Syria's Death Sentence, Ukraine's North Korea Problem, and Denmark's Unlikely Ally

Syria’s former leader has been sentenced to death, Italy and Denmark have an unlikely new partnership, and Donald Trump might be about to hand over one billion dollars to his new friend, The Tiger, in Colombia. Phoenix Ricks is covering that news, and more, in this episode of The Friday Brief. 

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Transcript

Syria’s former leader has been sentenced to death, Italy and Denmark have an unlikely new partnership, and Donald Trump might be about to hand over one billion dollars to his new friend, The Tiger, in Colombia. I’m Phoenix Ricks, and this is The Friday Brief for August 11, 2026. According to the BBC, overnight, Ukraine and Russia continued striking each other, and Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of using North Korean missiles. In a video address, he said, “For the first time, Russia cannot wage war without reinforcements from North Korea.” He added, “The more North Korean strikes there are here in Ukraine, in Europe, the more their missiles and soldiers are used, the more they correct their shortcomings and blind spots.” Could this pose a significant threat elsewhere? Zelensky believes the answer is yes. What I keep stressing is that the threat has already occurred elsewhere. It’s not a theory. In these conversations about Ukraine and Russia, Russia’s allies, and Europe’s overall safety, people keep leaving Africa out. The conflicts in the Sahel, especially in Mali right now, are directly tied to this conflict in Europe. Russia is testing capabilities in Mali through the Africa Corps. And they aren’t alone. Ukraine was also testing capabilities in Mali. In fact, Mali’s government severed diplomatic ties with Ukraine after a Ukrainian official acknowledged, publicly, that they had supported a rebel group that carried out a 2024 attack against Mali’s soldiers and, you guessed it, the Russians backing them. Now, I’m not telling you this so you’ll take sides or change sides in any of these conflicts. These are insanely twisted alliances in a complicated geopolitical web. I’m telling you because Africa is often left out of these European security conversations, except when Africans are being positioned as an immigration threat. Like they just rose up and fled from mysterious crises that were unrelated to anything happening anywhere else. The same scenario plays out in the United States when conversations about U.S. national security conveniently omit what the U.S. is doing or has done in Latin America. “They are bringing their problems here,” is the prevailing sentiment I see parroted when security conversations emerge. To varying degrees, we’re all trapped in the same few interconnected conflicts, and the sooner we realize that, the better. In my opinion, it should never be “us vs. them,” it should be “us vs. warmongers.” If you want to read more about the wildly messy relationship between Mali, Ukraine, and Russia, check out The Guardian’s article, “Ukraine military intelligence claims role in deadly Wagner ambush in Mali.” Now, onto the Middle East. A Syrian court sentenced former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his younger brother to death in absentia. They were charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes for their role in Syria’s 14-year violent conflict that led to the deaths of more than half a million people. The sentences are the first against Assad; his family came into power five decades ago, and their reign only ended just shy of two years ago. The sentence was broadcast on TV, and the judge said, “Bashar Assad used state agencies to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity.” Now, is Assad actually going to be killed or even jailed? Without a serious incentive for capture, it is unlikely. He’s living, very comfortably, I might add, with his family in Russia. In December of 2025, The Guardian reported that he was even trying to revive his medical career. A source told them, “He’s studying Russian and brushing up on his ophthalmology again. It’s a passion of his; he obviously doesn’t need the money. Even before the war in Syria began, he used to regularly practice his ophthalmology in Damascus.” These kinds of in absentia war crimes trials mark a government’s accountability for the historical record, so they can say at the United Nations that their country holds war criminals responsible. But these in absentia sentences often do very little to achieve meaningful justice for victims and survivors in the era in which the crimes were committed. Remember last fall, when a military court in Congo convicted Joseph Kabila of war crimes, among so many other things? He, too, was sentenced to death. Apparently, no one has seen him since. Unless he became Casper the ghost, that means that someone with a lot of cash is paying a fortune to keep him hidden. He’ll probably