The UK government has announced a freeze on asylum applications from Syrian citizens amidst the ongoing fallout from the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Reports detail the consolidation of power by rebel forces and the grim discoveries at Saydnaya Prison, where thousands of prisoners remain unaccounted for. Security concerns also rise as the likelihood increases for British jihadists imprisoned in Syria to return to the UK. Meanwhile, a murder trial related to the stabbing of a schoolgirl and rising operational costs for children’s hospices garner attention.