Syria, Uganda, Gaza

Today's three stories you should know

Syria

Fighting between government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Syria has intensified with the Syrian army pushing deep into SDF territory. The SDF, once the main U.S. ally in the country and instrumental in defeating ISIS in 2019, controls most of the northeast. It has resisted attempts to integrate its fighters into the military since President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda leader, came to power in a lightning offensive against then-president Bashar al-Assad after 14 years of civil war. The U.S. today estimated that about 200 ISIS prisoners had escaped a prison after SDF guards withdrew in the face of the government offensive. Al-Sharaa’s main challenge since becoming president in January 2025 has been uniting Syria’s factious ethnic groups and militias.

More from the New Arab here.

Uganda

An extraordinary story is developing in Uganda a week after longtime President Yoweri Museveni was returned to power in a disputed election. The country’s main opposition leader Bobi Wine went into hiding shortly after polling day, believing the military was seeking to arrest him. The rapper-turned-politician’s fears proved to be well founded when the country’s military chief, who is also Museveni’s son, last night threatened to kill Wine in a series of now deleted posts on X. "We have killed 22 NUP terrorists since last week. I'm praying the 23rd is Kabobi,” Muhoozi Kainerugaba posted, using a derogatory nickname for Wine. The opposition leader has called for street protests over the results, which handed the 81-year-old Museveni, who has ruled for 40 years, a landslide victory.

More from Reuters here.

Gaza

Thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons are being tortured and abused as part of a “systemic, institutionalized policy,” a leading Israeli human rights group has said in a new report. According to B’Tselem, prisoners are routinely subject to sexual violence, beatings and electric shocks, and attacked with tear gas and stun grenades. “Far from being carried out in the shadows, this systemic abuse is put on public display, with no attempt to conceal or obscure it,” the report, titled “Living Hell,” said. “In fact, the persons in charge boast about it openly.” Thousands of Palestinians are held by Israel without trial or charge under a policy known as “administrative detention,” which rights groups say is a war crime. The Israeli prison service said it “categorically rejects the false allegations.”

More from AP here.