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Syria and Israel Agree on Permanent Security Arrangements in U.S.-Brokered Talks

Syria and Israel agreed to pursue permanent security and stability arrangements and to establish a joint coordination mechanism under U.S. supervision, according to a joint statement released on Monday by the U.S., Israel, and Syria. The announcement followed a high-level meeting in Paris between senior Israeli and Syrian officials, held under ...

Aleppo Clashes Between Syria Govt, Kurdish Forces Rage into Third Night

Clashes between Syrian government and Kurdish forces in Aleppo raged into the night Thursday on the third day of fighting, as Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi warned the violence undermined talks with Damascus. Global Response Washington's special envoy to Syria on Thursday issued an "urgent appeal" to the Syrian government and ...

Will Lebanon Hold Parliamentary Elections on Time?

Lebanon’s parliamentary elections are officially scheduled for May, but an impasse over proposed changes to the electoral law has cast doubt on whether the vote will go ahead on time. While most parties have publicly committed to holding the vote as scheduled, the election date and key rules governing it have become bargaining chips in ...

Yemen's Separatists Say Fighting 'Existential' War Against Saudi-Backed Forces

Yemen's UAE-backed separatists said they were fighting a critical war against Islamists and Al-Qaeda extremists supported by Saudi Arabia, their military spokesman said on Friday. "This war is decisive and existential," Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Al-Naqib said in a statement, after the Saudi-led coalition launched airstrikes and ...

Kurdish SDF Fighters Leave North Syria Prison Under Govt Deal: State Media

Syria said early Friday that government forces had begun transferring Kurdish fighters from a prison in the north where they had been holding Islamic State group detainees, as part of a weekend agreement. An AFP correspondent in Raqa saw buses and cars heading away from the Al-Aqtan prison on the city's outskirts overnight, escorted by ...

Syrian Army Says Controls Aleppo District, Kurdish Forces Deny Claim

Syria's army said it had completed a "security sweep" on Saturday of a neighborhood in Aleppo where it clashed with Kurdish forces, who denied losing control of the area after defying calls to surrender. Government forces began striking the Sheikh Maqsud district overnight after a deadline elapsed for Kurdish fighters to withdraw during a ...

Iraq on High Alert: Baghdad Warns of Imminent Israeli Strikes

According to several corroborating reports cited by Israeli media, Iraqi authorities have been discreetly warned of the possibility of targeted Israeli strikes on their territory, aimed at pro-Iranian armed groups operating in the country. These warnings, described as “extremely serious,” are said to have been delivered through Western and ...

Report: Trump to Unveil Multi-Billion Dollar Gaza Reconstruction Plan

President Donald Trump is set to launch a multi-billion-dollar initiative to rebuild Gaza and deploy a U.N.-authorized stabilization force, according to a report by Reuters citing senior U.S. officials. The announcement will take place at the inaugural meeting of Trump’s Board of Peace next week. The officials said the fund for Gaza will ...

French Cinema Icon Brigitte Bardot to Be Buried in Saint-Tropez cemetery

Cinema icon Brigitte Bardot is to be buried in a graveyard in her hometown of Saint-Tropez, an official said Monday, as France wrestles with how to pay tribute to a cultural legend who in later years championed far-right views. Bardot, who died on Sunday aged 91 after decades as an animal rights campaigner, had said she wanted to be laid to rest ...

PM Salam: Arms Consolidation Plan Covers All Lebanese Territory

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam reiterated on Thursday that the Lebanese Army’s (LAF) plan to consolidate all arms under state authority applies to the entirety of Lebanon, not only areas south of the Litani River, underscoring the government’s commitment to restoring the state’s exclusive control over weapons. In an interview with ...

Trump, Maduro, and Iran

America's dramatic capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro has set the stage for the conduct of America's national security strategy in 2026.  It has also raised questions. Was it legal?  Judging from precedents set with the 1990 capture, trial, conviction, and imprisonment of Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega, the ...

Israel Says Struck Syria-Lebanon Border Crossings Used by Hezbollah

The Israeli military said it struck four crossings along the Syria-Lebanon border on Wednesday that were used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons, after earlier launching fresh strikes on the militant group in Lebanon. "A short while ago, the (Israeli military) struck four border crossings on the Syria-Lebanon border used by Hezbollah to smuggle ...

Peace with Israel: Lebanon's Path to Economic Revival

An unconditional peace treaty with Israel, inspired by the Abraham Accords' success, could reduce Lebanon’s security risks, unlock billions in foreign investments, revive trade, agriculture, and services, and create jobs—offering economic salvation while preserving Lebanon’s support of Palestinians.  Normalization could boost Lebanon’s ...

New Rallies in Iran as Son Of Shah Calls for City Centers to be Seized

Major Iranian cities were gripped overnight by new mass rallies denouncing the Islamic republic, as the son of the ousted Shah urged protesters on Saturday to plan to seize city centers. The two weeks of protests have posed one of the biggest challenges to the theocratic authorities who have ruled Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, although ...

