In December 1967, when he arrived at a snowy farm on China’s northeastern border with the Soviet Union, Xu Chenggang carried with him an electron tube to help him assemble a radio. Mr. Xu, a 17-year-old Beijing native, would spend the next 10 years there, living in a horse stable and subjected to re-education and … Read more
The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal in a landmark climate case brought by 21 young people against the federal government, ending its 10-year journey through the courts. But the case provided a blueprint for numerous other climate-related lawsuits that have had greater success. Juliana v. United States argued that the government … Read more
When he returned to Syria recently for the first time in 13 years, Kazem Togan asked the passport control agent to check whether he “had a name” — meaning that he was among the millions of citizens named on wanted lists under the ousted Assad dictatorship. “You’re wanted by branch 235,” the man told him, … Read more
The leader of an armed group representing a persecuted Muslim minority from Myanmar was arrested in a raid in neighboring Bangladesh this week and charged under an antiterrorism law. Ataullah, an ethnic Rohingya and the commander of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, or ARSA, was arrested on Monday, the Bangladeshi police said in a statement. … Read more
For decades, detaining undocumented immigrant families has been a contentious enforcement tactic. Critics of “family detention” have said young children suffer in confinement. Proponents say that locking families up while they await likely deportation sends a stark message about the consequences of entering the United States illegally. Now, after falling out of use under the … Read more
Syria’s new president has spoken often about the urgency of merging the many armed groups that fought to topple the strongman Bashar al-Assad into a unified national army. But the spasm of violence that erupted this month in northwestern Syria, which killed hundreds of civilians, made it clear just how distant that goal remains. It … Read more
Feith Shimila Murunga says her boss groped, beat and raped her. Mary Wanjiru Nyambura says she was thrown from a balcony. Winfridah Kwamboka never even made it back home. East African leaders and Saudi royals are among those profiting off a lucrative, deadly trade in domestic workers. By Abdi Latif Dahir and Justin Scheck Photographs … Read more