Jul 25, 2018

String of ISIS attacks kills more than 180 in southern Syria

A Syrian man walks down a destroyed street in a rebel-held area in Daraa on July 19, 2017. Photo: Mohamad Abazeed/AFP via Getty Images

A series of suicide bombings and raids has left at least 183 people dead, including 89 civilians, in the southern Syrian province of Sweida, AFP reports.

Why it matters: ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which targeted Syrian government outposts in the city of Sweida. Its fighters were eventually driven out of the surrounding villages they seized by pro-regime forces, but not before perpetrating one of the deadliest ISIS assaults ever in Syria.

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Rebecca Falconer, Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath

Updated 47 mins ago - Science

Deadly Hurricane Zeta pummels Alabama after Louisiana landfall

A satellite image of Hurricane Zeta. Photo: National Hurricane Center/NOAA

Hurricane Zeta has killed at least one person after a downed power line electrocuted a 55-year-old in Louisiana as the storm moved into Alabama overnight.

What's happening: After "battering southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi," it began lashing Alabama late Wednesday, per the National Hurricane Center.

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Rebecca Falconer

1 hour ago - World

Taiwan reaches a record 200 days with no local coronavirus cases

Catholics go through containment protocols including body-temperature measurement and hands-sanitisation before entering the Saint Christopher Parish Church, Taipei City, Taiwan, in July. Photo: Ceng Shou Yi/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Taiwan on Thursday marked no locally transmitted coronavirus cases for 200 days, as the island of 23 million people's total number of infections reported stands at 550 and the COVID-19 death toll at seven.

Why it matters: Nowhere else in the world has reached such a milestone. While COVID-19 cases surge across the U.S. and Europe, Taiwan's last locally transmitted case was on April 12. Experts credit tightly regulated travel, early border closure, "rigorous contact tracing, technology-enforced quarantine and universal mask wearing," along with the island state's previous experience with the SARS virus, per Bloomberg.

Go deeper: As Taiwan's profile rises, so does risk of conflict with China