Magnitude 7.5 quake strikes southern Philippines, tsunami warning issued
A powerful magnitude 7.5 offshore earthquake hit the southern Philippines on Friday, prompting tsunami warnings and evacuations in coastal areas of Mi...
Not long ago, the idea of an openly religious gathering in a Damascus synagogue would have seemed unimaginable. Yet, with the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime late last year, the impossible has become reality.
Among those stepping back onto the worn stones of Damascus’s Old City was Rabbi Joseph Hamra, once a leading figure in Syria’s dwindling Jewish community. Accompanied by his son Henry, Hamra returned home after more than three decades in exile. With the help of the Syrian Emergency Task Force—a Washington-based advocacy group supporting Syria’s democratic transition—the father and son made their way to the Elfrange (Faranj) Synagogue, where history was made.
For the first time since the 1990s, Hebrew prayers echoed within the synagogue’s ancient walls.
"The last time I prayed here was before I left for America," said the 77-year-old rabbi, his voice thick with emotion. "Now, after 34 years, I stand here again."
Hamra was the last rabbi to leave Syria in the 1990s, part of a mass exodus that saw the country’s Jewish population plummet. Once numbering around 5,000, only a handful remained after the Syrian government eased travel restrictions in 1992. Today, just seven elderly Jews are believed to live in Damascus.
The visit, however, was more than just a personal homecoming. Mouaz Moustafa, executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, expressed hope that the delegation’s presence would encourage more Syrian Jews to return and help make the case for Washington to lift the sanctions imposed during Assad’s rule.
Moustafa also pointed to a broader objective: signalling that Syria’s new authorities were serious about their pledges to protect minorities.
For decades, Syria’s Jewish community had lived under heavy restrictions. While Hafez al-Assad allowed religious practice, he barred most Jews from leaving the country, fearing they harboured sympathies for Israel. Bashar al-Assad maintained an image of protecting minorities, but the outbreak of civil war in 2011 effectively erased Jewish life from public view. Synagogues across the country shut down, and the historic Jobar Synagogue—a site of pilgrimage for Jews worldwide—was looted and left in ruins.
Now, as the Assad’s grip has been broken, Syria faces an uncertain future. The new authorities have vowed to build an inclusive Syria, but deep scepticism remains.
For community elder Bakhour Chamntoub, however, Hamra’s return offered a moment of joy.
"I need Jews with me in the neighborhood," Chamntoub said in the Jewish quarter. "For nearly 40 years, I haven’t prayed with others. The feeling is indescribable."
As the prayers concluded, a quiet optimism lingered in the air. Whether Syria’s Jewish community can truly be reborn remains uncertain. But for now, in a synagogue that had stood silent for years, faith has found its voice once more.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
The second 'Central Asia – Russia' summit has concluded in Dushanbe, held under the chairmanship of the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon. This meeting continued the efforts to build a sustainable platform for cooperation between the countries of the region and the Russian Federation.
New restrictions have been reported on some social media platforms in Afghanistan, barely a week after a two-day nationwide blackout disrupted internet and telecommunications services in the country.
The Iranian Minister of Road and Urban Development Farzaneh Sadegh is scheduled to visit Baku next week to take part in the tri-lateral meeting between Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia to exchange views on the development of the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
At the invitation of President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has arrived in Dushanbe on 9 October to participate in the meeting of the CIS Heads of State Council.
The Kremlin says it is optimistic about talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, due to take place in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on Wednesday — their first full meeting in a year.
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