Entire neighborhoods have been leveled in northwestern Syria, where an earthquake struck in the early hours of Monday morning. This region of Syria is home to millions of people displaced by years of civil war. Even before the quake, they had been living in already dire conditions.
A court in Canada has ordered the government to repatriate 23 of its citizens who have been detained in camps for suspected ISIS members and their families in northeastern Syria. If not challenged, this would be the largest repatriation of Canadians from Syria so far.
Many Syrian families in Turkey face school enrollment challenges due to a Turkish law that says no more than 30% of schoolchildren in a single class can be foreigners. Families in border cities like Gaziantep say their children are being turned away with few alternatives.
It’s the largest single wave of Cuban migrants since Fidel Castro’s revolution in the 1950s.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has stressed the importance of the grain deal, saying that it needs long-term protection in order to avoid a global food crisis.
Over the weekend, Orthodox Christians around the globe celebrated Christmas. In Russia and Ukraine, the holiday took place during a time of war between the two countries.
The Ukrainian community in Philadelphia is the second-largest in the United States. As members of the diaspora celebrated the holidays with a special Ukrainian version of “The Nutcracker,” they reflected on a year of worry and solidarity.
The Canaries begin just 60 miles off the coast of Western Sahara, in the Atlantic Ocean. That relatively short distance makes them attractive to those fleeing hardship at home. But the crossing is treacherous.
Theresa and Scott Cianciolo founded Agape Ministries, a Christian nonprofit that works with children and adults with developmental disabilities in Ukraine. After they stopped traveling to Ukraine due to the war, they raised money to create a home for refugees and children with disabilities in Vermont.
About 40 members of a special, all-women Afghan platoon that worked alongside the US military barely made it out of Afghanistan last year. Now, they want to put their training to use even though they remain in a legal limbo. But that hasn’t stopped them learning English and getting an education.
Human rights groups warn that a Turkish invasion could trigger a new exodus of refugees, and worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis in northern Syria.