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☆ Middle East Crisis Senior Israeli Military Official Offers to Resign After Oct. 7 Intelligence Failures
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Adam Rasgon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

Mr. Netanyahu said in a social media post that his government would “act by all means” against any such move. The sanctions, if imposed, would not hold up the military aid that was just approved in Congress. The Israeli military disciplined three of the unit’s commanders after the investigation. Human rights organizations have long accused the Israeli military justice system of whitewashing wrongdoing and the military of acting with impunity. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed during the six months of war, according to Gazan health officials.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr, Netanyahu, Axios, Netzah Yehuda, Leahy, Yehuda, Omar Abdelmajed Assad, “, Assad’s, Biden, Benny Gantz, Yoav Gallant, Antony J, Blinken, Jacob J, Lew, Gallant, Mick Mulroy, ”, ” Natan Odenheimer, Gabby Sobelman Organizations: West Bank, Biden, Netzah, Jewish, Israel, Pentagon, State Locations: States, Gaza, Israel, Israel’s, Iran, U.S, United States

☆ Professor who Columbia president said was ‘spoken to’ for calling Hamas invasion ‘astounding’ says he wasn’t disciplined
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Elisabeth Buchwald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

A university spokesperson confirmed that Massad was under investigation for allegedly making discriminatory remarks, as Shafik noted in her Wednesday testimony. Massad told CNN the investigation was “news” to him and he was not aware of it prior to Wednesday. The department chair did not respond, while the dean, Amy Hungerford, referred the inquiry to a university spokesperson who did not offer any comment. “Professor Massad has chaired his final meeting of the academic review committee,” a different Columbia spokesperson told CNN. Columbia Business School assistant professor Shai Davidai, who Shafik said was under investigation for harassment, told CNN that he has never spoken against students by name, only “pro-Hamas” student organizations and professors.

Persons: Minouche Shafik’s, Joseph Massad’s, Massad, ” Shafik, ”, Shafik, ” Massad, “, Amy Hungerford, Elise Stefanik, Mohamed Abdou, Shai Davidai Organizations: New, New York CNN — Columbia University, CNN, Columbia, Education, Workforce, African Studies, of Arts and Sciences, Republican, Arts and Sciences, Columbia Business School Locations: New York, Gaza, Israel, Middle Eastern, Columbia

☆ Analysis: Can Netanyahu avoid triggering a regional war?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-16 | by ( Nic Robertson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

In a paradigm shift after decades of shadow proxy war, Tehran is usurping Israel’s strategy. “We have decided to create a new equation,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Commander Hossein Salami said. When faced with existential threats in the past, Israel has executed the most audacious raids the region has ever witnessed. The damage that can be inflicted on Iran is huge, is huge.”So the most important question right now must be, can Netanyahu read the room right – with Iran threatening to attack, allies warning him not to – and avoid triggering a regional war. Iran, he implied, won’t attack Israel as long as it fears America’s reaction.

Persons: CNN —, Joe Biden’s, Ebrahim Raisi’s, ” Israel, Hossein, “, Bashar al, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, Benny Ganz –, David Barnea, Staff Herzi Halevi, Netanyahu, Bezalel Smotrich, of National Security Itamar Ben, Gvir, Ganz, Gallant, – Ganz, ” Netanyahu, ” Netanyahu’s, Saleh Al, Amos Yadlin, Yadlin, ” Yadlin, Bashar, Iran’s, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, Biden Organizations: CNN, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, –, Staff, of National Security, IDF’s Military Intelligence, UN Security Locations: CNN — Israel, Israel, Iran, Tehran, Osirak, Syria, Tel Aviv, Gaza, Lebanese, Beirut, Lebanon, Damascus, America

☆ Opinion: Biden needs to bring US troops back from Iraq, now
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Opinion Daniel R. Depetris | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —The subject of finally concluding America’s counter-ISIS mission in Iraq has been the plot of ongoing deliberations between Washington and Baghdad for the last three years. If the Biden administration’s approach is to wait for the perfect time to get out, then it will wait for eternity. It’s worth remembering why the United States sent troops to Iraq in the first place. The mission — eliminating ISIS’ territorial caliphate — was achieved. US troops should be pulled out of Iraq and Syria now.

