A rebel alliance launched a surprise attack this week, sweeping eastward through villages outside the city and reigniting a conflict that had been largely static for years. It is the first time Syrian rebels have set foot in Aleppo since government forces regained control during the Civil War in 2016.

Rebel fighters have been seen at key locations, with one video showing armed men waving an opposition flag and yelling “God is great” in Arabic at a central square.

Another clip shows rebels at the city’s citadel, which is also in central Aleppo. At least one man in the clip is armed, as he says: “We are the first to arrive and the first to conquer.”

The only exception appears to be the northeastern part of the city, where a few neighborhoods remain under the control of government forces and Iranian militia allies.

Syria’s defense ministry said dozens of soldiers have been killed in the Aleppo offensive. It acknowledged that rebel forces had entered the city but claimed that they “were unable to establish solid positions” and reinforcements were arriving in preparation for a counteroffensive.

In response to the rebel advance, the Russian air force on Friday launched an aerial offensive against Syrian armed opposition forces in Aleppo and Idlib provinces, Russian state media reported.

Kurdish forces have also expanded their control of some neighborhoods of Aleppo, residents said. Prior to this week’s attack they held two Kurdish neighborhoods but have now moved into areas that the Syrian regime used to control.

The Kurdish militia, known as the YPG, have a history of conflict with other rebel groups in northern Syria.

Rebels lay out their goals

The rebels are part of a newly formed coalition called the “Military Operations Command,” which includes a broad spectrum of opposition fighters including Islamist factions and moderate groups once backed by the US. The coalition was announced Wednesday ahead of the attack on Aleppo.

Lt. Colonel Hassan Abdelghani, a commander in the coalition, said that their goal was to “liberate our occupied territories” from what he called the “criminal regime” as well as Iranian militias.

The offensive, which began Wednesday, is the first major flare-up in years between the Syrian opposition and the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, who has ruled the war-torn country since 2000.

Syria’s civil war began during the 2011 Arab Spring as the regime suppressed a pro-democracy uprising against Assad. The country plunged into a full-scale civil war as a rebel force was formed, known as the Free Syrian Army, to combat government troops.

The conflict swelled as other regional actors and world powers – from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United States to Russia – piled in, escalating the civil war into what some observers described as a “proxy war.” ISIS was also able to gain a foothold in the country before suffering significant blows.

Since the 2020 ceasefire agreement, the conflict has remained largely dormant, with low-level clashes between the rebels and Assad’s regime.

More than 300,000 civilians have been killed in more than a decade of war, according to the United Nations, and millions of people have been displaced across the region.

Australia has warned travelers against drinking spirits made by a Laos distiller, following the deaths of six foreign tourists from suspected methanol poisoning in the Southeast Asian country.

The updated travel advice published Friday cited “serious safety concerns” over Laos’ Tiger-branded vodka and whisky in the wake of a mass poisoning earlier this month in the northern town of Vang Vieng, a popular backpacker destination.

“Lao authorities have issued an order prohibiting the sale and consumption of Tiger Vodka and Tiger Whisky due to their concerns about these products being a health risk,” the Australian advisory said.

“Be alert to the potential risks particularly with spirit-based drinks including cocktails.”

No reports of Laos’ apparent ban on the Tiger-branded spirits have been published in the country’s English-language state media. Warnings about the potentially fatal consequences of drinking tainted alcohol following the poisonings have come from foreign governments to their own citizens, not from Laos authorities.

Laos, an opaque communist state, tightly controls its media and remained silent on the deaths for more than a week before issuing its first statement. More than two weeks later, details surrounding the tourists’ deaths and how they became ill – including how widespread the poisonings are – remain scant, frustrating families and fellow travelers trying to piece together what happened in Vang Vieng.

Australians Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19; Danish nationals Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Frela Vennervald Sorensen, 21; US citizen James Louis Hutson, 57; and British lawyer Simone White, 28, died from suspected methanol poisoning after drinking alcohol in Vang Vieng.

Earlier this week, eight Vietnamese staff members of a backpacker hostel where at least five of the victims had stayed were detained by local authorities, according to the state-affiliated Laotian Times.

Part of the investigation has focused on reports the tourists were offered free shots of alcohol at the Nana Backpacker Hostel.

The hostel manager and owner, who are also Vietnamese, were previously detained for questioning by police, according to the Associated Press. The manager had earlier said the two Australian women joined more than 100 guests for free shots at the hostel before leaving for a night out, but he denied that other guests had reported any issue, AP reported.

Many respondents described getting sick after drinking at multiple bars or hostels around the town.