Israel Begins Demolitions at UNRWA Headquarters

Israeli bulldozers began demolitions at the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem on Tuesday, in what the organization called an "unprecedented attack". UNRWA spokesman Jonathan Fowler said in a statement to AFP that Israeli forces "stormed into" the compound shortly after 7am (0500 GMT) and ousted security ...

U.S., Syrian Top Diplomats Meet at Munich Conference

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his Syrian counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Friday and they discussed Damascus's recent agreement with the Kurds. A post by the Syrian foreign ministry included pictures showing that the head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum ...

Hamas Signals Readiness to Disarm

Hamas has reportedly agreed to surrender its weapons and hand over detailed maps of its tunnel network in Gaza as part of a U.S.-mediated arrangement, according to a Palestinian source cited by Sky News Arabia, a development that would mark a major turning point in the aftermath of the war. The report surfaced after President Donald Trump issued ...

Iran Protest Movement Subsides In Face Of "Brutal" Crackdown

The protest movement in Iran has subsided after a crackdown that has killed thousands under an internet blackout, monitors said Friday, one week after the start of the biggest protests in years challenging the Islamic republic's theocratic system. The threat of new military action by the United States against Iran has also appeared to have ...

Iran FM Says Missile Program 'Never Negotiable' in Talks with U.S.

Abbas Araghchi said Saturday that Iran’s missile program is “never negotiable” in talks with the United States, while confirming that Tehran and Washington have agreed to hold another round of negotiations “soon,” though no date has yet been set. “Missiles are never negotiable because they are a defense issue,” Araghchi said in an ...

IMF Delegation Meets Lebanese Leaders to Advance Banking Sector Reforms

An International Monetary Fund delegation visited Lebanon, including a meeting with U.S. Ambassador Michel Issa on Friday. The visit comes as Lebanon seeks to advance financial restructuring measures required for an IMF-backed program. Since the U.S. has significant leverage within the IMF, Ambassador Issa’s presence to discuss economic ...

Heavy Israeli Airstrikes Hit Southern Lebanon

Israel carried out a significant military escalation in southern Lebanon late Sunday and early Monday, launching a series of airstrikes it said targeted Hezbollah military infrastructure, as tensions along the border continued to rise. At dawn on Monday, Israeli fighter jets struck the Aqmata–Louaize heights in the Iqlim al-Touffah region. ...

Syria and Lebanon: Who Is Moving Forward in 2026?

Entering 2026, Syria and Lebanon stand at an inflection point along the region’s active fault line. While both nations shook off paralysis at roughly the same time a year ago, neither has become truly stable. What separates them is the nature of the risks they face in the near and medium-term as the Middle East undergoes uneasy post-war ...

Syria Says Hezbollah Weapons Used in Damascus Airport Attacks

Syrian authorities said on Sunday they had detained a group responsible for a series of rocket attacks targeting the Mezzeh military airport in the capital, adding that investigators traced the weapons used in the strikes to Hezbollah. In a statement, the Syrian Interior Ministry said security units arrested all members of the group after weeks ...

Iran Releases on Bail Two Reformists Arrested After Protests: Local Media

Iranian authorities released the leader of the country's reformist coalition on bail Friday, days after she was arrested following anti-government protests, local media reported. Azar Mansouri, head of the Reformist Front, "was released from prison a few minutes ago after posting bail", her lawyer Hojjat Kermani told the ISNA news ...

Qassem Warns Hezbollah May Intervene If Iran Is Attacked

Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, delivered a speech amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran on Monday, stating that any attack on Iran would also target his group, and warned that any new war on the Islamic Republic would ignite the region. On the question of Hezbollah’s engagement in a conflict scenario, Qassem left ...

Iraq Announces Complete Withdrawal of U.S.-Led Coalition From Federal Territory

Iraq said on Sunday US-led coalition forces had finished withdrawing from bases within the country's federal territory, which excludes the autonomous northern Kurdistan region. "We announce today... the completion of the evacuation of all military bases and leadership headquarters in the official federal areas of Iraq of advisers" of the US-led ...

Trump Open to Dialogue with Iran as Aftermath of Protests Comes into Focus

President Donald Trump signaled a willingness to engage in dialogue with Iran in remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Thursday, while reiterating his opposition to Iran’s nuclear program. These comments came as Trump was speaking about the Gaza ‘Board of Peace,’ as he highlighted the U.S. strikes against ...

Haykal’s U.S. Visit Signals Bid to Translate Military Gains into Political Trust

Lebanese Army (LAF) Commander General Rodolphe Haykal kicked off an official visit to the United States on Monday with a stop at U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) in Tampa, in a trip that goes beyond routine military protocol and carries clear political implications. At CENTCOM, Haykal met with Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, presenting detailed maps and ...

Riyadh Will Not Permit Attacks on Iran from Saudi Territory: Foreign Ministry

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian during a call on Tuesday that the Gulf monarchy would not allow attacks on Iran to be launched from its soil. Prince Mohammed "affirmed during the call the kingdom's position on respecting the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and that the Kingdom ...