Syria’s rebels start forming government, restore order after Assad ouster as UN Security Council meets
With the mood in Damascus still celebratory, Assad’s prime minister, Mohammed Jalali, on Monday agreed to hand power to the rebel-led Salvation Government, an administration based in rebel-held territory in northwest Syria.
How six months of planning, Assad’s falling out with Turkey and Israeli weakening of Hezbollah precipitated to regime change in Syria
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s government, which struck a deal with Russia in 2020 to de-escalate fighting in northwestern Syria, has long opposed such a major rebel offensive, fearing it would lead to a new wave of refugees crossing its border.
Rebels declare Syria ‘free of Assad’ as ‘ousted’ president flies out of Damascus to unknown destination
President Bashar al-Assad, who had crushed all forms of dissent, flew out of Damascus for an unknown destination earlier on Sunday, two senior army officers said, as rebels claimed they had entered the capital with no sign of army deployments.
Iraq, deemed economic lung of Iran, targets high fuel oil exports this year via smuggling
In January 2023, a few months after Sudani took over, the price was lowered to $100-$150 a ton, far below the market price for exports, estimated at anywhere between $300 and $500. The lower the price of the subsidised fuel, the higher the profit margin when exporting it on the international market.
Iran and its proxies reel under US sanctions as oil smuggling network rakes in $1 billion
Iran views its neighbour and ally Iraq as an economic lung and wields considerable military, political and economic influence there through the powerful Shi’ite militias and political parties it backs. It also sources hard currency from Iraq through exports and avoids US sanctions via its banking system, Iraqi and US officials say.
It sounds extreme and abusive but African presidents are chief advertising agents for foreign slavery cast as expatriate jobs
While the solar plexus that is the Middle East jobs are robbing the African countries of the labour-force necessary for economic growth, the labour migration to the Asian countries occurs without a comprehensive policy and legal framework to govern and create stability.
Hours-old truce between Israel, Hezbollah breached as Israeli tanks attack six areas in south Lebanon
Lebanese families displaced from their homes near the southern border have tried to return to check on their properties. But Israeli troops remain stationed within Lebanese territory in towns along the border and Reuters reporters heard surveillance drones flying over parts of southern Lebanon.
Oreshnik or hazel tree: Russia’s new combat missile that’s elicited scrutiny from Western military experts
A US official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters that Russia had notified Washington shortly before the November 21 strike. A second official said the US had briefed Kyiv and allies to prepare for the possible use of such a weapon.
It’s estimated Iran-backed Hezbollah lost up to 4,000 people, faces long road to recover from war
Hezbollah emerges shaken from top to bottom, its leadership still reeling from the killing of its former leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and its supporters made homeless en masse by the carpet bombing of Beirut’s southern suburbs and the destruction of entire villages in the south.
Trump team claims credit for Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal brokered by Biden
Biden in Rose Garden remarks on Tuesday cheered the ceasefire agreement as a critical step that he hoped could be the catalyst for a broader peace in the Mideast, which has been shaken by nearly 14 months of war following Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023