Persons: Daniel R, Monday’s, Joe Biden, Mohammed Shia, DePetris, Sudani, ”, Biden, Nouri al, Barack Obama, “, —, Trump, Bashar Al, Assad, Saddam Hussein, territorially, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Israel, Iran’s Organizations: Defense, Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, Politico, Street, Guardian, CNN, Iraqi, ISIS, “, Islamic State, Maliki, US, US Air Force, State Department, “ ISIS, Twitter Locations: The, Iraq, Washington, Baghdad, Israel, United States, Syria, Iraqi, Mosul, Syrian, Baghouz, Iran, Iranian, Turkey, Russia, Afghanistan, Moscow, Israeli, Tehran

A senior Hamas official said Friday the group will respond “very soon” to a proposal that includes extended pauses in Gaza fighting and phased exchanges of Hamas-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. Over 27,000 people have been killed and 66,000 wounded by Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza, the territory's Health Ministry said Thursday. — Half of U.S. adults say Israel has gone too far in its war in Gaza, AP-NORC poll shows. Here's the latest:HAMAS EXPECTED TO RESPOND SOON TO PROPOSAL THAT INCLUDES RELEASE OF HOSTAGES AND CEASE-FIRESBEIRUT — A senior Hamas official says the group will respond “very soon” to a proposal that includes extended pauses in Gaza fighting and phased exchanges of Hamas-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. Israel has said it would not agree to end the war as a condition for hostage releases.

Persons: —, — Biden, ___, Samy Magdy, SANA, Bashar Assad’s Organizations: Hamas, territory's Health, Health Ministry, West Bank, —, Associated Press, Human Rights Locations: Israel, Gaza, —, U.S, Turkey, West, israel, BEIRUT, United States, Qatar, Egypt, Cairo, Mroue, Beirut, DAMASCUS, BEIRUT —, Damascus, Iran, State, Golan, Britain, Syria

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — An Israeli strike on the Syrian capital, Damascus, destroyed Saturday a building used by Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard killing and wounding 10 people, state media outlets and an official with an Iran-backed group said. State-TV reported that the “Israeli aggression” targeted a residential building in the tightly guarded western Damascus neighborhood of Mazzeh, home to several diplomatic missions, including the Lebanese and Iranian embassies. The strike came amid widening tensions in the region and the Israeli offensive on Gaza that has killed thousands. Political Cartoons View All 253 ImagesLast month, an Israeli airstrike on a suburb of Damascus killed Iranian general Seyed Razi Mousavi, a longtime adviser of the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Syria. Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years.

Persons: ”, Seyed Razi Mousavi, Bashar Assad’s, Israel, Saleh Arouri, ____ Mroue Organizations: Revolutionary Guard, Syrian, Human Rights, Lebanese, East, Associated Press, Iranian Locations: DAMASCUS, Syria, Damascus, Iran, Mazzeh, Gaza, Israel, Beirut, Golan, Lebanon, Red

☆ This Photograph of Dead Palestinian Children Demands to Be Seen - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Lydia Polgreen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +13 min

The photograph tells us nothing about whether or how these children are related. Hundreds of Israeli hostages, including children, are believed to be held in Gaza by Hamas, their families desperate for their safe release. It is a rare thing for mainstream news organizations to publish graphic images of dead or wounded children. There is nothing quite so devastating as the image of a child whose life has been snuffed out by senseless violence. And so the slaughter in Maine reminded me of another image from Gaza, one you may have seen on social media.

Persons: Mahmud Hams, Israel, I’ve, Emmett Till’s, Kim Phuc Phan Thi, Nick Ut’s, “, Biden, ” Susan Sontag, ”, Sontag, photojournalists, Aaron Young, Mohammed Salem, Khan Younis, Inas Abu Maamar, Saly, Mary, Jesus, Bashar al Organizations: Palestinian Hamas, Agence France, Ministry of Health, Times, The Times, Hamas, Oslo Accords, Reuters Locations: Al Aqsa, Deir al, Gaza, Israel, Palestinian, Mahmud, Vietnam, Syrian, Turkey, Europe, Oslo, ”, Bosnia, Sarajevo, Maine, Khan, Khartoum, Russian

☆ China has a sweeping vision to reshape the world — and countries are listening
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Simone Mccarthy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +23 min

All this coincides with longstanding calls from countries across the developing world for an international system where they have more say. Beijing, he added, sees the US as merely “paying lip service” to the “liberal order” to hurt other countries. Sergei Savostyanov/Sputnik/ReutersIn recent years, even some countries that have for decades embraced a close partnership with the US have drawn closer to China and its vision. “Is China really trying to promote multipolarity — or does China just want to (become a) substitute (for) US influence over the world?” he asked. They also raise questions about how a more militarily and economically powerful China would behave globally, if left unchecked.

