| As world watches relentless barrage, cowering Syrians feel hopeless, abandoned Posted: 28 Feb 2018 01:09 PM PST ![As world watches relentless barrage, cowering Syrians feel hopeless, abandoned]( "As world watches relentless barrage, cowering Syrians feel hopeless, abandoned") Hiding underground in the concrete confines of her building's basement, with her small son and 44 other women and children, Noor feels at every moment the meaninglessness of the words "cease-fire" or "truce" in Syria. Above ground, the slaughter continues, with Syrian regime forces and Russian planes targeting Noor's town of Douma, in eastern Ghouta, in their bid to crush the last remaining rebel enclave near Damascus. The onslaught has inflicted some 560 casualties in 10 days, in one of the most deadly episodes of Syria's seven-year war.
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| A light for Afghanistan's long, dark war Posted: 28 Feb 2018 12:30 PM PST ![A light for Afghanistan's long, dark war]( "A light for Afghanistan's long, dark war") Afghan President Ashraf Ghani put out an interesting peace feeler to the Taliban on Feb. 28. Mr. Ghani, as expected, offered direct negotiations with no conditions as well as a cease-fire and an exchange of prisoners. The unusual part was an offer to change the Constitution to allow the Taliban to operate as a legitimate political group within Afghanistan's fledgling democracy.
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| Why the Kremlin publishes uncensored translations of Western news Posted: 28 Feb 2018 12:13 PM PST ![Why the Kremlin publishes uncensored translations of Western news]( "Why the Kremlin publishes uncensored translations of Western news") The site is InoSMI (a Russian contraction meaning "foreign mass media"), which publishes a wide variety of full articles from global media translated into Russian, with a special emphasis on stories about Russia. The site routinely runs some of most critical reportage and analysis about Mr. Putin's Russia that can be found in US outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post and, indeed, The Christian Science Monitor. Recommended: Sochi, Soviets, and czars: How much do you know about Russia?
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| Xi for life? China turns its back on collective leadership. Posted: 28 Feb 2018 08:47 AM PST ![Xi for life? China turns its back on collective leadership.]( "Xi for life? China turns its back on collective leadership.") In late January, as leaders of the Chinese Communist Party met behind closed doors to discuss changes to China's constitution, Yu Wensheng, a prominent human rights lawyer, decided to offer some suggestions. Mr. Yu was taken into custody the next day. Two weeks later, he was charged "inciting subversion of state power," an offense that carries a maximum prison sentence of 15 years.
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