Assad
EXCLUSIVE
Assad in Exile: A Test for International Justice
National healing must start with justice before any talk of sanctions relief, reconstruction, and pluralism.
WORLD
Poisoning of Assad Rumoured in Moscow
The former Syrian president’s purported poisoning in Russia, though not unprecedented, sparks intrigue as his clan unravels.
WORLD
On One Knee: HTS Looks to Riyadh
The Syrian Foreign Minister's visit to Riyadh represents a strategic effort by Syria's transitional government, under Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, to strengthen diplomatic and economic ties with the Kingdom as shuttle diplomacy takes hold.
WORLD
Al-Sharaa Seeks Support in Meeting with Christian Clerics
Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, met with Christian clerics in Damascus to reassure the country's dwindling Christian community, amid growing concerns over religious tolerance and the influence of radical militias following his rise to power.
BUSINESS
The Fall of Assad: A New Era for Syria’s Drug Trade
The fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 marked the end of Syria's Captagon trade, a major source of regime revenue, creating both challenges for the country's economic recovery and opportunities for regional stability.
Popular
Winter Storm Research Rewrites a Witch Trial Tragedy
As new research published in Smithsonian Magazine this week connects a 1617 Arctic storm to Norway's deadliest witch trials, climate historians reveal how weather shock fed decades of persecution.
Prediction Takes Politics: Prophets and Polymarkets Collide
As 11 Peruvian shamans predicted Nicolás Maduro's fall on 29 December 2025, crypto traders were placing similar bets online—five days before U.S. forces extracted the Venezuelan leader to New York.
Mladenov Takes Over Gaza Board After Regional Veto
Nickolay Mladenov becomes Gaza peace board head after Arab states blocked Tony Blair, raising questions about whose interests guide Washington's selection.
Abu Dhabi Rebuffs British Universities Over Campus Radicalisation
The world’s wealthiest patrons now view Western campuses as hazards, forcing a costly inversion of the traditional hierarchy that once defined global education.
Bury the Lead: MTV ‘Death’ and the Way We Read Now
As MTV continued broadcasting across the United States and most of Europe on 1 January 2026, millions of social media tributes mourned a channel that had never actually shut down.
