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☆ Washington wrestles with ‘new equation’ of direct attacks between Iran and Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Alex Marquardt | Katie Bo Lillis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Throughout the week, US officials had urged Israel not to retaliate for Iran’s unprecedented attack five days prior, when hundreds of missiles and drones were fired from inside Iran at Israel. US intelligence has long assessed that neither Iran nor Israel has any appetite for an outright war. Iranian officials have stated publicly that Iran’s policy toward Israel has changed. Then, on April 1, an Israeli strike on what Iran claims was an embassy in Syria killed seven officials, including two senior Iranian commanders. “Israel and Iran are going to be starting higher on the escalatory ladder for every future moment of conflict and that is incredibly dangerous,” said Panikoff.

Persons: Biden, ”, Hossein, Israel’s, CNN’s Erin Burnett, Israel, Bill Burns, George W, “, Frank McKenzie, ” McKenzie, Maher Al Mounes, Mohammed Reza Zahedi, Jonathan Panikoff, Seyyed Ali Khamenei, Khamenei, Karim Sadjadpour, Qassem Soleimani, Iran —, Iran messaged, Donald Trump, stridently, —, McKenzie Organizations: CNN, Israel, Iran, US, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, CIA, Bush Presidential Center, Iranian, US Central Command, Getty, Lebanese Hezbollah, Iran’s, Carnegie Endowmernt Locations: Washington, Israel, Iran, Tehran, ” Iran, Islamic Republic of Iran, Dallas, Syria, Syria's, Damascus, AFP, Lebanese, Iran’s, Iraq

☆ Iran and Israel dragged their shadow war out of the dark, and it's much more dangerous now
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Iran and Israel have fought a deadly shadow war for decades. The two enemies have relied on proxy forces, assassinations, and strikes abroad to hit each other. AdvertisementA decades-long shadow war between Iran and Israel has been thrust into broad daylight. Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel last weekend has notably changed the dynamics of this conflict, and it's now more dangerous. Any Israeli military response to the attack risks an all-out confrontation with Iran and could plunge the region into even more violence.

Persons: —, Alma al, KAWNAT HAJU, Jonathan Lord, Israel, MAHER, MOUNES, Israel —, Joseph Votel, Votel, Christophe Van Der Perre Israel, Josep Borrell, Maj, Hossein, Lord Organizations: Service, Hezbollah, Getty Images Israel, Pentagon, Business, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Getty, US Central Command, REUTERS Locations: Iran, Israel, Tehran, Lebanon, Hamas, Gaza, Lebanese, Alma, AFP, Iraq, Syria, Israel's, Hormuz, Iranian, Damascus, Syria's, Arad, Spanish

☆ Live updates: Israel-Hamas war, strike on Iran consulate in Syria
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Emergency and security personnel gather at the site of strikes, which hit a building next to the Iranian embassy, in Damascus, Syria, on Monday. Iranian authorities and state media named senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders Mohammed Reza Zahedi and Haji Rahimi among those killed. Israel's military said it does not comment on foreign reports, but its spokesperson said the consulate was a "military building of Quds forces disguised as a civilian building." The Quds Force is a unit of Iran's IRGC responsible for foreign operations. Here are the latest developments in the region:

Persons: Maher Al Mountes, Mohammed Reza Zahedi, Haji Rahimi Organizations: Getty, Islamic Revolutionary Guard, Quds Force Locations: Damascus, Syria, AFP, Iran, Gaza, Israel, Quds

Paris CNN —France has issued an arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the alleged use of banned chemical weapons against civilians in Syria, a judicial source told CNN on Wednesday. This is the first international arrest warrant against Assad. “All Interpol member states should then comply with the arrest warrant,” Chammas told CNN. “We have never used our chemical arsenal in our history,” Assad said in 2017. He added that “morally” the Syrian government would never do this “because it’s not acceptable.”

Persons: Bashar al, Assad, Maher al, Michael Chammas, ” Chammas, “, Mazen Darwish, ” Darwish, Hadi al Khatib, ” Assad, it’s, ” Organizations: Paris CNN —, CNN, Interpol, Syrian Centre for Media, Open Society Justice Initiative, Eastern Ghouta, Syrian Center for Media Locations: Paris CNN — France, Syria, Germany, Douma, Eastern, Ghouta, Damascus, France

☆ France issues arrest warrant against Syria's President Assad - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, Nov 15 (Reuters) - French judges have issued arrest warrants for Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher al-Assad, and two other senior officials over the use of banned chemical weapons against civilians in Syria, a judicial source said on Wednesday. It is the first international arrest warrant that has been issued for the Syrian head of state, whose forces responded to protests that began in 2011 with a brutal crackdown that U.N. experts have said amount to war crimes. It is the first time international arrest warrants have been issued over the chemical weapons attack in Ghouta in 2013, says Mazen Darwish, lawyer and founder of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), which filed the case in France. In October, French judges issued warrants for two former defence ministers over a 2017 bomb that killed a French-Syrian man at his home in Daraa. Reporting by Layli Foroudi and Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Richard LoughOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Bashar al, Assad, Maher al, Mazen Darwish, Darwish, Layli Foroudi, Dominique Vidalon, Benoit Van Overstraeten, Richard Lough Organizations: Eastern Ghouta, Syrian Center for Media, United Nations, Organisation, Chemical Weapons, Thomson Locations: Syria, Douma, Eastern, Syrian, Ghouta, France, Daraa

☆ Hamas militants were high on 'poor man's cocaine' during the October 7 terrorist attacks, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Nathan Rennolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Hamas militants were high on Captagon pills during the October 7 terrorist attacks, reports say. AdvertisementAdvertisementCaptagon pills fueled Hamas militants during the October 7 terrorist attacks, Israel's Channel 12 News reported. The drug, which is also known as "poor man's cocaine," is a highly addictive, synthetic stimulant that is widely consumed across the Middle East. On board, authorities discovered more than $100 million worth of cannabis and Captagon pills that had been hidden among sawdust, coffee, and spices. In 2021, data on seizures in the region valued the Captagon trade at $5.7 billion, per the FDD.

