Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the suspects Israel attack on Syria, VenezuelaThe former opposition candidate is running Spainand destructive storms in Vietnam.
Sign up To get World Brief in your inbox every week.
Sign up to receive World Brief in your inbox every week.
Attacks on Syria
Air raids overnight were killed At least 18 people are in Syria’s Tartus and Hama governorates, Health Minister Hassan al-Ghabash said on Monday. About 40 others were wounded, including six seriously—making it one of the deadliest attacks on Syria since the Israel-Hamas war began last October. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a United Kingdom-based war monitor, also put the death toll at 25, including at least five civilians.
Israel is widely believed to be responsible for the operation; The Israeli military declined to comment on foreign reports. Israel is regularly targeted military sites Aligned with Iran and Hezbollah in Syria, Tehran accuses it of using Syria to deliver Iranian weapons to the Lebanon-based terrorist group, which, like Iran, is allied with Hamas. According to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, Hamas’s Oct. Since the attack on Israel on 7, 2023, the Israeli military has carried out more than 180 strikes on Syria.
In overnight attacks that reportedly targeted military positions, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Monday that the strikes Institute of Scientific Research in the Syrian city of Masyaf which works on “developing short- and medium-range precision missiles”.
However, Syrian officials said the attack had taken place Civilian goalsincluding highways in Masyaf. Electricity Minister Mohamed Al-Zamel said the strike had caused “really significant” damage to water and electricity infrastructure. A Syrian military source told state media that Syrian air defenses intercepted and shot down some of the missiles fired.
Ending the Israel-Hamas war and “avoiding a full-blown regional conflict is an absolute and urgent priority,” UN human rights chief Volker Turk said on Monday. Israeli attacks on Syria have already increased regional tensions, especially when Israeli forces targeted the Iranian consulate building in Damascus in April. “There is territory under fireAnd everything is related to what happens in Gaza,” Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told reporters at the time.
Turkey also urged other countries on Monday to condemn Israel’s “blameless disregard” for international law regarding its actions in the West Bank and Gaza, where more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the past 11 months. Violence in the West Bank has also increased in recent weeks. On Friday, Israeli forces concluded 10-day raids on Jenin that targeted suspected militants, killing at least 36 Palestinians. And a citizen of Jordan on Sunday were killed Three Israelis at the Allenby Bridge border crossing between Jordan and the West Bank. Jordan’s interior ministry said the gunman appeared to have acted alone.
“I think we’re at a fork in the road,” Turk said, adding that continuing on the current path is “a treacherous new normal” that will enable the region to “sleepwalk into a dystopian future.”
Today’s most read
The world this week
Tuesday, September 10: The 79th session of the UN General Assembly has begun in New York City.
Jordan holds parliamentary elections.
US presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump held their first debate.
Thursday, September 12: G-7 labor and employment ministers begin a two-day meeting in Italy while G-20 agriculture ministers begin a two-day session in Brazil.
China begins hosting three-day Xiangshan Forum.
Friday, September 13: US President Joe Biden hosts British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
NATO defense chiefs convene in Prague for three-day session.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hosts Kenyan President William Ruto.
Sunday, September 15: The deadline for withdrawing all US troops from Niger expires.
What we are following
in exile. Former Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez sought refuge in Spain over the weekend as part of a negotiated deal with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to help restore “political peace and order” in the country. His departure comes just days after Maduro ordered Gonzalez’s arrest for claiming the opposition had rightfully won the presidential election in July.
“My departure from Caracas was surrounded by acts of coercion, coercion and threats,” Gonzalez said after arriving in Spain on Sunday. opposition figure Maria Corina Machadowho has also been the subject of political threats but vowed to stay in the country on Monday, said Gonzalez will return to Caracas on Jan. 10 for a swearing-in ceremony to mark the start of the next presidential term.
“His life was in danger, and the increasing threats, summonses, arrest warrants, and even attempted blackmail and coercion that he was subjected to show that the regime has no malice,” Machado said. There have been over 2,000 people Arrest Since late July, several Western countries have urged Caracas to counter Maduro’s claims of victory, according to Human Rights Watch. Get to know Gonzalez As the next leader of Venezuela. “Today is a sad day for democracy in Venezuela,” the European Union foreign-policy chief Joseph Borrell said on Sunday.
A typhoon arose. Asia’s most powerful typhoon this year hit Vietnam over the weekend, Murder At least 64 people and more than 700 people injured. Typhoon Yagi had sustained winds of 127 mph and caused deadly landslides and flash floods. About 46,500 households and millions of acres of land have been harvested DamagedAnd the storm destroyed Busy bridge At least 13 people went missing in North Vietnam on Monday.
Yagi has since been downgraded to a Tropical depressionBut authorities have warned that more devastation is likely. Already, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Sunday approved a $4.62 million package to help the port city of Haiphong recover from typhoon damage. Yagi was the most powerful typhoon to hit Vietnam in decades, which scientists attributed to warmer ocean waters due to climate change. Before hitting Vietnam, the storm killed at least 24 people in southern China and the Philippines last week.
Breach of airspace. Two NATO members the accused Russian drones violated their airspace on Sunday. A Russian drone flew into Romania on Sunday during an overnight attack on “civilian targets and port infrastructure” in Ukraine. Bucharest deployed F-16 fighter jets to monitor the situation and issued warnings to residents in the Tulcea and Constanta regions.
Hours later, Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprudes said a Russian drone had fallen near the town of Rezekne on Saturday, adding that it had come from neighboring Belarus. “While we have no information indicating a deliberate attack by Russia against allies, these acts are irresponsible and potentially dangerous,” NATO Deputy Secretary-General Mircea Giovanna said. posted On X.
Such incursions into Latvian airspace are rare, but Romania has documented several incidents where fragments of Russian drones have landed in its territory since Moscow’s war against Ukraine began more than two years ago.
odds and ends
National Forestry and Wildlife Service of Peru seized About 400 frogs were illegally smuggled into the capital of Lima last Thursday. Authorities believe that amphibians were used in local remedies, such as medicine or cooking, to improve a person’s sex drive. High demand for the frog-based liquor known as the “Viagra of Incas”, as well as climate change and pollution, have made the creatures an endangered species in Peru.
Post At least 18 people were killed in airstrikes in Syria appeared first foreign policy.