Syria, Suriname, North Korea.

Today's three stories you should know.

Feb 19, 2023

Syria

ISIS hasn’t gone away. A major attack by the group in central Syria has killed at least 53 people, most of them civilians, according to state media and a war monitor. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group that monitors Syria’s war, said ISIS fighters on motorcycles attacked an army checkpoint and a group of people collecting truffles nearby. The Observatory said the group took advantage of the fact that attention in Syria is focused on responding to the February 6th earthquake that has killed more than 46,000 people in Syria and Turkey. Though ISIS has been largely defeated in Iraq and Syria and pushed from all of the territory it once held, its sleeper cells retain the ability to launch hit-and-run attacks.

Suriname

Protesters in Suriname have stormed the country’s parliament building, with some forcing their way inside, during furious protests over high fuel and electricity prices. The government recently scrapped state subsidies for fuel and electricity, apparently on the advice of the International Monetary Fund. Demonstrators are demanding the resignation of President Chandrikapersad Santokhi over the move. The government said in a statement that it had set up a task force to track down protest ringleaders.

North Korea

The daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a soccer match with him today. Why is that significant? Because her recent appearances with him have fuelled rampant speculation that she is being groomed as his successor. The girl’s name and age are never mentioned by the country’s state media, which instead refers to her as Kim’s “beloved child" or "respected child." South Korean intelligence agencies, though, believe her name is Kim Ju Ae and that she is around 10 years old. Photos showed Kim and his daughter sitting in VIP seats, surrounded by senior government and military officials. Kim’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, was seated behind them.