Once linked to the al-Qaeda, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has now become a figure of admiration for US President Donald Trump, who referred to him as a “young attractive guy”. After meeting with al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, Trump expressed hope in his potential and said “he’s got a real shot at holding it…
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose drastic overhaul of the federal health apparatus has left scientists and patients reeling, will face a demand from the Republican chairman of the Senate health committee on Wednesday to explain to Americans how his reforms “will make their lives easier, not harder.” Mr. Kennedy will testify on Capitol…
Sirens blaring, a truckful of armed men trailing in its wake, the black sport utility vehicle that sliced sharklike through the Syrian town of Ashrafieh Sahnaya on Friday morning was impossible to miss. Government forces had retaken control from the armed groups that turned the town into a sectarian battlefield for two days this week,…
Israeli fighter jets struck near the Syrian presidential palace on Friday in what Israeli leaders said was a warning to the government to protect the Druse minority after a new wave of sectarian violence. More than 100 people were killed this week in clashes involving a number of parties, including Sunni Muslim extremists not fully…
A delegation of Syrian Druse made a rare visit to Israel over the weekend for a pilgrimage to a shrine as Israel seeks to extend its influence inside Syria after the fall of the dictator Bashar al-Assad. Both Israel and Syria have sizable minorities who belong to the Druse sect — an Arabic-speaking religious minority…
The Kurdish-led militia that controls northeastern Syria agreed on Monday to merge with the country’s new government, marking a major breakthrough for Damascus in its efforts to unify a country still wrestling with violent turmoil. The agreement, announced by the office of Syria’s presidency and signed by both parties, stipulated that the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic…
A 23-year-old Syrian asylum seeker stabbed several passersby in the centre of the Austrian town of Villach on Saturday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, police said, adding that the suspected attacker had been arrested. Further details, such as whether the attacker knew any of the victims, remained unclear, a spokesperson for…
The man is insistent: Our ship is in difficulty, so keep your distance, he instructs another vessel over the radio. “Warship on your course,” he says. “I am drifting. I’m not under command.” The broadcast, according to military officials, came from a Russian spy ship, the Kildin, as the vessel packed with intelligence-gathering equipment drifted…
Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Shara, is expected to discuss the future of Syria-Turkey relations on Tuesday during a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. The meeting in the Turkish capital, Ankara, will be Mr. Erdogan’s first with Mr. al-Shara, the rebel leader who led the opposition offensive that toppled Syria’s former autocratic leader,…
As Western diplomats explore establishing ties with the rebels who took power in Syria, a religious minority has been conducting its own diplomatic push to ensure protections for its members as the country rebuilds. A representative of the group, the Druse, recently went to Washington to meet with lawmakers, members of the Biden and Trump…