Unbiased headline news – Mouaz Moustafa, who leads a U.S.-based Syrian advocacy group, reported that a “massive” grave containing well over 100,000 bodies has been discovered at a site approximately 25 miles north of Damascus.
Opposition factions and rescue teams continue to uncover evidence of alleged human rights violations tied to the regime of ousted President Bashar Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for over 50 years. According to Moustafa, the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF) has so far identified three other “mass graves” in addition to two “smaller ones.”
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A high-ranking Russian general died in a bombing incident in a residential area of Moscow, an event that Ukrainian sources are describing as an intelligence-led operation.
Russian media, including state-affiliated TASS, reported that Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov was killed by an explosive device believed to have been hidden in a parked scooter and remotely detonated. The blast also claimed the life of an aide accompanying Kirillov, who headed Russia’s radiation, chemical, and biological protection forces.
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The U.S. Embassy in Port Vila sustained damage on Tuesday when a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck Vanuatu, a Pacific island nation.
The quake hit roughly 18 miles west of the capital just before 1 p.m. local time, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. While several aftershocks followed, no tsunami warnings were issued. U.S. officials announced that the embassy, located in the capital on the island of Efate, “sustained considerable damage during the earthquake and is closed until further notice.”
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Svetlana Dali was arrested again on Monday, marking her second detention this month after an earlier FBI arrest on Dec. 4 for illegally boarding a Delta Air Lines flight from the U.S. to France.
Law enforcement sources said Dali cut off her ankle monitor on Sunday and attempted to cross into Canada. The individual hosting her in Philadelphia found the broken monitor and informed authorities. This led to an arrest warrant being issued Monday morning for bail jumping in the Eastern District of New York.
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The Federal Trade Commission has finalized a regulation that aims to eliminate surprise “junk fees” for tickets to live events, as well as charges for hotels and vacation rentals.
Under the new rule, businesses must disclose full prices upfront instead of adding fees like “convenience charges” or “resort fees” during checkout. FTC Chair Lina Khan stated, “Whatever price you see is the price that you are paying at the end, no more mystery surprise fees at the very end of the process, which really cheat consumers and also punish honest businesses.”
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Teen drug use remains lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic, as shown in results from a major annual national survey released on Tuesday.
This year, about two-thirds of 12th graders reported they had not used alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes, or e-cigarettes in the past 30 days, marking the highest rate of abstinence since the survey began tracking it in 2017. Among 10th graders, 80% reported not using those substances recently, another record high for abstinence.