Persons: Xi Jinping, —, Xi, Vladimir Putin, General Antonio Guterres, ” Xi, , Shen Hong, they’d, ”, Yun Sun, liberalize, Sanjit Das, Shen Dingli, ‘, ’ ”, Russia’s Putin, Bashar al, Assad —, Assad’s, Sergei Savostyanov, Ali Sarwar Naqvi, “ We’ve, James Marape, ’, Rubens Duarte, Li Zhiquan, “, Tong Zhao, Zhao, Ted Aljibe, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Zhang Youxia, Beijing’s, Gilberto Teodoro Jr, BRICS, Weeks, Joe Biden, Sergio Lima, ” — Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, United Nations, Forum, China, Communist, CNN, Beijing, Washington, Getty, Stimson, Bank, World Trade Organization, . Riot, Bloomberg, Initiative, Asian, Global, Sputnik, Reuters, Center for International Strategic Studies, Papua New Guinea, multipolarity, China News Service, Carnegie Endowment, International Peace, Global Security Initiative, NATO, Russia, Philippine Defense, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, United, New, Seven, Ministry, Global Security, Group, UN, Communist Party Locations: China, Hong Kong, Beijing, United States, Ukraine, Gaza, Russian, Xinhua, Washington, South, Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, America, Shanghai, West, Hangzhou, Israel, Pakistan, Pakistani, Islamabad, Papua New, Brazil, Indonesia, Europe, Asia, Scarborough, South China, AFP, Moscow, Russia, “, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Palestine, India, South Africa, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, United Arab Emirates, New Delhi, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Caribbean, ” Beijing

CNN —The US has intelligence that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to provide the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah with a Russian-made missile defense system, according to two people familiar with the intelligence. The Russian mercenary organization Wagner Group, which operates in Syria, has been tasked with carrying out the delivery of the surface-to-air SA-22 missile system, the people said. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Wagner may provide the system to Hezbollah. A third source familiar with western intelligence said there was evidence of increasing collaboration between Hezbollah and Wagner in Syria. It is not clear how much influence Russia had over the decision to provide the system to Hezbollah.

Persons: Bashar al, Assad, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, –, Hassan Nasrallah, CNN’s Oren Liebermann Organizations: CNN, Wagner Group, Street, Russian, US, Kremlin, Israel Locations: Lebanese, Russian, Syria, Russia, Syrian, Iran, Lebanon, Israel, Moscow, –, Gaza

☆ Analysis: The US is dangerously close to being pulled into a Middle East war as it supports Israel's campaign against Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( Ben Wedeman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Editor’s Note: A version of this story appears in CNN’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Gaza may be where the war is happening now, but across the Middle East the warning lights of more trouble to come are blinking red. All the while the US is airlifting massive amounts of ammunition and equipment to help the Israeli war effort. Protests against Israel and USAs the war in Gaza rages, the Middle East is seething with anger. The American carrier groups just over the horizon are there to deter Iran, Hezbollah and others from going too far.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Miriam Alster, Antony Blinken, –, Saddam Hussein’s, Bashar al, Qasem Soleimani, Hossein Amir, Abdollahian, Israel, Israel’s, Jordan’s King Abdullah, Abdel Fattah el, Mahmoud Abbas, Sisi, King Abdullah, ” I’ve Organizations: Southern Lebanon CNN, Houthi, US, Israel, Gaza, White, Israeli, Hamas, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Islamic, Iranian, Ahli Baptist Hospital, Palestinian Locations: Southern Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Gaza, Iran, Israel, Tel Aviv, United States, Kuwait, Russia, Turkey, Islamic State, Aleppo, Damascus, Baghdad, it’s, Beirut, Vietnam, Afghanistan, East, Doha, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Egypt, Amman, Ahli, Al, Cairo

☆ Israel Shells Sites in Syria After Mortar Fire
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Israel Defense Forces said Tuesday it carried out artillery strikes in Syria after a number of mortars were launched toward northern Israel as fighting continued in the southern part of the country in the wake of Saturday's surprise attack by Hamas. Some of the mortars crossed into Israeli territory and fell in an open area, the IDF said. The mortars were launched by Iran-backed militias from near the Golan Heights, according to a Syrian security official. The United Arab Emirates has warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime not to intervene in the ongoing conflict or allow attacks on Israel.

