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Geopolitics

Syrian Prime Minister Escapes Bomb Attack

AL JAZEERA, BBC, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Worldcrunch

DAMASCUS -At least six people died and 20 others were wounded in a blast Monday targeting Syrian Prime Minister Wael Al-Halqi’s car in central Damascus.

The explosive device was planted under a parked car in a busy intersection, and then detonated as Al-Halqi’s car drove by, reports AP. The Prime Minister escaped unharmed.

The attack clearly appears the work of Syrian rebels aiming to cut off the head of the Syrian government, reports Al Jazeera reporter Rula Amin, saying this is a move to confirm their unwavering resolution.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack but the main rebel group, the jihadists of al-Nusra, has orchestrated similar operations in the past, according to BBC News.

Over the past year, two other direct attacks targeted the government: the defence minister and his deputy (Bashar Al-Assad’s brother in law) were killed in July 2012 and Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar was badly injured in December in another car bomb, reports Al-Jazeera.

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Fighting The Russian Army's Systematic Campaign Of Sexual Violence In Ukraine

Hundreds of sexual crimes have been officially reported in Ukraine following the full-scale invasion by the Russian army, though the actual number is likely 10 times higher. Ukrainian news website Livy Bereg explores how the nation is documenting the crimes and responding to support victims and bring perpetrators to justice.

Photo of a psychologist speaking with trauma victims sat on a bench in a park

Natalia Potseluieva (right), a trauma-focused psychologist, working with rape victims

Anna Steshenko

KYIV — Let's start with the official numbers. Since the full-scale Russian invasion began in February 2022, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office has recorded 231 instances of conflict-related sexual violence. The aggressors target all demographic groups: men, women, children, and the elderly.

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Behind the official statistics are disturbing details, with 149 cases involving women and 82 cases involving men. Thirteen of the victims were minors, with 12 being girls and one a boy who also bore witness to his mother being raped. The youngest victim is 4 years old, while the oldest survivor is an 82-year-old female pensioner.

And these are only the officially documented cases. The actual number is likely to be 10 times higher.

Survivors often hesitate to speak out due to fear, trauma, and the social stigma attached to such incidents. This is changing, however, as more survivors of sexual abuse are coming forward to share their stories and receive the comprehensive legal, humanitarian, psychological, and medical support they need.

Mass sexual assault occurs wherever the Russian occupiers set foot. Most cases of sexual crimes have been documented in the de-occupied territories of the Kherson region. Following that are the Donetsk (55), Kyiv (52), Kharkiv (21), Zaporizhzhia (15), Chernihiv (5), Luhansk (3), and Sumy (2) regions.

“Ukraine needs to liberate its occupied territories to be able to work with all the victims,” says Iryna Didenko, who heads the Department of the Office of the Prosecutor General investigating such crimes.

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