From the Telegraph: Thousands of prisoners are believed to be stuck in hidden underground cells in Bashar al-Assad’s most notorious prison, according to survivors. The White Helmets, a Syrian civil defence group, said it had deployed five “specialised emergency teams” to Saydnaya prison in Damascus following the reports. Saydnaya, once described by Amnesty as a…

A useful BBC report from Mina Al-Lami: Syrian rebel leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani has dropped that nom de guerre associated with his jihadist past, and been using his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in official communiques issued since Thursday, ahead of the fall of President Bashar al-Assad. This move is part of Jawlani's effort to bolster…

Male transvestite fetishist Karla Sofia Gascon has won Best Actress in the European Film Awards. https://t.co/u003iFYI4q — Róisín Michaux (@RoisinMichaux) December 9, 2024 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Read all about it in the Guardian – Karla Sofía Gascón is the first openly trans actor to win best actress at Cannes for her role in Jacques Audiard’s audacious musical.…

Thousands of Syrians are crossing the Turkish border to return home. We can worry tomorrow about who governs Syria and how, but for now, let’s celebrate with the Syrian people. After such a challenging year, seeing Syrians return after years of exile is a precious moment ❤️ pic.twitter.com/rTxU8IhBY6 — Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) December 8, 2024…

Café Royal Books, and back to New York in the age of graffiti, with photographer Joni Sternbach: [Photos © Cafe Royal Books/Joni Sternbach]

Assad falls 1/1It is impossible to watch the fall of the brutish brutal tyranny of the house of Assad without joy. Over in Qardaha in the Alawite lands of Latakia stands the sumptuous and pristine mausoleum worth of an Arab monarch: here the founder of the Assad dynasty, Hafez… pic.twitter.com/QM25bIg2DU — S Sebag Montefiore (@simonmontefiore)…

There may be much rejoicing over the collapse of the horrendous Assad regime in Damascus:  Geir O. Pedersen, the United Nations' special envoy to Syria, says today "marks a watershed moment in Syria’s history". The country has endured nearly 14 years of civil war, facing "relentless suffering and unspeakable loss," he says. He adds: "this…

From the Sunday Times: During her long and distinguished NHS career, Elizabeth had rarely experienced antisemitism in the workplace. That was until June last year, a few months after the senior consultant, who is Jewish, began working for a new trust in a London borough. She was discussing Orthodox Jews with a colleague as part…

.@RichardBratby is telling me about trigger warnings at Gilbert and Sullivan. Amazing … we’re actually offended by the Victorians. pic.twitter.com/KNl4wxbf5A — Dr Annette Rubery (@AnnetteRubery) December 7, 2024 https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Another absurd article on the current SCOTUS case, on the same lines as that Nation article, setting up the brave fighters for "gender-affirming care" against the wicked right-wing forces of reaction. This time, no surprise, it's from the Guardian's US correspondent Moira Donegan – How did transgender children in the US become so politicized? "The…