As holidaying Australians switch off and welcome in the new year, a potentially treacherous 12 months of geopolitical events could await their return. From precarious, ongoing violence in the Middle East and Ukraine to rising tensions in the South China Sea, just how Australians will be impacted remains to be seen. International relations senior lecturer at Flinders University, Jessica Genauer, …

Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s ousted president, has denied claims that he fled the country amid the collapse of his regime, according to a statement posted Monday on the Syrian Presidency’s Telegram account. The authenticity of the statement remains unclear, as Assad has not publicly commented since his regime’s fall earlier this month. The post alleges that Assad left Damascus for Russia’s …

Toppled dictator Bashar al-Assad airlifted around $252 million in cash to Moscow in a two-year period when Syria was dependent on Russia for support. The Financial Times has uncovered records showing that Assad’s regime flew two tonnes of banknotes into Vnukovo airport in Moscow to be deposited at Russian banks between 2018 and 2019. The shipments came at a time …

The EU will not lift sanctions on Syria before its new rulers ensure minorities are not persecuted and women’s rights are protected within a unified government that disavows religious extremism, the EU’s top diplomat said. An EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels on Monday, which had Syria on the agenda, would not discuss expanding financial support to the country beyond …

Riyad Avlar spent 20 years languishing in Syria’s jails, including a decade in the infamous Saydnaya prison, the scene of some of the Bashar Al Assad government’s most brutal abuses. Those long years behind bars have left him with one obsession: documenting and healing the atrocities committed inside the prison where he himself was locked up. <cs-card “=”” class=”card-outer card-full-size …

Tensions have emerged between Syria’s new Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) rulers and other rebels, sources told The National on Thursday. The cracks could undermine a transition to a new government after the rebels brought down the dictatorship of Bashar Al Assad. The Assad regime, which was dominated by the Alawite minority who ruled Sunni-majority Syria for six decades, collapsed after HTS swept through Syria’s main urban centres on …

One in five Australian private renters are living without two or more essential items, according to a new joint study released by peak body the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), and the University of New South Wales. The study also found that of those Australians renting 22 per cent are living below the poverty line, as the nation’s dual …

Amid growing concerns the Great Barrier Reef is reaching an environmental tipping point beyond repair, there is hope two sections of the natural wonder could persist even on a warming planet. And there are recommendations that both sections be given greater protection from pressures like fishing and shipping. New modelling shows the outlying reefs in the Eastern Torres Strait and the Whitsundays …

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has suggested for the first time he would be willing to give up Ukrainian territory to Russia in exchange for NATO membership — a deal he says would end the “hot phase” of the 33-month-old war. The Ukrainian president told UK-based Sky News the NATO membership invitation would have to be officially extended to the entire country as …

Children in war-torn parts of the world are suffering more than before with violence against them reaching the highest numbers seen in almost two decades, according to Save the Children (STC). Its report has found grave violations against children in conflict-hit regions increased 15 per cent in 2023, the highest level since UN reporting of these crimes started in 2005. …