magically reemerge in a country that wants to use his expertise to extract critical minerals from Congo. If he survives, that’s my hunch, on how he would make that possible. War criminals and genocidal maniacs can hide in plain sight. Think about it. If Joseph Kabila walked into your neighborhood Cheesecake Factory for lunch, would you know? If you’re new here, please know I’m always against the death penalty, yes, even for crimes against humanity. So, I’m not advocating for these sentences to be carried out. I just firmly believe these individuals can be found, returned to the scene of their crimes, and forced to atone, while alive, for these grave injustices. Assad should not be casually weighing his future in medicine in another country; all of his considerable assets should have been stripped and used for reparations. Now, speaking of money, The Guardian reported that the Trump administration plans to hand over $1 billion in security assistance to Colombia’s new right-wing administration. De La ‌Espriella, better known as El Tigre, or The Tiger, used his inauguration speech several days ago to condemn drug trafficking and narcoterrorism and announce austerity measures. Now, here’s where Trump’s funding comes in. The U.S. Department of State said in a statement: ⁠“As a cornerstone of this renewed partnership, the United States, working with Congress, ‌intends to announce $1 billion in assistance ​as part of a security package to support ⁠President de la Espriella’s ​Administration in ​achieving ​our shared goals.” How did the U.S. end up having so many “shared goals” with this unlikely new rightwing leader? Well, Donald Trump had a major feud with Colombia’s last president. He called the current U.S. administration “a clan of pedophiles,” who were suppressing the Epstein files and waging wars. That did not go over well at the White House, and Trump seemed determined to find an ally who could oust him. How did he do it? Go back to my episode on Hondurasgate, a chronically underreported audio leak about a coordinated disinformation campaign designed to destabilize Latin American governments. The news rocked Latin American outlets this past spring, but it was barely whispered here in the States. Now, looking at the news from Asia. The AP reported that Myanmar’s military-led government has rejected a demand by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, better known as ASEAN, for the unconditional release of detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi and dismissed the need for the organization’s special envoy on Myanmar. Myanmar’s military junta is struggling to achieve global recognition because it seized power in 2021 and has maintained a violent grip on the civilian population. It is hard to be recognized as legitimate after a shocking coup, so they have not fully resumed relations with ASEAN. Please remember that ASEAN created a solid peace strategy for Myanmar in April 2021, not long after the coup started. That did not work out as intended, and the current leader of Myanmar, Min Aung Hlaing, has since been blocked from attending top ASEAN meetings. To try to rebuild those diplomatic bridges, the government of Myanmar recently permitted a Red Cross representative to visit Suu Kyi. She’s 81 years old, and that marked the first known independent contact since she was detained five years ago. And coming full circle, back to European security. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen issued a joint statement, solidifying an unusual partnership on immigration policies. Meloni’s policies skew right, and Frederiksen floats in the center left. But on immigration, they both occupy the same far-right policy space. They know people, across the political spectrum, will wonder about this new relationship. Their joint message said, in part, “We come from very different political backgrounds, and we certainly do not agree on everything.” It goes on to say, “We do not accept uncontrolled immigration to Europe, and we have promoted a strict immigration policy, both in our Nations and in Europe.” This will look like business as usual for Meloni’s supporters, but this heralds change for the center-left in Denmark. Frederiksen has some internal support, but if you look at comments on her Instagram, you’ll see it isn’t universal. She also has to contend with her allies in the European Parliament, like Spain, who disagree with her approach. She is in a very tricky space, and in my opinion, she will need every single European ally on her side to continue protecting Greenland. Is her immigration stance worth the risk? Time will tell. Thank you for listening to The Friday Brief. Send this podcast to your friends to make sure they know what is happening around the world. If you aren’t already following my Instagram, check me out at xoPhoenixRicks. Until next time, I’m Phoenix, signing off from Washington, DC. Let’s work together for a world of good.