China

The office of the U.N.’s Syria envoy said Monday that he stressed the need for a Syria-led political transition as he met in Damascus with the head of the rebel group that led the ouster of longtime President Bashar al-Assad. The transition should be based on the principles of a 2015 U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance,” within six …

SYDNEY — Australian authorities are responding to a surge in antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crimes. Australian police said offensive graffiti that demeaned Islam was found under a bridge in the Sydney suburb of Sefton on Sunday.   The New South Wales state Premier Chris Minns said “this racism and Islamophobia is disgusting and corrosive to the very fabric” of multiculturalism.   Sefton is a majority-Muslim district. …

Bangkok — Thailand said on Monday it will host two regional meetings on Myanmar this week, with at least one to have representatives of the junta, as the Malaysian Prime Minister said efforts were being made to bring Myanmar back to the fore of ASEAN. Thai foreign minister Maris Sangiampongsa will hold the separate consultations on Dec 19 and 20, after Thailand in October offered to …

BEIJING — China’s Communist Party must “turn the knife inward” to eliminate problems of discipline, including corruption, President Xi Jinping said, a new call to hunt down corrupt officials and those who corrupt them. Since coming to power over a decade ago, Xi has cracked down on corruption involving party members, whether they were corrupt high-ranking “tigers” or lowly “flies” who failed to implement government policies. …

Damascus, Syria — In the large courtyard of the Faculty of Letters at Damascus University, hundreds of jubilant students trampled on Sunday a statue, symbol of the former power, a week after the fall of the capital. “The atmosphere is extraordinary, everyone is happy, look at the joy of the people,” exclaims Rinad Abdallah, an 18-year-old medical student. In front of her, the several-meter-high statue of …

Seoul, South Korea — South Korean law enforcement authorities will request that impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol appear for questioning this week over his short-lived martial law decree as they expand a probe into whether his ill-conceived power grab amounted to rebellion. A joint investigative team involving police, an anti-corruption agency and the Defense Ministry plans to convey a request to Yoon’s office that he appears …

Tripoli, Libya — One of Libya’s main refineries in the west has been shut down after clashes between local armed groups erupted early Sunday and caused fires on infrastructure, state oil company NOC said. Several tanks at the Zawiya refinery, a town 45 km west of Tripoli and the only one in western Libya that supplies the local market with fuel, caught fire, according to videos …

The United Nations will convene a technical committee of Libya experts to resolve contentious issues and put the country on the path to long-awaited national elections, the acting head of the U.N. mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said Sunday. A political process to resolve more than a decade of conflict in Libya has been stalled since an election scheduled for December 2021 collapsed amid disputes over …

Seoul, South Korea — North Korean state media KCNA on Monday reported on the South Korean parliament passing President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment vote Saturday. Yoon was impeached in a second vote by South Korea’s opposition-led parliament over his short-lived attempt to impose martial law, which shocked the nation. KCNA had reported for the first time on Dec. 11 South Korea’s martial law crisis which was …

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel said Sunday it will close its embassy in Ireland as relations deteriorated over the war in Gaza, where Palestinian medical officials said new Israeli airstrikes killed over 30 people including several children.  The decision to close the embassy came in response to what Israel’s foreign minister has described as Ireland’s “extreme anti-Israel policies.” In May, Israel recalled its ambassador to …

Israel launched dozens more airstrikes into neighboring Syria over the weekend, claiming ongoing threats to its security. Syria’s new leadership calls those threats a false pretext, adding it has no desire for a new conflict. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. …

DAMASCUS, Syria — A U.N. envoy called Sunday for a quick end to Western sanctions against Syria as the country’s new leaders and regional and global powers begin to chart a path forward following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian government has been under strict sanctions by the United States, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response …

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 …

Suva, Fiji — Seven foreigners including four Australians and an American have been hospitalized after drinking cocktails at a five-star Fiji hotel resort, health officials said Sunday.  The hotel guests were taken to hospital on Saturday night suffering “nausea, vomiting and neurological symptoms,” Fiji’s health ministry said in a statement.  They fell ill after drinking a cocktail prepared at a bar in the luxury Warwick Fiji …

JERUSALEM — The threats to Israel from Syria remain despite the moderate tone of rebel leaders who ousted President Bashar al-Assad a week ago, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday, amid military moves by his country to counter such threats. “The immediate risks to the country have not disappeared and the latest developments in Syria increase the strength of the threat — despite the …

DAMASCUS, SYRIA — At Damascus’ international airport, the new head of security — one of the rebels who marched across Syria to the capital — arrived with his team. The few maintenance workers who showed up for work huddled around Maj Hamza al-Ahmed, eager to learn what will happen next. They quickly unloaded all the complaints they had been too afraid to express during the rule …

SYDNEY — The five remaining members of the Australian “Bali Nine” drug ring flew home Sunday after 19 years in jail in Indonesia, ending a saga that had frayed relations between the two countries. Indonesian police arrested the nine Australians in 2005, convicting them of attempting to smuggle more than 8 kilograms of heroin off the holiday island of Bali. In a case that drew global …

OKAPI WILDLIFE RESERVE, Democratic Republic of Congo — Scattered along the banks of the Ituri River, buildings cram together, cranes transport dirt and debris scatters the soil. The patches of trees are a scant reminder that a forest once grew there. Nestled in eastern Congo’s Ituri province, the Chinese-run gold mine is rapidly encroaching on an area that many say it shouldn’t be operating in at …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …