Nigeria has rescued 100 children who were abducted by gunmen from St Mary’s Catholic School in Niger state last month. The students were handed over to state officials and will undergo medical checks, while authorities continue efforts to free around 150 others still held captive.
India’s largest airline, IndiGo, has cancelled thousands of flights after failing to prepare for new rules on pilot working hours, leaving travellers stranded across the country.
Damascus, Syria – Syrians have marked the first anniversary of the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad with fireworks and jubilant celebrations in major cities, amid renewed optimism for long-lasting freedom and safety after 14 years of war.
Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa told large crowds in Damascus on Monday that the country had turned the page from a “dark chapter” in its history and now “looks towards a promising future”.
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Over the past year, al-Sharaa’s government has taken steps to provide basic services to citizens, as millions of refugees weigh the decision to return home.
Al-Sharaa promised to bring justice to the families of the victims of the al-Assad regime and build an inclusive Syria, amid ongoing efforts to bring all armed forces under Damascus’s authority. His government also managed to reshape foreign ties and obtain the lifting of international sanctions.
Despite bouts of sectarian violence, recurring Israeli attacks and deep economic challenges, Syrians remain largely confident that the end of the al-Assad family’s decades-long tyrannical rule has ushered in a new era of stability.
Al Jazeera spoke to Syrians celebrating in public squares on Monday about what they expect from the new government and their hopes for the future.
Today truly feels like a celebration. Syria is free. We are living in safety. This is a happiness we haven’t seen among Syrians in ages.
We fully support [al-Sharaa’s] administration, wholeheartedly and sincerely. For now, the state has done everything well. Most importantly, it has provided us with security. It has ensured that our youth can go out safely, and that’s the greatest achievement so far.
We were worried, sitting in fear for our young men and boys, anxious that they might be taken and not return, or die. But now, the streets are filled with our youth walking safely. Our men walk freely and safely without any fear.
Injustice and oppression have been lifted off the shoulders of Syrian citizens. Now they can express their feelings, their liberty, and their beliefs.
You see the crowds out here – they came out of their own free will. In the past, people used to march out of obligation. Today, the people came out willingly, joyful and happy with their [newfound] freedom.
We are delighted with the wise leadership we have. We are happy with the development and progress which, God willing, will prevail in our country. Today, God willing, the economy has begun to grow, and the wheel is starting to turn.
It’s an indescribable feeling. After decades of injustice and oppression, we got our freedom back. The freedom we were denied for 50 years.
Everyone is chanting, everyone is together, all in harmony. I feel the security forces and the army are now part of us. You pass by, and they greet you without hesitation. You don’t feel scared, like someone’s out to get you.
We used to dream of charging our phones. Now we have electricity, we have lights, we have comfort.
I’ve lived abroad my whole life because of al-Assad’s oppressive regime. When I came back here, I felt like I’m living in my country for the first time.
There were times when I visited Syria, but I felt like an outsider. Now, no – now I feel like I belong in my own country.
I hope today continues to be a lasting symbol of peace for us and for our entire country.
Everything is evolving. There are some nice initiatives and beautiful partnerships with other countries. So hopefully, our country will flourish.
Work opportunities in ministries have become easier; they care about the country and the people’s circumstances.
Services are improving step by step. Of course, everything starts small, but we’re lacking nothing. Everything is available, thank God.
The International Criminal Court has sentenced a former leader of the Janjaweed militia to 20 years in prison for committing atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur region.
Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, 76, also known as Ali Kushayb, was sentenced on Tuesday following his conviction in October for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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This is the first time the ICC has convicted a suspect of crimes in Darfur, a region that is once again seeing mass atrocities amid a vicious civil war, between the government-linked Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which traces its origins back to the Janjaweed militia.
The court had unanimously convicted Kushayb on 31 counts, including attacks against civilians, murder, torture, rape, pillaging, destruction of property, persecution, and forcible transfer of population between 2003 and 2004.
Abd-Al-Rahman was a leading member of Sudan’s infamous Janjaweed militia who participated “actively” in multiple war crimes during the civil war, the court found.
Judge Joanna Korner who passed the sentence said he had “personally perpetrated” beatings, including with an axe, and given orders for executions.
She cited victims who said he had carried out a “campaign of extermination, humiliation and displacement”.
Abd-Al-Rahman had consistently denied during his trial being a high-ranking official in the Janjaweed militia, a largely Arab paramilitary force armed by the Sudanese government to kill mainly Black African tribes in Darfur.
He insisted from the opening of his trial in April 2022 that he is “not Ali Kushayb” and that the court had the wrong man – an argument rejected by the judges.
Prosecutors had called for a life sentence, noting that among his crimes, Abd-Al-Rahman killed two people with an axe.
“You literally have an axe murderer before you. This is the stuff of nightmares,” prosecutor Julian Nicholls said at a pre-sentencing hearing.
Defence lawyers had asked for a seven-year jail term.
The court noted that the time Abd al-Rahman has spent in detention – from the date of his surrender on June 9, 2020, until the date of the judgment – will be deducted from his sentence.
Fighting broke out in the Darfur region in the 2000s, when non-Arab tribes, complaining of systematic discrimination, took up arms against the Arab-dominated government.
Khartoum responded by unleashing the Janjaweed, a force now known as the Popular Defence Forces and drawn from among the region’s nomadic tribes.
The United Nations says 300,000 people were killed and 2.5 million more were displaced in the conflict.
Abd-Al-Rahman had fled to the Central African Republic in February 2020, when a new Sudanese government announced its intention to cooperate with the ICC’s investigation.
He said he then handed himself in because he was “desperate” and feared authorities would kill him.
The Darfur region has suffered further since a civil war between the military-run government and RSF erupted in April 2023.
Both sides are accused of committing atrocities – although mainly the RSF – and millions have been displaced and are at risk of famine, creating an urgent humanitarian crisis.
Thailand’s foreign minister has told Al Jazeera that Cambodia is “not ready” for peace negotiations and that the renewed border conflict between the two countries provides no space for a diplomatic solution.