海角大神

Nuclear weapons are, for the moment, a global issue that鈥檚 decidedly overshadowed. Our writer breaks down what might have happened at a now-delayed conference, and how the delay may have opened room for thought to shift.

Here鈥檚 a report about both self-reliance and mutuality. All over the U.S. governors are partnering in the coronavirus fight. Our writers trace the spirit of that back to its source.

The lessons in this piece are about readiness, and they鈥檙e tough ones. Jobless benefits 鈥� meant to ramp up automatically as needed 鈥� are faltering in the face of a severe test. We wondered what needs to change.

Much of the narrative around student loans focuses on the extended hardship that they can create. We wanted to explore the issues of accountability and fairness in a complex push for loan forgiveness.

When both food production and power production are localized, one predictable result can be a fight over land. We set out to find, instead, some case studies in coexistence.

After nine years of a brutal war in Syria against pro-democracy civilians, a bit of sunlight began to shine Thursday on the war鈥檚 atrocities. Two former members of听Syria鈥檚 secret police went on trial in Germany for crimes against humanity based on evidence of state-sponsored torture.

The trial is the first time an independent court will be able to provide some justice for victims of the regime of Bashar al-Assad. At the least, the courtroom exposure of the regime鈥檚 systemic abuse of civilians will set a precedent for the eventual truth-telling necessary to heal Syrian society once Mr. Assad is removed from power.

Germany was able to prosecute the two defendants, Anwar Raslan and Eyad al-Gharib, because they were found living in the country and arrested last year. Like the victims who will testify against them, they too chose to flee Syria.

Germany abides by the principle of universal jurisdiction, or the idea that a country can prosecute war crimes committed outside its borders. Such a claim is supported by the fact that Russia, the main ally of Mr. Assad, has prevented an international court from pursuing cases involving Syrian atrocities. Russia can use its veto in the United Nations Security Council to block this path of justice.

In addition, Germany has been affected heavily by the war in Syria. It has accepted hundreds of thousands of refugees who fled the war, many of them victims of torture and rape.

The trial is also made possible because of a global effort to document war crimes in Syria, including the amassing of more than 50,000 photographs and thousands of witness accounts. In 2016, in defiance of Russia, the U.N. General Assembly established an independent investigative mechanism for听Syria.

Now, in this first step toward justice, victims of the war will be able to confront their alleged perpetrators. This display of accountability could send a signal to those still in the Assad regime that they could face such a trial someday. The trial also sends a 鈥渟ignal of hope鈥� to the many Syrians who have suffered war crimes, says Germany鈥檚 justice minister, Christine Lambrecht.

If the two men are convicted, it may embolden more victims to provide evidence of war crimes, perhaps hastening an end to the conflict. The voices of the innocent can be a powerful antidote to the violence of war. They are also essential to national reconciliation in such a war-ravaged country.