RUSSIA TELLS SYRIAN ASYLUM SEEKERS TO GO HOME

  Safaa is one of thousands of Syrian refugees that Russia, an ally of President Bashar al-Assad, is urging to return. Large parts of Syria are safe, Russian officials say, and there is no reason for asylum seekers like Safaa, 55, to remain.
  “But it’s not possible for anyone to return in this situation. People know that there is poverty, that people are dying of cold or from hunger, or from bombing.”
  According to the U.N. refugee agency, nearly 5.5 million Syrians have fled a war that has raged over

seven years.