Asia

Violence against Syrian civilians escalated again this weekend, with more than 100 people killed in Houla according to the U.N., including 34 women and 49 children. The IRC continues to support displaced Syrian women and families in Jordan. Learn more about our work below from Asmaa Donahue, a technical advisor with the IRC's Women's Protection and Empowerment Team.

On May 19, Sen. Joseph Lieberman wrote a piece in The Washington Post exhorting the U.S.

Ten years ago Laila* got married to a man from her hometown of Dera'a in Syria, expecting a happy life. She never imagined that one day she would leave him behind fighting Syrian regime forces, and flee to Jordan with four children. Two months ago, Leila fled Dera'a, after the area became a war zone following a March 2011 uprising against the government of President Bashar Al Assad.

The Lebanese army seized a ship last weekend carrying three containers filled with weapons reportedly intended for Syria's rebel fighters.

The United States described Moscow's latest arms sale to Syria as "reprehensible" after a rights group reported on Thursday that a Russian cargo ship heavily laden with weapons arrived in Syria last weekend.

Governments and companies around the world should stop signing new contracts with arms suppliers such as the Russian firm Rosoboronexport that are providing weapons to the Syrian government.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia — Four Cambodian women imprisoned for protesting their eviction from the land where their homes once stood have begun a hunger strike, a rights group said Monday.

They are among 13 women sentenced last month by a Phnom Penh court to two and half years in prison for aggravated rebellion and illegal occupation of land. They claimed the government broke promises to give them new land.

OVERVIEW

Promising news as a United Nations-brokered truce brings a day of relative calm to Syria after weeks of escalating violence:

New parliamentarian Aung Sang Suu Kyi spoke of development, gender equality and the future of Myanmar's constitution during her historic visit to the World Economic Forum in Thailand.

On Friday, Myanmar's opposition leader said one of her main goals is to attract investment that would boost job creation in her impoverished nation.