Assad brutally repressed any hint of dissent ... They include "The Shell", by Syrian author Mustafa Khalifa, a devastating tale of an atheist who is mistaken for a radical Islamist and detained ...

Following the fall of dictator Bashar Assad, there is uncertainty over the ... in the west while a rival administration of General Khalifa Haftar in Tobruk controls eastern Libyan territory ...

Data: Status from Freedom House Global Freedom Scores; Table: Axios Visuals Bashar al-Assad fled Syria more than ... 2011 protests and Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa remains on the throne.