The summer home of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad was once off-limits to ordinary Syrians. Now people are lining up to visit and wandering around the rooms — which are empty after being looted.
All four hostages are female Israeli soldiers. They are expected to be released Saturday in accordance with a ceasefire agreement with Israel that's halted fighting in the Gaza war since last weekend.
After the ouster of Syria's longtime leader Bashar al-Assad last month, Israel's military has taken up a new post in the demilitarized buffer zone created in Syria after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war.
Lebanese volunteers are anxious to get back to sea turtle conservation on southern beaches that were off-limits to civilians when fighting escalated between Israel and Hezbollah.
Several other schools have recently settled similar lawsuits, and suits are pending against others, including the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University.
After more than 15 months of relentless Israeli bombardment, Gaza has been left in ruins. If last week's ceasefire holds, rebuilding could take decades, cost tens of billions of dollars and present overwhelming obstacles.
Israel released 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees in exchange for three Israeli hostages held in Gaza as part of the ceasefire deal that went into effect this morning.
There are men, women and children on the list of 33 to be released from Gaza. Two are U.S. citizens. Israel is set to free hundreds of prisoners in exchange for them.
The deadline for the start of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip passed as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas had provided the names of the three hostages it was set to release on Sunday.
In a workshop in an infamous refugee camp in Beirut, Palestinian women practice an ancient art form — as a livelihood, and also as therapy. The designs come from a homeland most have never seen.
