Holding new elections in Syria could take up to four years, rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has said in a broadcast interview. This is the first time he has given a timeline for possible elections in Syria since his group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) led a rebel offensive that ousted former President Bashar al-Assad. In the…
Getty Images Boris Yeltsin (L) announced he would be resigning immediately and handing over presidential powers to Vladimir Putin on 31 December 1999 I will never forget New Year’s Eve 1999. I was working as a producer in the BBC’s Moscow bureau. Suddenly there was breaking news: Russia’s President Boris Yeltsin had stepped down. His…
Dungeons and Dragons has come a long way since making its debut 50 years ago. After decades spent as the pinnacle of nerd culture, the popular tabletop game has broken into the mainstream thanks in part to the success of Netflix’s mega-hit show “Stranger Things” and the best-selling videogame “Baldur’s Gate 3.” Indeed, D&D publisher…
The bald eagle is now officially the national bird of the US, after President Joe Biden signed a law on Christmas Eve bestowing the honour upon the white-headed and yellow-beaked bird of prey. The bird has been a national emblem in the US for years, appearing on the Great Seal of the US – used…
Jack Teixeira, a US Air National Guardsman, who leaked Pentagon documents last year in one of the highest-profile intelligence cases in recent years, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Teixeira, 22, pleaded guilty to the willful retention and transmission of national defence information in March. While he worked at an Air National Guard base,…
Ahead of the verdict, Nadezhda Buyanova was led, handcuffed, into the courtroom and locked inside a glass and metal cage. Through the glass, the 68-year-old paediatrician told me what she thought of her predicament. “It’s absurd, just absurd,” the doctor said. “I can’t get my head around what’s happening to me. Perhaps later I’ll be…
A journalist detained in Eritrean prison without trial for 23 years has won a Swedish human rights prize for his commitment to freedom of expression. Dawit Isaak, who holds dual Eritrean-Swedish citizenship, was given the Edelstam Prize “for his… exceptional courage”, the foundation behind the award said in a statement. Dawit, who holds dual Eritrean-Swedish…
Irina Turbina Arseny Turbin is one of several children to face politically motivated criminal charges in Russia One of Russia’s youngest political prisoners has lost an appeal to overturn a five-year jail sentence. Arseny Turbin was only 15 when he was arrested in the summer of 2023. Authorities accused him of joining the Freedom of…
A tourist takes a photo as the Acropolis’ Propylaea are seen in the background, in Athens, Greece, on June 28, 2024. Elias Marcou | Reuters Flights between the U.S. and Europe have not been this cheap in three years, when many countries were just lifting Covid-19 era rules. Fares are low even for the traditionally…
On the eerie night of Halloween, space experts unveiled a chilling revelation: a ‘zombie star’ is poised to rise from the dead. T Coronae Borealis, also known as the Blaze Star, is expected to explode violently soon. As if summoned by the spirits of the night, this illuminating binary star system will awaken for the…