Persons: Bashar al Organizations: Israel Defense Forces, United Arab Locations: Syria, Israel, Iran, United Arab Emirates

Thursday’s strike on the Homs Military Academy killed 89 people, including 31 women and five children, and wounded as many as 277, according to the health ministry. No group immediately claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack as Syria endures its 13th year of conflict that has killed half a million people. Syrian Defense Minister Gen. Ali Abbas was present Friday outside the hospital, where he comforted the families of victims. An opposition war monitor reported Thursday that Abbas had left the graduation ceremony shortly before the attack. The tide turned in Assad’s favor against rebel groups in 2015, when Russia provided key military backing to Syria, as well as Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Persons: —, Thursday’s, Syria’s, ”, Qader, Ibrahim Shaaban, Raneem, Mohammed, Rima, Hussein Quba, ” Shaaban, Bassam Mohammed, Ali Abbas, Abbas, Jaafar Mohammed, “, Bashar Assad’s, Bassem Mroue Organizations: Homs Military Academy, Syrian Civil Defense, Syrian Defense, Associated Press Locations: HOMS, Syria, Homs, Russia, Turkey, Russian, Idlib, Aleppo, Daret, Raneem Quba, Iran, Lebanese, Beirut

☆ Syria’s drug problem casts shadow over Assad’s rehabilitation
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Jordan was one of the biggest proponents of its rehabilitation, being one of the main victims of Syria’s drug trade, but it feels now that the regime is either unwilling or unable to clamp down on the trade. He blamed the lack of progress on normalization with Arab nations on the incompetence of Arab politics. Gulf states and Jordan routinely report drug busts, with massive amounts of the drug found in everything from building panels to baklava shipments. Assad may not have found a powerful enough incentive to give up his lucrative drug trade. Arab states may now find themselves backed into a corner.

Persons: Bashar al, Assad, Ayman al, Assad’s, Jordan, “ Jordan, “ Bashar, al, Jordan …, disgruntlement, Hossam Zaki, “, ” Zaki, Emile Hokayem, it’s, ” Hokayem, isn’t, ”, he’d, ” Hellyer, Safadi Organizations: CNN, Jordanian, Arab League, Al, Awsat, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Sky News, Hellyer, Carnegie Endowment, International, United Arab Locations: Syrian, Syria, Jordan, Captagon, Saudi, Damascus, London, United Arab Emirates

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The United Nations special envoy for Syria Sunday urged donors not to reduce their funding as the war-torn country's economic crisis spirals. Political Cartoons View All 1148 ImagesWith international donor support dwindling, U.N. agencies have been cutting programs due to budget cuts for years. “We cannot accept that funding for Syria is going down while the humanitarian needs are increasing,” Pedersen said. “For Syria without addressing the political consequences of this crisis, the deep economic crisis and humanitarian suffering will also continue,” Pedersen said. Meanwhile, Russia and Iran have tried to push Syria and Turkey to rekindle ties, the latter backing opposition groups in northwestern Syria.

Persons: Bashar Assad’s, Assad, Geir Pedersen, Faisal Mekdad, ” Pedersen, —, Pedersen, — Chehayeb Organizations: United Nations, Syria Sunday, Syrian Foreign, Arab League Locations: DAMASCUS, Syria, Sweida, Daraa, Russia, Iran, Damascus, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey, Beirut, Lebanon

☆ Rare protests flare in regime-held Syria as Assad seeks international rehabilitation
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Nadeen Ebrahim | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The protests, which are taking place in areas governed by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, have so far shown no signs of abating. The Druze are Syria’s third largest religious minority making up 3% to 4% of the country’s population, according to Minority Rights Group International. While the largest protests are clustered around al-Sir Square in Suwayda city, other, smaller ones are scattered across the governorate, Marouf said. “If protests spread deeper into regime territories, those chances (of violent crackdown) will surge.”All eyes are on Assad’s next moves. If Assad attends, it would be his first appearance on the world stage since the start of the civil war in 2011.

