This is Beirut 20/12 22:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
Damascus United States Syria Jolani HTS
A senior US diplomat told Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday that Washington was scrapping a reward for his arrest and welcomed "positive messages" from their talks, including a promise to fight terrorism. Barbara Leaf, Washington's top diplomat for the Middle East, made the comments after her meeting with Sharaa in Damascus, the first ...
This is Beirut 20/12 21:55 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Israel syria demonstration HTS
The Israeli military said its forces shot a protester during a demonstration against the army's activities in a village in southern Syria on Friday, injuring him in the leg. Since Islamist-led rebels toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad on December 8, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes on Syrian military facilities in what it says ...
This is Beirut 20/12 17:41 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
A delegation of US diplomats visiting Syria had a "positive" meeting on Friday with the country's new ruler, Ahmed al-Sharaa, a Syrian official told AFP. "The meeting took place, and it was positive. And the results will be positive, God willing," the official said on condition of anonymity. A planned press conference by ...
This is Beirut 20/12 17:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
American forces killed an Islamic State (IS) group leader and another of the group's members in a strike in Syria, the US military said on Friday. Washington has stepped up military action against the jihadist group since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government earlier this month, hitting areas that were shielded by Syrian and Russian air ...
This is Beirut 20/12 15:25 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
United States Iran sanctions oil
The United States has intensified sanctions against a growing number of oil tankers and companies accused of being involved in the trade of Iranian oil, Bloomberg reported,. Nine ships and eight companies have been added to the sanctions list, according to a government statement released on Thursday. Among the vessels targeted is the MS Enola, ...
This is Beirut 20/12 14:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
Hamas Israel Palestine United Nations West Bank
Sweden announced plans Friday to stop funding to the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) in response to an Israeli ban, but pledged to increase its aid to Gaza via other groups. The government said funding earmarked for Gaza would total 800 million kronor ($72 million) in 2025, but aid to UNRWA, which totalled 451 million kronor in 2024, would ...
This is Beirut 20/12 12:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)
United Nations Amy Pope Syria IOM
The raft of international sanctions on Syria must be reassessed to help the country rebuild following the ousting of president Bashar al-Assad, the head of the UN's migration agency said Friday. Amy Pope also said Syria's women must be empowered to play a full role in building a new society and bringing stability to the shattered nation. The ...
This is Beirut 20/12 12:50 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Israel Palestine Tehran Turkey
Turkish president Recep Tayyib Erdogan said Friday it was time to destroy "terrorist" groups that posed a threat to Syria's survival, in reference to Islamic State group jihadists and Kurdish fighters. "Daesh, the PKK and their affiliates -- which threaten the survival of Syria -- must be eradicated," he told journalists while returning from a ...
Natasha Metni Torbey 20/12 11:41 - Reading : 5 minute(s)
International Criminal Court UN Security Council Vladimir Putin Bashar al-Assad
War crimes, crimes against humanity, the use of chemical weapons against civilians… The accusations directed at former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad raise pressing questions, particularly following the fall of his regime on December 8: can he be brought to justice? If so, through what legal mechanisms? And what about the status he enjoys in ...
This is Beirut 20/12 10:45 - Reading : 3 minute(s)
Antony Blinken Barbara Leaf Damascus Donald Trump United States
US diplomats have arrived in Syria to speak directly to the new rulers, hoping to encourage a moderate, inclusive path and to find clues on missing Americans, the State Department said Friday. It is the first formal US diplomatic mission to Damascus since the early days of the brutal civil war that broke out in 2011 and culminated in a surprise ...
This is Beirut 20/12 09:10 - Reading : 1 minute(s)
One person was reported killed on Friday in a Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where AFP staff saw smoke rise over parts of the city after a series of explosions. "According to preliminary reports, one person was killed," the head of the city's military administration, Sergiy Popko, said on Telegram. Popko said Russian forces ...
This is Beirut 20/12 04:10 - Reading : 4 minute(s)
Democrats Donald Trump Republicans US Congress US House of Representatives White House
On Thursday, the US House of Representatives largely rejected a new Republican budget proposal aimed at avoiding a paralysis of the federal government, in a stinging defeat that increases the uncertainty before the fateful midnight hour on Friday. The Republicans, despite having a majority in the lower house, had put this new proposal to the vote ...