Persons: —, Bashar Assad's, Natalie Ecanow, Assad, Ecanow, captagon, David Adesnik, Bashar Assad, SANA, Maher Al Organizations: Militant, Service, IDF, West Bank, The, United, Hezbollah, Islamic State, American Chemical Society, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Arab, Research, Fourth Division Locations: Gaza, Israel, West Germany, Gulf, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Jordan, Latakia, Libya, Crete, Salerno, Naples, Italy, Syria's

☆ Mexico's Cemex in talks with banks over $3 bln debt refinancing -BBG
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The logo of Mexican cement maker CEMEX is pictured at it's plant in Monterrey, Mexico June 8, 2021. REUTERS/Daniel Becerril/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMEXICO CITY, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Mexican cement maker Cemex is in talks to refinance its entire $3 billion credit facility with banks, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing company executives. "We're in current discussions with our banks, because the biggest amount of debt that is maturing is bank debt," Chief Financial Officer Maher Al-Haffar was quoted as saying in an interview. A Cemex spokesperson pointed Reuters to prior earnings calls in which executives had discussed the potential of a refinancing. Last year, ratings agency S&P estimated that in 2023 and 2024, Cemex would face "debt maturities of less than $500 million," noting that the amount was "highly manageable."

Persons: Daniel Becerril, Maher Al, Haffar, Fernando Gonzalez, Fitch, Cemex, Gonzalez, Kylie Madry, Isabel Woodford, Richard Chang Organizations: REUTERS, Bloomberg, Mexico City, Thomson Locations: Monterrey, Mexico, MEXICO, Mexican, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Europe

☆ Analysis: Arabs bring Syria's Assad back into fold but want action on drugs trade
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Maya Gebeily | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

While denying any role in the trade, for which Syrian officials and Assad relatives have faced Western sanctions, Damascus has sought leverage from the issue. Hezbollah, which deployed fighters to Syria to aid Assad's war efforts, has denied any role in the drugs trade. Aided by Iran and Russia, Assad steadily beat back his rebel enemies, some of whom had support from U.S.-allied Arab states that have now restored ties. The Syrian source confirmed Riyadh had proposed a sum that would be paid as humanitarian aid, but could not say how much. "I would put ending the captagon trade right at the top alongside the other issues", she said.

☆ Arabs bring Syria's Assad back into fold but want action on drugs trade
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Maya Gebeily | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Hezbollah, which deployed fighters to Syria to aid Assad's war efforts, has denied any role in the drugs trade. Aided by Iran and Russia, Assad steadily beat back his rebel enemies, some of whom had support from U.S.-allied Arab states that have now restored ties. The United States, United Kingdom and European Union have all placed new sanctions on Damascus in recent weeks over captagon. The United States has said it will not normalize ties with Assad and its sanctions remain in full effect. "I would put ending the captagon trade right at the top alongside the other issues", she said.

☆ Captagon: the drug fuelling the Gulf party scene - and Syria's finances
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Curbing the captagon trade has become a key demand by Arab states seeking to restore ties with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, whose government is accused of benefiting from the trade. Intelligence sources based in the region say captagon is still produced in small factories along the Syrian-Lebanese border as well as larger ones closer to Syria's frontier with Jordan. The United States, the European Union and Britain have accused the Fourth Division and other Syrian officials of benefitting from the trade, but it is not clear to what extent, if any, it fills state coffers. FUELLING GULF PARTIES, AND ANGEROne of captagon's most lucrative markets is the Gulf region, where party scenes are flourishing, particularly in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Intercepted shipments of the drug are typically headed there, including a recent 10 million-pill transfer from Lebanon.

[1/5] Palestinians relatives of Sabreen Abu Jazar, who died when a boat carrying migrants sank offshore Greece, mourn in her family home in Gaza Strip March 3, 2023. After leaving Gaza in February, via Egypt, Sabreen flew to Turkey where she met her husband, who had migrated to Belgium years ago. "I celebrated her as a bride, now she's returned to me in a coffin," said her mother-in-law Buthayna Abu Jazar. In an effort to promote security along its Gaza border, Israel offers some 20,000 permits to allow Gazans to work in Israel. In Gaza, Hamas says a permanent solution for unemployment is beyond its ability alone.

☆ Bill Maher says Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker is an 'idiot' on 'a scale almost impossible to parody'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( Sarah Al-Arshani | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Bill Maher slammed Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker on Friday. Maher took aim at the candidate's recent scandals including one centered around Walker's former girlfriend's abortion. Maher took aim at several false statements made by Walker, who is running for Senate in Georgia, as well as allegations of violence against the former football player. "He's just a fucking idiot on a scale almost impossible to parody," Maher said on his show Real Time. Maher highlighted how Walker previously falsely claimed he was in the FBI, and a police officer.

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