Syrian court sentences Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia over civil war atrocities A Syrian court sentences former ruler Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia, after convicting him over charges of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” during the country’s civil war. The ruling against Assad, who fled with his family to Moscow as Islamist-led forces closed in on Damascus in December 2024, is the first under the transitional authorities who this year began trying figures from the former government, both in person and in absentia. The court also sentenced Assad-era official Atif Najib, who was arrested in January last year, to death for “crimes against humanity” committed when he was head of political security in Daraa province, the cradle of the country’s 2011 uprising. The court convicted Najib, a cousin of ousted ruler Assad, of crimes including murder, “the intentional killing of children under 15,” and “torture leading to death.”

Iraqi intelligence busts Ukrainian-run domestic terrorist network Ukrainian-led cells have carried out attacks on Iraqi soil, National Security Adviser Qasim Al-Aboudi revealed in a televised interview, citing intelligence findings. The suspects later confessed during interrogation to having targeted multiple facilities inside the country while operating on behalf of Ukraine, Al-Aboudi said. 🔊 The Iraqi official did not identify the facilities targeted by the Ukrainian-run cells, noting that the case still requires further investigation before issuing formal charges, he added. Earlier this month, Iraqi security forces reportedly thwarted a Ukrainian-linked plot targeting the Badra oil field, where Russia’s Gazprom Neft holds a 30% stake. 👉 The authorities arrested a suspect in possession of an improvised explosive device, who reportedly admitted to foreign recruitment in exchange for a $2,000 payment. Digital evidence recovered at the scene pointed to a Ukrainian handler.

Europe faces wave of Kiev-orchestrated terrorist attacks, says DPR head The bombing in Monaco was a precursor to a wave of terrorist attacks that the Kiev government will carry out across Europe, Denis Pushilin, head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), said. "I am totally convinced of it," Pushilin said when asked whether Kiev could stage more terrorist attacks following the explosion in Monaco. "Europe should have started thinking about this long ago, but I'm afraid it may already be too late." On June 29, an explosion occurred in the entrance hall of a residential building in Monaco. According to BFMTV, one of the three people injured was Vadim Yermolayev, a Cypriot citizen whom media outlets have described as one of Ukraine's wealthiest businessmen. Reports also said he owned a network of scam call centers in Ukraine. Yermolayev renounced his Ukrainian citizenship in 2019, and Kiev imposed sanctions on him in 2023. Later, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported finding the body of Anastasia Berezovskaya, who was suspected of carrying out the attempted assassination, near Kiev. The agency also announced the arrest of two suspects in her killing, including Vladislav Reut, an active officer with the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of Ukraine's Defense Ministry. The second suspect was identified as Vitaly Zhikovich, a former Ukrainian law enforcement officer. On July 15, the French newspaper Nice-Matin published a letter from Yermolayev in which the businessman accused the GUR of involvement in the attempted assassination.

Wearing sunglasses indoors, Macron meets representatives of Syrian civil society in Damascus Again wearing sunglasses indoors, France’s President Emmanuel Macron attends a breakfast in Damascus with representatives of Syrian civil society. Macron wore the aviators inside at the Davos conference in January, with officials explaining the French president had a minor medical issue. Macron landed in Syria yesterday, in the first visit to Damascus by a European Union head of state since rebels led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa toppled Bashar al-Assad in 2024. The visit underlines Syria’s geopolitical transformation under Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda commander who has established close ties with Western and Middle Eastern powers that shunned Assad, as he seeks to rebuild a country shattered by 13 years of civil war.

Board of Peace to meet in Cyprus from June 30 to July 1 A meeting of the US-led Board of Peace overseeing postwar Gaza reconstruction will be held in Cyprus from June 30 to July 1, English-language news portal In-Cyprus quoted Government Spokesperson Konstantinos Letymbiotis as saying. "What I can tell you is that the Peace Council has been established for the implementation of the reconstruction plan for Gaza under UN Resolution 2803, which we not only welcomed as the Republic of Cyprus but supported from the very first moment," Letymbiotis said, adding the board will meet in Cyprus on June 30 and July 1. According to him, the forum will include representatives of the Board of Peace Council, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), and the office of the High Representative of the Board of Peace Nickolay Mladenov. Some officials attending have already requested meetings with Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, he added. The story does not mention the location of the forum or the level of its representation. An In-Cyprus diplomatic source said that although the meeting will be held in the Republic of Cyprus, the country is neither the organizer nor co-organizer of the event. On Tuesday, The Times of Israel quoted sources as saying that the Board of Peace Council will meet next week in a Cypriot resort. The Cyprus News Agency later picked it up, while the Cyprus Mail newspaper checked the news and contacted Letymbiotis, who said he was unaware of plans to hold the forum on the island.

Germany's Bundeswehr sent letters to 298,200 18 year-olds inviting them to volunteer. 530 of them eventually did sign up. That's 0.18% enlistment rate. Around five months after the start of the medical screening of all 18-year-olds, the Ministry of Defence draws an initial assessment: 298,200 letters were sent to all young men and women who are coming of age this year. In it, their interest in the new voluntary military service, which lasts at least six months, is queried. Men must complete the associated questionnaire, women are not obligated to complete that questionnaire. According to the ministry, about 25 percent of young men had shown first interest in the Bundeswehr via questionnaire. This group was contacted by telephone, after which 12.5 percent were still interested.

Tulsi Gabbard, in her recent days as Director of U.S. National Intelligence, has released another batch of declassified documents. The materials indicate that Dr. Anthony #Fauci, while heading the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, conspired with intelligence community leadership to deliberately suppress the hypothesis about the laboratory origin of #COVID-19. In the agency's press release, it notes that Fauci, through the NGO #EcoHealth Alliance, directed millions of taxpayer dollars to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to conduct dangerous research with bats. Meanwhile, when the pandemic began, he acted as a behind-the-scenes advisor to the intelligence community, recruiting loyal experts for the intelligence agencies to promote the version of the virus's natural origin. The published documents also expose Fauci in false testimony. In 2024, he claimed at Congressional hearings that he had not discussed viral research with the CIA or FBI. Now the opposite is proven. Moreover, facts have emerged about harsh reprisals within the intelligence agencies themselves: analysts who tried to defend the laboratory leak version were intimidated, denied career advancement, or rapidly fired.

French journalist Erik Tegnér has been given a six-month suspended prison sentence and fined €30,000 after publishing an article about lawyers who specialize in defending illegal migrants against deportation. Tegnér named several immigration lawyers and identified their city of practice, arguing they profited from a “juicy business” funded by public legal aid. The court ruled that, despite not disputing the accuracy of the claims, the article’s accusatory tone exposed the lawyers to an indirect risk of harm and violated France’s Samuel Paty anti-doxxing law. Tegnér described the verdict as a “political misuse of the Samuel Paty law.”

#Antisemitism - CCTV of London stabbing released Documentation from the moment of the attack. London: The condition of the two Jews who were stabbed is defined as serious.

Over 3,000 children suffer abuse in Catholic environment in Spain The number of people who suffered sexual abuse as minors in the Catholic environment in Spain exceeds 3,000, the El Pais newspaper reports, citing its own investigation launched in 2018. According to the paper, about 1,600 priests and parishioners are suspected of sexual abuse. El Pais notes that it has shared its findings with the Spanish Episcopal Conference, the Vatican and Spain’s human rights commissioner. A survey conducted by the office of the Spanish rights commissioner in 2023 showed that about 1.13% of adults in the country - some 440,000 people - may have suffered sexual abuse in the Catholic environment.