Laos Tiger Vodka and Tiger Whisky are a brand of locally produced spirits that are cheap to buy and often used in mixed drinks and cocktails. The brand does not appear to have a public website and the vodka label says it is “distilled, blended and bottled in Laos”.

Methanol is an alcohol chemical commonly used in industrial solvents, cleaning products and fuel, though it can be added to alcoholic drinks either inadvertently through traditional brewing methods or deliberately to boost the volume of alcoholic drinks – usually in the pursuit of profit.

Just small amounts of methanol can cause blindness, nausea and vomiting, while drinking as little as 30 milliliters (1 ounce) can be lethal.

If not treated, fatality rates are reported to be 20% to 40%, depending on the concentration of the methanol and the amount ingested, according to medical charity Doctors Without Borders, which tracks cases of methanol poisoning globally.

British lawmakers are set to decide Friday whether to legalize assisted dying, a contentious proposal that would make the United Kingdom one of a small handful of nations to allow terminally ill people to end their lives.

An emotive debate Friday in Westminster is expected to last several hours, before a vote later in the day.

If passed, the bill will let people with a terminal condition and fewer than six months to live take a substance to end their lives as long as they are capable of making the decision themselves. Two doctors, followed by a High Court judge, would need to sign off on the choice.

The legislation would see Britain join a small collection of countries to push forward with the process. Canada, New Zealand, Spain and most of Australia allow assisted dying in some form, as do US states Oregon, Washington and California.

The vote is the culmination of a lengthy and occasionally painful debate in the country, which has seen high-profile figures dealing with terminal diagnoses become standard-bearers for the cause.

But it has sharply divided lawmakers, many of whom have labored to choose a side during an unusually strained week in Westminster, and the results of the vote appeared to be on a knife-edge. Members of Parliament have been given a free vote on the issue, meaning they can support either side according to their conscience, with no political ramifications.

In an open letter to MPs ahead of the vote, Esther Rantzen, a BBC TV presenter with advanced lung cancer who has become a prominent supporter of assisted dying, wrote: “Under our current criminal law the only choice for most people who are terminally ill, if they are facing an agonising death, is between suffering, Switzerland or suicide.” Rantzen has previously said she is herself considering using the Swiss assisted dying clinic Dignitas to end her life.

She urged MPs on all sides to vote on the issue. “This will probably not come before Parliament as an issue to debate for another decade,” she wrote. “How many more will be forced to suffer until then?”

But opponents have cited a variety of concerns with the bill, including their religious views, the strength of its safeguards, or the lack of time to consider its fineprint.

‘Parliament is tearing itself in two’

It is rare that British lawmakers are asked to decide for themselves on such an intimate issue, and many have struggled this week over how they will vote.

MPs will likely debate the issue for several hours. The vote, expected to immediately follow the debate, represents the major hurdle that the bill would need to pass to become law, though it would still be reviewed in the House of Lords and by a parliamentary committee.

Friday’s ballot in the House of Commons bears similarities to previous free votes concerning abortion and same-sex marriage. The prime minister, Keir Starmer, is expected to vote himself, but he hasn’t said which side he will support, insisting he wouldn’t want to influence lawmakers in either direction.

Proponents of the bill say assisted dying can bring dignity to terminal patients at the end of their lives, averting months of suffering and physical decline, and easing pressure on the country’s palliative, or end-of-life, services. Polling indicates that a comfortable majority of the public supports assisted dying.

In her open letter, Rantzen wrote: “The tragic truth is that no matter how excellent the palliative care is, it cannot prevent some kinds of suffering, fecal vomiting for example, or suffocating to death, or deep-rooted agony.”

But critics fear the bill’s guardrails are not stringent enough, and suggest patients could feel pressured to opt for an assisted death only to avoid becoming a burden on their families. Others have concerns that the bill has been sprung on MPs – hundreds of whom are in their first few months in the job following July’s election – without a thorough impact assessment or time to consider the proposal.

“I really believe that Labour got elected because the NHS is such a mess. … We’ve got to sort the NHS out before we go down this route,” she said. “Pressing ahead now is ignoring the imperative we’ve got to address the woefully underfunded palliative system.”

The proposed bill is broadly in line with the Oregon model, and does not go as far as Switzerland, the Netherlands and Canada, which allow assisted death in cases of suffering, not just for terminally ill people. It differs from euthanasia, the process in which another person deliberately ends someone’s life to relieve suffering.

It is currently a crime to help somebody die in England and Wales, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Performing euthanasia on a person, meanwhile, is considered murder or manslaughter.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have been displaced multiple times from Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip are now facing another threat – the arrival of harsh winter weather.

