Fear of a reckoning simmers in Assad's Alawite heartland

Quentin Sommerville is on patrol with HTS in Latakia, as they pledge to protect minorities.

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A Surprise Blockbuster in Brazil Stokes Oscar Hopes, and a Reckoning

Decades after her mother missed out on an Oscar, Brazil’s Fernanda Torres may have a chance to win a golden statuette with a role in a film that has set off deep soul-searching.
The New York Times - 2d
Joy in Syria after Assad's fall but also fears that Islamist victors will rule as al Qaeda 2.0

There is celebrating in the streets of Damascus after dictator Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow, while crowds poured into Sednaya prison, where political prisoners were held. But although the ...
CBS News - 1d
‘Celebrating the unknown’: Syrian Alawites fear for future under rebel rule

Minority Islamic sect associated with overthrown Assad regime waits to see how threats of revenge will play out. To prepare khubeiza , the leaves of the kale-like plant must be roughly chopped and ...
The Guardian - 1d
Darkenbloom — a reckoning with Austria’s 20th-century history

Eva Menasse’s sprawling bestseller, set in the run-up to the fall of the Berlin Wall, confronts a nation with its murky past
Financial Times - 5d
Reckoning with an era of slow growth

Opportunities exist for the UK and its European neighbours, but they must grasp the nettle of economic reform
Financial Times - 6d
The Assads’ Syrian heartland casts them aside

Allies of the ruling family have fled while coastal areas from which the regime drew support are celebrating its downfall
Financial Times - 6d
US will fear the vacuum that could replace Assad

Washington worries that the overthrow of Syria's president could lead to a power grab by Islamist groups.
BBC News - Dec. 8
How the Assad family built an empire of fear in Syria

Hafez and his son Bashar killed countless people over five decades and oversaw the country’s descent into kleptocracy
Financial Times - Dec. 8
Amid Syria’s Rebel Offensive, a Geopolitical Cauldron Simmers

Iran and Russia, both stretched by conflicts of their own, have experienced setbacks in Syria after a rebel offensive in the northwest of the country.
The New York Times - Dec. 3