Syria Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The broad terms of the cease-fire deal that Israel and Hamas finally agreed to Wednesday after a year of fruitless negotiations aren’t substantially different from those that were available to both sides eight months ago. What changed is everything else.

Kaja Kallas, the European Union foreign policy chief, said the foreign ministers would convene in Brussels on January 27 in an effort to decide how the 27-nation bloc would relax sanctions on Syria. After 13 years of civil war, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in a lightning offensive by insurgent forces led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham a month ago. The group has since set up a caretaker government in Damascus. Any European decision to ease sanctions would be conditional on the new Syrian administration's approach to governing, which must include «different groups» and women and «no radicalisation», Kallas said, without elaborating. «If we see the developments going to the right direction, we are ready to do the next steps...If we see that it's not going to the right direction, then we can also move back on this.»

Wasfi Maasarani, a prominent singer and a symbol of the Syrian uprising, took the stage to celebrate «Syria's victory.» The Wednesday performance marked Maasarani's return to Syria after 13 years of exile. While living in Los Angeles, Maasarani had continued to support the Syrian revolution through his music, touring across the US and Europe, reported AP. The concert was organized by the Molham Volunteering Team, a humanitarian group founded by Syrian students, and also coincided with the one-month anniversary of a rapid insurgency that ousted former President Bashar Assad. Maasarani's revolutionary anthems, along with those of late singer and activist Abdelbasset Sarout, played a pivotal role in galvanizing opposition throughout Syria's 14-year uprising-turned-civil war, which began in 2011, reported the news agency.

Brig. Gen. Behrouz Esbati has publicly criticized the nation Russia for allegedly misleading Tehran regarding the military operations in Syria. In a pretty recent speech at a mosque in Tehran, Brig. Gen. Behrouz Esbati claimed that Russia assured Iran that its jets were targeting Syrian rebel positions but were actually bombing open desert areas instead. This stark accusation eventually marks a rare deviation from Iran's typically supportive diplomatic stance towards Russia. Brig. Gen. Behrouz Esbati lamented the significant losses Iran faced due to the fall of the government of Bashar al- Assad while stating that ‘We were defeated, and defeated very badly’. At the same time, he also attributed the part of this failure to internal corruption within the leadership of Syria while indicating that bribery was rampant among high-ranking officials.

IRGC) has unveiled the Rezvan which is a sophisticated loitering munition drone during its Great Prophet 19 military exercise, reported Iran International. The drone actually demonstrates Iran's advanced military technological capabilities and strategic positioning in the region. According to Iran International, the Rezvan features remarkable specifications which include a 20 kilometer range and 20 minute operating time. Starting with its launch from a cylindrical container, the suicide drone eventually transmits live video to operators while enabling precise target selection and engagement. IRGC Ground Forces Commander Mohammad Pakpour claimed recent successful simulated attacks against hypothetical enemies during the exercise.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Saudi Arabia and other Arab states are jockeying for influence with Syria’s Islamist government, hoping to gain an advantage on rivals in the strategically positioned country despite misgivings about the jihadist past of its new leaders.

The first international commercial flight since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad has landed at Damascus airport

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The greatest gift from Benjamin Netanyahu to Joe Biden was making the departing American president’s Middle East legacy seem much better than it is. And he did it by ignoring Mr.

Tommy Robinson, who is a convicted fraudster and is the leader of the English far right movement, has pretty recently gained attention after Tesla CEO Elon Musk publicly called for his release from prison, reported NBC News.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. WASHINGTON—The Biden administration plans to announce Monday it is easing restrictions on humanitarian aid for Syria, a move to speed delivery of basic supplies without lifting sanctions that restrict other assistance to the new government in Damascus. The decision underscores the White House’s wariness about removing the broad sanctions on Syria until the direction taken by its new leaders, led by a group the U.S.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Iran faces a tough year of confrontation with the incoming Trump administration while holding an exceptionally weak hand after 2024 left it with an acute economic crisis at home and setbacks in the Middle East. The new U.S.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. A planned overhaul of Syria’s education curriculum is spurring concerns about the new government’s assurances that it will rebuild an inclusive society, and leading some to question whether it will seek to impose a conservative Islamic worldview. The changes, listed in a series of documents released this week by the education ministry, include everything from dropping all references to former dictator Bashar al-Assad to changing religious references and removing the theory of evolution from school textbooks.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Businesses are bracing for another year of geopolitical uncertainty, with large question marks looming over President-elect Donald Trump’s foreign policy strategy and broader global tumult, despite some executives’ optimism about the year ahead. Geopolitical concerns remain top of mind amid general global uncertainty and, in particular, a continued reordering of the U.S.-China relationship.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. DAMASCUS, Syria—The people of Syria said good riddance in the past month to the dictatorship that ruled for half a century. They have no idea what is coming next.

Islamic State extremist group from the truck that an American man from Texas smashed into New Year's partygoers in New Orleans' French Quarter Wednesday, killing 15 people. The investigation is expected to look in part at any support or inspiration that driver Shamsud-Din Jabbar may have drawn from that violent Middle East-based group, or from any of at least 19 affiliated groups around the world.

Baba Vanga and Nostradamus are the two names that come to mind when things are about striking predictions of the future. Both of them have reportedly shocked the world with their eerie prophecies that have come true, be it the 9/11 attacks or the World Wars

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The ravages of war are never confined to the battlefield. The costs are borne by all of society, and when bombs destroy monuments, artworks, and irreplaceable archives, the losses are measured not just in lives and property but in broader historical terms.

For decades, Art Cashin, UBS' director of floor operations at the New York Stock Exchange, would write a New Year's poem to reflect back on the year's events. With Cashin's passing earlier this month, his sons, Arthur and Peter, sent this homage to their father:

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. DAMASCUS, Syria—More than a decade of civil war left Syria’s economy in shambles. The country lost billions of dollars in oil exports.

Asma al-Assad, has leukaemia and a 50/50 chance of survival as she attempts to return to the UK. Asma and her despotic husband are probably living in one of their opulent penthouses in Moscow. When Islamist rebels overthrew the tyrant's cruel rule, Asma al-Assad, 49, and her husband were forced into exile and are now holed up in Moscow.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. As the Assad regime collapsed this month, Israel’s military swiftly seized control over the border area with Syria—moving to disarm nearby villages to create a security buffer. Now, some of these villages are pushing back against what they fear could become a prolonged Israeli occupation.