Syria

(Reuters) --- Millions of people in northwest Syria face disaster if the United Nations fails to approve an extension of cross-border humanitarian operations next month, a senior U.N. aid official said on Thursday.

Some 3 million people, many of them displaced by fighting elsewhere in Syria during the decade-long conflict, have sought shelter near the border with Turkey, outside the control of President Bashar al-Assad's government.

AL-HOL, Syria (AP) — At the sprawling al-Hol camp in northeast Syria, children pass their days roaming the dirt roads, playing with mock swords and black banners in imitation of Islamic State group militants. Few can read or write. For some, the only education is from mothers giving them IS propaganda.

It has been more than two years since the Islamic State group’s self-declared “caliphate” was brought down. And it has been more than two years that some 27,000 children have been left to languish in al-Hol camp, which houses families of IS members.

02 June 2021; MEMO: The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said nearly half a million Syrians have been killed since the war erupted in 2011.

The rights body said in a new report marking the tenth anniversary of Syria's war, that it has documented the killing of 494,438 people since March 2011 when Syrian regime forces cracked down on peaceful protesters demanding political reform.

01 June 2021; MEMO: The Syrian regime of Bashar Al-Assad was elected to the World Health Organisation's (WHO) executive board last week, igniting outrage amongst medical workers and activists who fear it will use the seat to cut off aid to millions of Syrians.

The United Nations organisation's executive board, consisting of 34 members who hold three-year terms, has the responsibility of setting the agenda for the Health Assembly and implementing the agreed policies and decisions.

28 May 2021; MEMO: Russia's Defence Ministry announced that three Tu-22M3 bombers arrived at the Hmeimim Air Base in Syria on Tuesday, Associated Press (AP) reports.

As a result, Russia has the ability to operate long-range strategic nuclear-capable bombers from its air base in Syria, expanding its capabilities and allowing such planes to train in new regions.

DAMASCUS, May 28 (Xinhua)-- After scoring a sweeping victory in the presidential election, incumbent Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Friday that the vote was "a slap in the faces of enemies."

Assad made the remarks in a televised speech after his election victory, where he said the vote constituted an "unprecedented challenge to enemies of the homeland," apparently referring to the Western-backed exiled opposition, the armed rebels, and the United States and its allies which have denounced the election as "illegitimate."

28 May 2021; MEMO: Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has won 95.1 per cent of the vote in the Syrian elections that the international community has branded "fraudulent", granting him a fourth seven-year term.

26 May 2021; MEMO: Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad accused Israel of launching attacks on oil tankers as they made their way to Syria over the past few months, warning that such attacks "cannot continue without a price."

Israeli attacks constitute a "violation of international law" and there must be a "deterrence" to stop Israel, the top diplomat in the Bashar Al-Assad regime added in an interview with the Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV.

DAMASCUS, May 26 (NNN-SANA) – Syria’s Interior Minister, Mohammad al-Rahmoun, announced yesterday that, over 12,000 polling stations have been set up across the country, for today’s presidential elections.

The minister said, all logistic preparations have been finalised to ensure smooth elections, noting that, it is estimated that over 18 million citizens across the country are eligible to vote.

(Reuters) --- Syria's President Bashar al-Assad cast his vote on Wednesday in an election expected to win him a fourth term, choosing the former rebel stronghold of Douma where a suspected chemical weapons attack in 2018 prompted Western air strikes.

The government says the election shows Syria is functioning normally despite a decade-old conflict. The fighting has killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven 11 million people - about half the country's population - from their homes.