Syria's Bashar al-Assad attends Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia

Syria was readmitted to the regional body earlier this month after a 12-year suspension. [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [View in your browser]( [Top of The World]( --------------------------------------------------------------- What The World is following Syria's Bashar al-Assad attends Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia [Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrives in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, ahead of the Arab League summit.] Credit: Saudi Press Agency via AP Saudi Arabia Syrian President Bashar al-Assad [attended the Arab League summit](in Saudi Arabia on Friday for the first time in over a decade. Syria was readmitted to the regional body earlier this month after a 12-year suspension. Arab leaders shunned Assad for the violent crackdown on anti-government protests that later led to a deadly civil war that has claimed the lives of half a million people and displaced millions. Assad has relied on Russia's military support. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy made an unannounced appearance at the summit in Jeddah. [Speaking to Arab League leaders](, he asked them not to turn a blind eye to the war in Ukraine. G7 — Japan G7 leaders meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, have agreed to sharpen sanctions against Russia, restricting exports that could help Moscow on the Ukraine war effort and limiting revenues from diamond and metal trade. As part of this new round of sanctions, the [US would blacklist](dozens of companies with Russian and third-country ownership that are involved in Russia’s defense production, as reported by Reuters. The Ukrainian president is expected to attend the summit on Sunday. Iran Iran [has executed]( three men under charges of being involved in the deaths of security forces personnel in November last year during massive, anti-goverment protests that rocked the country. Human rights groups and family members had campaigned to stop the executions, saying that the case lacked evidence. International human rights organization Amnesty International said the case against the men lacked due process and they were instead “fast-tracked through Iran’s judicial system.” Iran executed at least 582 people last year, [a 75% increase]( from 2021. --------------------------------------------------------------- From The World [Factory that made essential therapeutic food for malnourished children in Sudan burns down]( [Sudanese evacuees wait before boarding a Saudi military ship to Jeddah port, at Port Sudan, Sudan, late Tuesday, May 2, 2023]( Credit: Amr Nabil/AP The Samil factory [made life-saving products](called RUTFs, which stands for ready-to-use therapeutic food. RUTF was invented by a French scientist 25 years ago, and it is used to treat severely malnourished children under the age of 5. UNICEF worked with the Samil factory in Khartoum to procure the RUTFs it needs to feed children in Sudan. [‘We were treated as disposable beings’: Waste pickers in Colombia fought for their rights after 11 murders]( [Waste picker Alfredo Rodriguez drags his cart along Bogotá, Colombia's Chapinero district, where he gathers trash that can be recycled.]( Credit: Manuel Rueda/The World The people who collect garbage for recycling organized among themselves to change how they are paid and how they are treated. Today, waste pickers [are officially recognized]( as part of the municipal waste system. --------------------------------------------------------------- Bright spot It's music Friday and we have [a playlist](for you with great songs from artists we have featured on the show — from Spanish punk rock to South African contemporary beats. 🎶 [Screen shot from Spotify playlist cover.]( [Credit: Spotify]( In case you missed it on The World --------------------------------------------------------------- Don't forget to subscribe to The World's Latest Edition podcast using your favorite podcast player: [RadioPublic](, [Apple Podcasts](, [Stitcher](, [Soundcloud](, [RSS]( [The World logo]( [The World on Facebook]( [The World's Twitter account]( [Donate]( | [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [Edit your subscription]( | [Unsubscribe]( | [View in your browser]( Top of the World is written weekday mornings by the team at [The World](. [The World]( is produced by [PRX]( and [GBH](.