World

Khamenei Says Assad's Fall Will not Weaken Iran
Khamenei Says Assad's Fall Will not Weaken Iran

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that the weakening of the anti-Israel "resistance" after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in Syria would not diminish Tehran's power. Some, "unaware of the meaning of resistance, imagine that when the resistance becomes weak, Islamic Iran will also become weak... Iran ...

Qatar Says to Reopen Embassy in Syria 'Soon'
Qatar Says to Reopen Embassy in Syria 'Soon'

Qatar said on Wednesday that it would soon reopen its embassy in the Syrian capital Damascus after president Bashar al-Assad's ouster in an Islamist-led rebel offensive. The Gulf country "will soon reopen its embassy in the sisterly Syrian Arab Republic after completing the necessary arrangements", foreign ministry spokesman Majed ...

Russia Calls for Rapid Syria Stabilization, Criticizes Israel
Russia Calls for Rapid Syria Stabilization, Criticizes Israel

The Kremlin said Wednesday that it wanted to see rapid stabilization in Syria, criticizing Israeli strikes and its creation of a "buffer zone" along the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. Russia also said its military offensive on Ukraine remained its "absolute priority" amid questions over whether Moscow's almost three-year campaign there meant it ...

New Syria PM Calls for Syrians Abroad to Return
New Syria PM Calls for Syrians Abroad to Return

Syria's new transitional prime minister has called for Syrians who have sought refuge abroad to return to their homeland following the ouster of longtime president Bashar al-Assad. Mohammad al-Bashir, appointed by rebel groups as the transitional head of government to run the country until March, told Italy's Corriere della Sera daily that one of ...

Gaza Rescuers Say at Least 22 Killed in Overnight Israel Strike
Gaza Rescuers Say at Least 22 Killed in Overnight Israel Strike

Gaza's civil defense agency said Wednesday that an overnight Israeli air strike in the northern part of the Palestinian territory killed at least 22 people, including women and children. "At least 22 people were martyred in the massacre committed by the occupation military after it bombed a house belonging to the Abu al-Tarabish family near Kamal ...

Kurdish-led Force Announces US-Brokered Truce in Syria's Manbij
Kurdish-led Force Announces US-Brokered Truce in Syria's Manbij

The Kurdish-led force controlling northeast Syria said Wednesday it had reached a US-brokered ceasefire with Turkish-backed fighters in Manbij, after Islamist-led rebels toppled Bashar al-Assad's government. The clashes in Manbij, an Arab-majority city, have killed 218 combatants since Turkish-backed groups launched offensives in the north ...

Trump Reaffirms Solving Ukraine Crisis his Top Priority
Trump Reaffirms Solving Ukraine Crisis his Top Priority

Donald Trump has reaffirmed that solving the Ukraine crisis would be his top priority once he assumes office next month, describing the Middle East as a "less difficult situation." "I think we have to solve the Ukraine problem with Russia," the US president-elect told French magazine Paris Match in an interview recorded on Saturday and released ...

US warships, Merchant Vessels Attacked by Houthis
US warships, Merchant Vessels Attacked by Houthis

Two American destroyers defeated a drone and missile attack by the Houthis while escorting three merchant vessels through the Gulf of Aden, the US military said Tuesday, confirming a claim from the Houthis. The Houthis began striking ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in November 2023, part of the region-wide fallout from Israel's devastating ...

New Syria PM Calls for 'Stability and Calm'
New Syria PM Calls for 'Stability and Calm'

Syria's new transitional prime minister on Tuesday said it was time for "stability and calm" in the country, two days after longtime president Bashar al-Assad was toppled by rebels in a lightning offensive. The rebels appointed Mohammad al-Bashir as the transitional head of government to run the country until March 1, a statement ...

UN General Assembly to Vote on 'Unconditional' Ceasefire in Gaza
UN General Assembly to Vote on 'Unconditional' Ceasefire in Gaza

The UN General Assembly will vote Wednesday on a draft resolution that seeks an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, a symbolic gesture after the US previously vetoed a similar action in the UN Security Council. In addition to calling for "an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire," the draft resolution seeks "the immediate and unconditional ...

Assad Exit Puts US at Perilous Crossroads in Syria
Assad Exit Puts US at Perilous Crossroads in Syria

For more than a decade, the United States has sought to keep out of Syria's political debacle, seeing no viable partner. Islamist rebels' toppling of strongman Bashar al-Assad has forced a change of tune and a debate over just what US interests are. Donald Trump, who returns to the White House in little more than a month, on the eve of Assad's ...

Syrian Rescuers Urge Russia to Push Assad for Secret Prison Maps
Syrian Rescuers Urge Russia to Push Assad for Secret Prison Maps

Syria's White Helmet rescuers on Tuesday called on Russia to pressure former president Bashar al-Assad into providing maps of secret jails and lists of detainees as they race against time to release prisoners. The rescuers said they "sent a request to the United Nations through an international mediator to demand that Russia pressure... Assad ...