Matthew Mulligan

BANGKOK — A 7.7-magnitude earthquake centered in Myanmar reverberated across Southeast Asia on Friday, with the scale of death and destruction slowly coming into view in the war-ravaged nation where the military government maintains a tight hold on information.

The recent surge of violence in Syria lays bare the challenges interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa faces in delivering on his promise to lead a more unified country.

President Donald Trump posted a bizarre AI-generated video to social media Monday evening depicting an imagined future version of Gaza with bearded belly dancers on the beach, a giant golden statue of Trump, money raining from the sky, Elon Musk eating pita and a “Trump Gaza” hotel.

At least 165 women were raped by male inmates during a mass breakout from a prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the United Nations.

Concerns are growing for the safety of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiyaa, the prominent of Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital, who was taken into Israeli custody.

Hundreds of demonstrators have taken to the streets in Christian neighborhoods of Damascus after a Christmas tree burning heightened fears that the overthrow of former President Bashar al-Assad could presage crackdowns on Syria's religious minorities.

When a Saudi Arabian national was accused of ramming a car into a German Christmas market, members of the frequently anti-Muslim European far right said it proved their point.

Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian doctor accused of killing four women and a 9-year-old boy by driving into a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, now faces five counts of murder and multiple counts of attempted murder and aggravated assault after appearing in court Saturday night.

The suspect in the German car-ramming attack that killed five and injured more than 200 on Friday has been identified as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a self-described member of the “liberal opposition” to Saudi Arabia who has voiced strong anti-Islamic and anti-immigration views.

MUNICH — German authorities said on Saturday that the death toll from a car-ramming attack on a Christmas market in eastern Germany had risen to five people, with more than 200 injured, dozens of them critically.

Mass graves uncovered in Syria in the days since President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown are exposing evidence of some of the worst abuses since the Nazis, a top international war crimes prosecutor said.