This is Beirut

From Glorifying Assad to Praising al-Joulani: The Shifting Allegiances of Syrian Celebrities

Soumia Benmerzoug, 2024-12-19 19:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

The term “mukawiin” (literally “those who took a turn” and figuratively “weather vanes”) has flooded Syrian socio-media landscape since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on December 8. As the former president fled to Russia and rebels seized control of Damascus, a new label emerged to describe those who shifted allegiances with ...

UN Chief Sees 'Flame of Hope' in Syria, Calls for End to Israel Strikes

This is Beirut, 2024-12-19 17:30 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel United Nations Syria HTS Guterres

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday that there was a "flame of hope" in Syria following the fall of president Bashar al-Assad's regime but warned of significant challenges ahead. He also underlined that Israel's widespread strikes on Syrian military infrastructure were "violations" of the country's sovereignty and called for them ...

Thousands Protest in Northeast Syria in Support of Kurdish-Led Force

This is Beirut, 2024-12-19 16:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Turkey USA Syria kurds

Thousands of people demonstrated Thursday in northeast Syria in support of a US-backed, Kurdish-led force that for weeks has been pushing back against Turkey-backed fighters, an AFP correspondent said. The show of support for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) comes after Islamist-led rebels toppled Syria's longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad ...

Putin’s Open Invitation: “Ready to Meet Trump Anytime”

This is Beirut, 2024-12-19 13:25 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Donald Trump Ukraine United States Vladimir Putin Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the fall of ex-Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was not a "defeat" for Russia, claiming Moscow had achieved its goals in the country. Assad fled to Moscow earlier this month after a shock rebel advance ended half a century of rule by the Assad family, marked by repression and allegations of vast ...

Trump’s Shadow Looms Over EU Summit as Ukraine Appeals for Unity

This is Beirut, 2024-12-19 11:35 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Donald Trump European Union Ukraine Vladimir Putin Syria

Donald Trump loomed large over EU leaders Thursday at their last summit before he reclaims power in the United States, with President Volodymyr Zelensky saying only transatlantic unity can "save" Ukraine. The upheaval in Syria after the toppling of Bashar al-Assad, and how to deal with the new leadership, was also high-up on the agenda of the ...

Fall of Assad's Regime and Syria’s Fractured Struggle for Unity

Salam Zaatari, 2024-12-19 09:00 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Syria Bashar el Assad

There’s a saying in the Middle East: “The house divided will collapse under its own weight.” For over a decade, Syria has been that house. But now, with the hypothetical fall of the Assad regime—a specter many Syrians have dreamed of or dreaded—the question looms larger than ever: Can Syria, shattered into a mosaic of ideologies, sects ...

UN Humanitarian Chief Urges Massive Aid Boost for Syria

This is Beirut, 2024-12-18 20:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

United Nations USA Syria

Visiting UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher called Wednesday for a massive aid boost for Syria to respond to "this moment of hope" after the ouster of longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad. "Across the country, the needs are huge. Seven in 10 people are needing support right now," Fletcher told AFP in a telephone interview as he visited Syria. "I ...

Can the Treaty of Brotherhood, Cooperation and Coordination Be Cancelled?

Maurice Matta, 2024-12-18 19:45 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Syria Lebanon Treaty Cooperation

On May 22, 1991, the late Lebanese President Elias Hrawi and former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad signed the “Treaty of Brotherhood, Cooperation and Coordination,” which came into effect with the implementation of the Taif Agreement. The treaty, which governed Lebanon’s politics for more than 15 years and presumably safeguarded its ...

Syria Rescuers Say Bodies Found in Warehouse Next to Shiite Shrine Near Damascus

This is Beirut, 2024-12-18 16:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Damascus Hezbollah Syria

A Syrian civil defence official said Wednesday that White Helmets rescuers discovered unidentified bodies and remains in a medicine warehouse in Damascus southern suburb, 10 days after Bashar al-Assad's ouster. An AFP video journalist at the scene said the warehouse strewn with medicine boxes was located just around 50 metres (yards) from the ...

First Flight Since Assad’s Fall Departs Damascus

This is Beirut, 2024-12-18 11:00 - Reading : less than a minute

Damascus syria

The first flight since the ouster of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad took off on Wednesday from Damascus airport to Aleppo in the country's north, AFP journalists saw. Forty-three people including journalists were on board the Syrian Air Airbus plane. Assad fled Syria as a lightning rebel offensive launched on November 27 wrested from his ...

Syria Ex-Rebel Military Chief Says to Dissolve Armed Wing

This is Beirut, 2024-12-17 21:55 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Murhaf Abu Qasra Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Syria

The military chief of Syria's victorious Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham said on Tuesday it would be "the first" to dissolve its armed wing and integrate into the armed forces. "In any state, all military units must be integrated into this institution," Murhaf Abu Qasra, known by his nom de guerre Abu Hassan al-Hamawi, said in an interview ...

Netanyahu Holds Security Briefing Atop Strategic Syrian Peak

This is Beirut, 2024-12-17 19:40 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Israel Syria Benjamin Netanyahu Mount Hermon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a security briefing Tuesday atop a strategic Syrian mountain inside the UN-patrolled buffer zone on the Golan Heights that Israel seized this month, the defense minister said. Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz and the heads of the armed forces and the domestic security agency visited ...

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