Syria
Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, for years a pariah in the Arab world, continues to creep in from the cold. Bahrain today appointed its first ambassador to Damascus since it downgraded relations in 2011, when Syria’s brutal civil war began. Two other Gulf Arab states, the UAE and Oman, made similar moves in 2021. Some analysts see the thawing as a pragmatic acceptance that Assad has won the war. His forces have regained control of most of Syria with the help of Russian and Iranian forces.
More from Al Jazeera here.
Russia
Moscow has designated two members of the protest punk band Pussy Riot as “foreign agents.” An updated list from the justice ministry today also added journalists, a satirist and an art curator. Those deemed foreign agents must label all of their material, including social media posts, with a long preamble indicating they are foreign agents. They must also hand over details of their activities and finances to the government every six months. The term foreign agent has particularly negative connotations in Russia, conjuring up memories of Soviet-era spying.
More from the Moscow Times here.
Sudan
As mentioned in previous newsletters, the international headlines have long forgotten Sudan’s October 25 coup, but tens of thousands of Sudanese people continue to protest it publicly — and to die for doing so. According to a pro-democracy doctor’s group, at least four people were shot dead by security forces today as demonstrators marched in several cities, including Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri.
More from VOA here.