox News it was yet “to be determined” whether Xi will accept Trump’s invitation, which was extended in …

JERUSALEM — Israeli troops this week took over a buffer zone between Israel and Syria in the wake of the Syrian government’s fall, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says they will remain for now. After a meeting with Biden administration national security advisor Jake Sullivan in Jerusalem, Netanyahu’s office said that Israeli troops will stay in the buffer zone next to the Golan Heights until some …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Thursday that Israeli forces will remain in a Syrian buffer zone adjacent to the Golan Heights until a force on the Syrian side can guarantee security. The Israeli troops advanced from their side of the Golan Heights into the buffer zone and onto the Syrian side after rebels ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “Israel will not permit jihadi …

Israeli forces withdrew Wednesday from a strategic town in southern Lebanon and were replaced by Lebanese troops as part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah. The withdrawal from Al-Khiam came two weeks after the start of the ceasefire brokered by the United States and France. “This is an important first step in the implementation of a lasting cessation of hostilities …

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — South Korea’s top court upheld on Thursday a two-year jail term for an opposition lawmaker on charges including bribery and academic fraud in a scandal that has deepened the political divide in the country and disenchanted many young voters. The verdict stripped Cho Kuk, a former justice minister and President Yoon Suk Yeol’s adversary, who now runs the minor opposition Rebuilding Korea …

Washington — Closure has been elusive for Penny Sukhraj-Hammerl for more than a decade.  Her husband, South African photojournalist Anton Hammerl, was shot and killed in the Libyan desert on April 5, 2011, by pro-Moammar Gadhafi forces.  Since then, the questions have outnumbered the answers, and justice has remained a far-off hope, Sukhraj-Hammerl, also a journalist, told VOA from London.  At the time of Hammerl’s killing, …

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — From plastic surgery clinics to tour firms and hotel chains, South Korea’s hospitality sector is wary of the potential impact of a protracted political crisis, as some overseas travelers cancel trips following last week’s brief bout of martial law. South Korea’s travel and tourism industry, which generated $59.1 billion in 2023, around 3.8% of GDP, has held up through previous bumps in …

The U.N. General Assembly demanded on Wednesday an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as well as the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages still being held by Palestinian militants. “The message that it is sending is that we are with you,” Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour said after the vote. He added that it shows that Israel and its main backer, the …

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s president defended his martial law decree as an act of governance and denied rebellion charges in a statement Thursday, suggesting he has no intention of resigning and rejecting the impeachment attempts and investigations into last week’s move.  Yoon Suk Yeol’s televised statement came hours before the main liberal opposition Democratic Party was to submit a new impeachment motion against Yoon. …

Ankara/Washington — Turkey is helping several countries that want to ensure the safe departure of their citizens from Syria after rebels captured Damascus and toppled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government last week. According to Turkish diplomatic sources who spoke to VOA Turkish on the condition of anonymity, Turkey’s foreign and defense ministries are coordinating the evacuations of third-country nationals from Syria with the logistical support of …

Reports obtained by VOA Persian confirm that restrictions on female political prisoners at Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad remain in effect.  A recently released former inmate of Vakilabad Prison, speaking to VOA, revealed that the restrictions were imposed “without any prior notice” following a meeting between inmates of Ward 6 and political prisoner Fatemeh Sepehri, held outside the ward on December 5.    She added, “Prisoners’ access …

Vietnam has recently ordered both Temu and Shein, Chinese cross-border shopping platforms, to suspend operations, following a similar move by Indonesia.   Analysts say businesses and officials believe the Chinese platforms pose a significant threat to local small- and medium-sized enterprises, forcing authorities to take countermeasures. VOA Mandarin reports that more countries are expected to roll out similar restrictions.   Click here for the full story in …

VOA Russian speaks with Ksenia Kirillova, an analyst with Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) and The Jamestown Foundation, on how Syria is being portrayed by Russian propaganda. Russian pro-government botnets have already started pushing the narrative that “Syria is of no benefit for Russia” following the fall of Moscow’s ally Bashar al-Assad.  Click here for the full story in Russian.  …

Rufat Safarov, a prominent human rights defender from Azerbaijan, was one of the recipients of the U.S. secretary of state’s 2024 Human Rights Defender Award. He did not attend Tuesday’s ceremony in Washington, because he’d been arrested December 3, hours after visiting the U.S. Embassy in Baku to receive his visa to travel to the United States. During the ceremony, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, …

ZURICH — FIFA has confirmed Saudi Arabia as host of the 2034 World Cup in men’s soccer. The Saudi bid was the only candidate and was acclaimed by the applause of more than 200 FIFA member federations. They took part remotely in an online meeting hosted in Zurich on Wednesday by the soccer body’s president, Gianni Infantino. The decision was combined with approving the only candidate …

 Russia said Wednesday it is closely monitoring the situation in Syria and is in contact with “those who are currently controlling the situation.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov highlighted Russia’s need to ensure the security of its diplomatic facilities and its military bases in Syria, where Russian troops were based for years supporting the Syrian military in the country’s civil war. Peskov’s comments came days after …

Melbourne, Australia — Global mining giants BHP Group and Rio Tinto are facing class actions alleging widespread and systemic sexual harassment at Australian mine sites, law firm JGA Saddler said on Wednesday. JGA Saddler said women who spoke out about the harassment were allegedly discriminated against by the miners and that it expects “thousands of female workers” at the two companies to join the class actions. …

Myanmar’s economy is expected to shrink by 1% in the current fiscal year, the World Bank said Wednesday, sharply downgrading its economic forecast as severe floods compounded the challenges facing the conflict-torn country. In June, the bank had projected Myanmar’s economy would grow 1% during the current fiscal year, which ends in March 2025, but warned of increasing poverty and escalating violence. The country of …

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s previous Defense Minister Kim Yong Hyun was stopped from attempting suicide while in detention over last week’s martial law, officials said, as police were reported to be raiding President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office Wednesday in their intensifying investigation. The main liberal opposition Democratic Party also plans to submit a new motion to impeach Yoon for his Dec. 3 declaration that …

NEW YORK — The senior United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Gaza said Tuesday that the situation is “utterly devastating,” and more political will is urgently needed to get enough aid to desperate Palestinians in Gaza.  “I have said this to the [Security] Council — there’s no substitute, no system can and will substitute or compensate for an absence or lack of political will,” Sigrid Kaag said. …

A national security review of Nippon Steel’s $15 billion bid for U.S. Steel is ongoing and President Joe Biden will see what it yields before making a decision on whether to block it, the White House said on Tuesday, cautioning he still opposes the tie-up. The statement comes after shares of U.S. Steel tumbled more than 10% on Tuesday afternoon following a Bloomberg report suggesting …

As Syrians danced in the streets over President Bashar al-Assad’s fall from power, Anwar Etnesh drove his car into the dense traffic clogging the route from his hometown Daraa north to Damascus. Hordes of Syrians like Etnesh were heading to Syria’s capital to celebrate the end of the Assad family’s rule. But Etnesh was on a mission to find his 55-year-old cousin, whom Assad soldiers …

Washington — Calls are mounting around the world to safeguard Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities following the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime by Islamist rebels.  Concerns particularly focus on the future of the Alawite community, a sect from which the Assad family originates. The swift offensive that led to the capture of Damascus was headed by the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or …