Globe Trot: In Syria, ‘Words fail, pictures fail, everything fails’

SYRIA: UN Security Council members Britain, France, and the United States walked out of an emergency session yesterday, accusing Russia of committing war crimes in its support of the Bashar al-Assad regime’s bombing campaign in Aleppo. Bunker-busting bombardments over the weekend targeted hospitals, with workers dug in underground, and other facilities.

“What has happened over the last three days is indescribable,” said Mohammad Abu Rajab, a doctor in eastern Aleppo. “Words fail, pictures fail, everything fails.”

First responders, medics, and the White Helmets volunteer corps are documenting the devastation, posting video footage on Facebook.

Read text of remarks by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, who called the attacks “barbarism.”

Some are accusing the Russians of using TOS-1A “flamethrower” rockets, what one diplomat called “one step down from a nuclear weapon.” Here’s video evidence.

A captured ISIS fighter describes the ongoing abuse of captured women and girls. More than 3,000 females continue to be held by ISIS from Iraq’s Nineveh province alone.

RUSSIA: Only Tunisians and Saudi Arabians outnumber Russians as fighters in the ranks of ISIS.

JORDAN: Well-known writer Nahed Hattar was shot and killed Sunday morning as he headed into a courthouse where he stood accused of insulting Islam. By detaining him and taking him to court, notes one Jordanian editor, authorities “criminalized his action, putting him in the crosshairs, and legitimized the space needed for the crazies to respond.”

CUBA: José Fernández was jailed on his first attempt to escape Cuba for the United States but made it on his fourth try, at age 15. The All-Star pitcher for the Miami Marlins died early Sunday in a boating accident.

UNITED STATES: With the first presidential debate tonight, candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton met separately on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who appears to be staying clear of endorsing either candidate (he supported Mitt Romney in 2012).

I WILL BE in Seattle to speak Thursday at Discovery Institute. No Globe Trot on Wednesday.