Persons: Bashar al, disgruntlement, Assad, haven’t, ”, Charles Lister, ” Lister, “ Long, ” Rayan Marouf, Marouf, “, ” Marouf, Hafez, Syria’s, Geir Pedersen, Pedersen Organizations: CNN, Group, Middle East Institute, UN, Arab League, Sir, UN Security Council, Sky News, ISIS, Security, United, United Arab Emirates Locations: Syria’s, Syria, Washington , DC, Russia, Iran, Suwayda governorate, Suwayda, Jaramana, Damascus, “, Idlib, Aleppo, United Arab, Dubai

* "Sedoi" is the nom de guerre of Andrei Troshev, a senior Wagner commander, according to European Union sanctions documents, French official documents, sources with knowledge of the matter and Russian media reports. * The EU described him as the "executive director (chief of staff) of the Wagner Group" in its 2021 document which also says he was a founding member of the group. "Andrei Troshev is directly involved in the military operations of the Wagner Group in Syria," the EU said. Britain also described him in its Syria sanctions documents as the chief executive of Wagner. Western sanctions documents list his date of birth as April 5, 1953.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Andrei Troshev, Wagner, France's, Dmitry Utkin, Troshev, Putin, Bashar al, of, Guy Faulconbridge, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Wagner Group, France's Treasury, Kommersant, Wagner, St, Red Star, Islamic State, Thomson Locations: MOSCOW, EU, Syria, Deir, Britain, Leningrad, Soviet, St Petersburg, Afghanistan, Soviet Union, North Caucasus, SOBR, Russian, of Russia, Palmyra, Utkin

CNN —Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed to Wagner Group fighters that a senior mercenary named Andrey Troshev now command the private military group, according to comments the Russian leader made to the Kommersant newspaper. Who is Andrey Troshev? “Andrey Troshev is directly involved in the military operations of the Wagner Group in Syria. Troshev is also associated with Wagner group commanders Aleksandr Sergeevich Kuznetsov and Andrey Bogatov. Members of Wagner group sit atop of a tank in a street in the city of Rostov-on-Don, on June 24, 2023.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Andrey Troshev, Putin, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, –, ‘, ” Putin, Troshev, “ Andrey Troshev, Bashar al, “ Andrey Nikolaevich Troshev, ”, Dimitriy Utkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich Kuznetsov, Andrey Bogatov, Roman Romokhov, Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko Organizations: CNN, Wagner Group, Kommersant, Prigozhin, Wagner, European Union, Soviet Union, Federal District, Red Star, Courage, Merit, Fatherland, Kremlin, Getty, Troshev, Belarusian Locations: Russian, France, Syria, Leningrad, Deir, United Kingdom, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Soviet Union, Rostov, AFP, Ukraine, Belarus, Belarusian, Russia, St . Petersburg

☆ Syria Authorizes U.N. Use of Border Crossing for Aid, Giving Itself Oversight
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Farnaz Fassihi | More About Farnaz Fassihi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Syria announced on Thursday that it would give state approval for the United Nations to deliver humanitarian aid into rebel-held northern areas through a contentious border crossing with Turkey, effectively giving President Bashar al-Assad’s government control over all aid deliveries to the northern areas of the country. Until two days ago, the U.N. and other international aid agencies had access to the Bab al-Hawa border crossing based on a 2014 mandate from the Security Council. Syria’s government abided by the resolution and was not involved in the aid deliveries, but attempts by the Council this week to extend the authorization failed. In a letter submitted to the United Nations and the Security Council, Syria said it would allow the United Nations access to the crossing for six months “in full cooperation and coordination” with the Syrian government. Aid agencies have said their convoys traveling inside the country between government-held territory and rebel-held areas face hurdles and slowed movement.

Persons: Bashar al, Bab Organizations: United Nations, Security, Security Council Locations: Syria, Turkey

☆ A Mutiny That Showed the Stress on Putin’s System of Rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Amanda Taub | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The events of the last few days, in which Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the head of a notorious private army called Wagner, mounted a brief rebellion against Russia’s military leadership, are not enough to answer that question. But they do suggest that Mr. Putin’s hold over the elite coalition that keeps him in power is under stress, with unpredictable consequences. A crucial coalitionEven though authoritarian leaders may appear to rule by fiat, they all rely on coalitions of powerful elites to stay in power, analysts say. The specifics vary by country and situation: Some count on the military, others on a single ruling party, the religious authorities, or wealthy business leaders. Even when a 2011 popular uprising turned into a bloody, protracted civil war, Mr. Assad’s supporters within the military kept him in power: The benefits of loyalty, to them, far outweighed the costs.

