Ron Davis Alvarez: New life through music “We all need to learn from each other. We are an orchestra for everyone.” Alvarez grew up in the favelas of Caracas, Venezuela. At 10, he joined El Sistema, a globally acclaimed program providing free classical music training to children from under-resourced communities. “I fell…
South Korean prosecutors on Sunday detained a former defense minister who allegedly recommended last week’s brief but stunning martial law imposition to President Yoon Suk Yeol, making him the first figure detained over the case. The development came a day after Yoon avoided an opposition-led bid to impeach him in…
Syria’s iron-fisted leader Bashar al-Assad is the second generation of an autocratic family dynasty that held power for more than five decades and his disappearance amid a lightning rebel advance signals an astonishing reordering of power in a strategically vital Middle Eastern nation. Assad is known for a brutal rule…
In every crisis lies opportunity, and in every opportunity lurks crisis. The startling advance of Syria’s opposition in a week is the unintended consequence of two other conflicts, one near and one far. It leaves several key US allies with a new and largely unknown Islamist-led force, governing swathes of…
Israeli troops also forced health care workers and patients to leave the facility, and destroyed critical medical supplies, according to a statement by Dr Hussam Abu Saifya, the hospital director. In the early hours of Friday, the Israeli military sent two plain clothed messengers into the hospital, who told people…
Ahmed Al Sharaa, an Islamist militant in his late 20s, moved back to Syria from Iraq in 2011 with six men and a monthly stipend of $50,000 from Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who would go on to become the world’s most wanted terrorist. His mission was to establish Al Qaeda’s Syrian…
A man is recovering from serious injuries after leaping onto a polar bear to protect his wife from being mauled by the animal, according to police in Canada’s Ontario province. A man and a woman in the town of Fort Severn had left their home before 5 a.m. local time…
Israeli President Isaac Herzog called Elon Musk “in the last few days” to discuss a revival of talks to secure the release of hostages currently held in Gaza, according to a source close to President Herzog. The communication comes after President-elect Donald Trump, to whom Musk has closely allied himself,…
A military police officer has been arrested in Brazil after a video emerged of him throwing a civilian over a bridge in Sao Paulo on Monday, sparking protests in the city. The video, which was shared widely on social media and the Brazilian press, showed an officer grabbing a civilian…
The European Union reached a blockbuster free trade agreement Friday with Brazil, Argentina and the three other South American nations in the Mercosur trade alliance, capping a quarter-century of on-off negotiations even as France vowed to derail the contentious accord. Provided it is ratified, the accord would create one of…