Round 2: Tossup 3

A volunteer group called this country’s “Civil Defense” was the subject of the first Netflix-distributed film to win an Oscar, 2016’s The White Helmets. (-5[1])The creation of the amphetamine Captagon funded the government of this country, where 2025 (10[1])fires hit its Latakia (-5[1])region. Former High Negotiations Committee member Hind Kabawat serves in this country’s government, (10[1]-5[1])hoping to quell tensions with the Druze and the (10[1])once-favored Alawites. (10[1])HTS (10[1])rebels in this country’s Idlib region (-5[2])were led (10[1])by Ahmed al-Sharaa, who now heads the government after a former ophthalmologist’s late 2024 overthrow. For 10 points, Bashar Al-Assad once ruled what country from Damascus? ■END■ (10[2]0[1])

ANSWER: Syria [or Syrian Arab Republic or al-Jumhūriyyah al-ʿArabiyyah as-Sūriyyah; accept Syria Civil Defense]
<JHU A, Current Events> | Packet C
= Average correct buzz position

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