On Sunday, the first strong storm to hit Gaza this winter was felt in all parts of the enclave.

In a makeshift displacement camp near the sea in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, thousands of families battled high tides, heavy winds and rainfall that damaged their nylon and plastic tents.

“It’s pointless!” one man shouted.

“We came here because the sea was our only protection. And now the sea is attacking us,” another said.

The wooden poles holding up the tents, barely anchored to the ground, shook with every gust of wind. Families shuffled around them in distress, worried they’d collapse.

The head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned Tuesday in a post on X that as winter comes, people in Gaza “need everything, but very little comes in.”

“Winter in Gaza means people will not only die because of air strikes, diseases or hunger. Winter in Gaza means more people will die shivering because of the cold, especially among the most vulnerable including older people + children,” Philippe Lazzarini said.

In October, the amount of aid entering Gaza hit the lowest level since Israel’s war in the enclave started, according to data compiled by the UN.

The average temperature in Gaza falls to between 10°C and 20°C (50F to 68F) in December, dipping a couple of degrees lower on average in January. The rainy season typically lasts from November to February, with January the wettest month.

The water that flooded into some tents in Deir al-Balah soaked everything inside, leaving blankets and carpets a tangled, dusty mess. Large plastic sheets which served as the floor sunk into the wet sand, leaving nothing between those sheltering inside and the bare ground.

“What will keep us warm tonight?” Mohammad Younis asked, as he picked up his wet clothes.

“We’re like beggars in front of the world, and nobody cares about us. I don’t know where I’ll sleep. I’ll end up sleeping in the sea,” he cried.

The tarpaulin serving as a roof on Younis’ tent is now torn, allowing water in.

In another makeshift tent flooded by the raging sea, a displaced family of 10 sat shivering while the mother, Um Fadi, cooked over a fire. When they were displaced from Rafah months ago, she said, they were forced to shelter on the beach because there was nowhere else to go.

“We’re trapped from all directions. From the sea, from the Israelis, from not having a home, from hunger,” she said.

Families ‘cold and at risk’

After a year of war following Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel, at least 1.9 million people – or about 90% of the population across the Gaza Strip – are internally displaced, according to the UN. Many have been displaced repeatedly, some 10 times or more, it added.

The Norwegian Refugee Council said in a recent report that Israel’s continued offensive has given Palestinians fewer options for shelter this year compared to last.

“This winter, as fewer buildings remain standing, many Palestinians are forced to live in tents and makeshift shelters that provide considerably less protection against cold wind and rain,” the report said.

As of September 2024, more than 200,000 housing units in Gaza had been destroyed and severely damaged, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, which added that nearly 1 million people are in need of “winterization support.”

Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought shelter in Al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, designated a “humanitarian zone” by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Many are living in tents in an area with limited infrastructure or access to humanitarian aid.

In recent months, the coastal camp has been hit repeatedly by Israeli strikes, attacks the IDF says are targeting Hamas.

The tents are dilapidated after heavy rain and brutal winds.

As Sunday’s storm whipped through, people’s belongings were strewn along the beach, some having been swallowed up by the sea.

Most of the tents and makeshift shelters they rely on have been used for months and need replacement to withstand harsh winter conditions, he said.

“It is beyond imagination, knowing that they can barely survive regular weather with whatever they have… A lack of proper clothing, blankets and safe heating methods mean families will remain cold and at risk for many months,” he added. It’s a fear that haunts Um Fadi in Deir al-Balah every day.

“Tonight, we’re threatened by great danger. At any moment, the sea might engulf us. We don’t know what we will do,” she said.

Rain-soaked tents

In northern Gaza, the Israeli military is carrying out a widespread operation that has entered its second month. The bombardment has displaced up to 130,000 Palestinians since October 6, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the need for aid is acute.

Many have sought shelter in Yarmouk sports stadium in Gaza City, where decrepit tents made of white cloth turned brown on Sunday following an evening of heavy rain.

As in the seafront shelter, young children stood barefoot on the wet asphalt or waded through puddles, wearing barely enough to keep them warm, while their parents tried to repair the damaged tents.

Sami Salehi said he had fled “suffering, airstrikes, attacks and death” in the north, seeking shelter in Gaza City.

“This tent is made of cloth, so when water comes in, it goes everywhere. And we’re in a low-lying area, so even if the roof protects us, water will come from below,” he said.

After suffering an injury in an Israeli airstrike, Salehi said he thought he’d die, but was surprised to see that God had saved his life.

“I wish I died instead. Death is more honorable than this life.”