Persons: Vladimir V, Yevgeny V, Wagner, Putin’s, Bashar al, Assad’s Locations: Ukraine, Moscow, Syria

☆ As Assad’s Isolation Lifts, Syrian Refugees Fear Pressure to Return Home
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Raja Abdulrahim | Hwaida Saad | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Early one recent morning, Lebanese soldiers swept through the Bourj Hammoud neighborhood in Beirut, emptying two buildings of the Syrian refugees living in them. They forced them into trucks and drove them to a no-man’s land between the Lebanese and Syrian borders. After days stuck along the border, hundreds of refugees were taken by Syrian forces back to Syria. The family spent their first night back in Syria sleeping on the streets of the capital, Damascus. If the soldiers ever come back, Rasha vowed, she would die before being forced back to Syria again.

Persons: Rasha, ”, “, ‘, they’ve, ’ ”, Bashar al, Assad Locations: Beirut, Syria, Damascus, Lebanon, East

☆ Assad banks on new 'global order' to help revive his status
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Cnn Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

During his address, Assad presented himself as an elder statesman, lecturing his neighbors about the need to take advantage of changes in global politics. “Today we are faced with an opportunity of change in the global order, which has become multipolar due to the hegemony of the West, which is devoid of principles, morals, friends or partners,” Assad told the summit, held in the Saudi port city of Jeddah. But observers have differed as to whether real economic cooperation with Syria is possible without access to the Western financial system, which has been blocked by Western sanctions on the country. “They can also try working with or through Russia, and possibly with and through Iran – although that carries its own obvious risks,” he said, referring to Arab states that want to do business in Syia. There are plenty of ways of doing this.”Assad’s ultimate goal however, said Landis, is to get sanctions lifted with the help of Arab states.

We are not bound by the West’s sanctions,” Erdogan told CNN’s Becky Anderson. APBy contrast, Erdogan has doubled down on his relationship with Putin – and he thinks the West should follow suit. “This was possible because of our special relationship with President Putin,” he told CNN, referring to the grain deal. In his interview with CNN, Erdogan tackled another key flashpoint in Turkish tensions with the West: Sweden’s accession to NATO. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tells CNN's Becky Anderson, left, he expects voters who value stability and confidence to back him in the May 28 runoff vote.

☆ For Syrian refugees, Assad’s rehabilitation prompts fear of forced return
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Cnn Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

According to a 2022 UNHCR poll of Syrian refugees living in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, only 1.7% said they would return to Syria in the next 12 months. Even before Arab normalization with the Assad regime began, human rights organizations had repeatedly warned that Syrian refugees risked facing forced returns home amid concerns for their safety. Earlier this year, Denmark – which hosts more than 35,000 Syrian refugees – deemed more areas controlled by the Assad regime to be safe for return. “The further normalization goes, the deeper the pressure will be.”Alshogre worries for himself as well as other Syrian refugees. “If I am sent back to Syria, I will be cut into small pieces by the Syrian regime; I won’t make it out of the airport in Damascus.”

CNN —Saudi Arabia and Syria have resumed the work of diplomatic missions in both countries, according to state media, more than a decade after Riyadh cut ties over the Syrian government’s brutal handling of its civil war. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia decided to resume the work of its diplomatic mission in the Syrian Arab Republic,” the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported Tuesday. Damascus also announced the decision to resume work of its diplomatic mission in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, according to Syrian state media SANA, citing a statement from an official source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “Based on the deep bonds and common affiliation of the peoples of the Syrian Arab Republic and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and in confirmation of both communities’ wills, and based on the Syrian Arab Republic believe in the importance of strengthening bilateral relations between Arab countries to serve joint Arab action, The Syrian Arab Republic decided to resume the work of its diplomatic mission in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the statement reads. Officials and analysts have said that Syria’s re-admission into the Arab League, while symbolic, comes with the hope that it could pave the way for President Bashar Al Assad’s rehabilitation internationally, and potentially the removal of crippling sanctions against his regime.

CNN —The Arab League has re-admitted Syria after an 11-year absence, the organization said Sunday, following an extraordinary meeting at the Arab League’s headquarters in Cairo, Egypt. The Arab League is an organization of Middle Eastern and African countries and the Palestine Liberation Organization. Member states agreed during Sunday’s meeting to “resume the participation of the delegations of the government of the Syrian Arab Republic in the meetings of the Council of the League of Arab States,” according to an Arab League statement. The Arab League also stressed the need to take “practical and effective steps” to resolve the Syrian crisis, the statement added. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could participate in the upcoming Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia if he is invited and if he wants to attend, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit told journalists Sunday.

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