France issues arrest warrants for Syrian president, 3 generals

PARIS (AP) — French judicial authorities issued international arrest warrants for Syrian President Bashar Assad, his brother and two army generals for alleged complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity, lawyers for Syrian victims said Wednesday. They include a 2013 chemical attack on rebel-held Damascus suburbs. A victim of the attack welcomed the move as a reminder of the horrors of Syria’s civil war, and urged countries where Assad might travel to arrest him. While he is unlikely to face trial in France, international warrants for a serving world leader are very rare, and send a strong message about Assad’s leadership at a time when some countries have welcomed him back into the diplomatic fold.

Resistance group in Myanmar says an entire army battalion has surrendered to it

BANGKOK (AP) — A Myanmar army battalion based near the Chinese border surrendered to an alliance of ethnic armed groups that launched a surprise offensive last month against the military, a spokesperson for one of the groups said Wednesday. The surrender on Sunday of 261 people — 127 soldiers and 134 family members — from the infantry battalion in northeastern Shan state appears to be the biggest by regular army forces since widespread armed conflict in Myanmar broke out in 2021 following the military’s seizure of power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February that year.

Iranian rights lawyer detained for allegedly not wearing hijab was freed on bail

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A prominent Iranian human rights lawyer who was detained last month for allegedly violating the country’s mandatory headscarf law was freed on bail, her husband said Wednesday. Reza Khandan, the husband of Nasrin Sotoudeh, posted on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, a photo of his wife and said: “Nasrin was freed on bail … hours ago.” Sotoudeh was detained in October after she attended the funeral of a teenage girl, Armita Geravand, who died after being injured in a mysterious incident on Tehran’s Metro.

Thunberg denies public order offense after she was arrested

LONDON (AP) — Climate activist Greta Thunberg on Wednesday denied a public order offense after she was arrested last month at a demonstration against a major oil and gas industry conference in London. The 20-year-old Swedish environmental campaigner was among more than two dozen people charged after protesters sought to block access to the luxury InterContinental Hotel in central London during last month’s Energy Intelligence Forum, attended by some of the industry’s top executives.