The US approved foreign fighters to be incorporated into the new Syrian army. A wise choice considering that most nations don't want them back, and the alternative would be to give ISIS a new recruitment pool. See article below 👇 However, Timour Azhari has only scratched the

"We don't want to leave, #Syria is our country." A sentence, frequently used by Christians in Syria. Yet, many are silently sceptical when it comes to their future. Reporting from Damascus with Rena Netjes [email protected] for DOMRADIO.DE domradio.de/artikel/christ…

Between: "What idiot wants to return to this Syria?" and: "Now is the best time: Anyone who invests in #Syria now can gain a lot." Syria after the lifting of sanctions 👉 welt.de/politik/auslan… (with Rena Netjes [email protected] for WELT )

Iraq: US Embassy prepares to leave. Bahrain and Kuwait: US State Department allowed staff + family members to leave the countries.

An in-depth report by Marion Sendker and myself on the aid provided by Syrian churches in light of the reconstruction of Syria, in Damascus, Sahnaya, Jdeidet Artouz and Homs for Deutschlandfunk Auf Deutsch. deutschlandfunk.de/kirchliche-hil…

𝗦𝘆𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗶𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗨𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝟯 𝗣𝗠 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆; 𝗥𝗲𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 President of Syrian Civil Aviation Authority, Ashhad Al-Sulaibi: 📌 Syrian airspace closed until 3 PM Damascus time today. Safety measure

Erdogan on Israel: “As of this morning, Israel has taken its strategy of drowning our region, especially Gaza, in blood, tears and instability to a very dangerous stage. • Netanyahu is trying to drag our region and the entire world into disaster with its reckless, aggressive

NEW - #Iran suicide drone just landed in a residential area of al-Sanamayn in #Daraa, triggering intense fires. At least one Syrian has been killed & others injured, homes damaged/destroyed due to intercepted Iranian projectiles falling across #Syria over the past 2.5 days.

People trying to recover (jet) fuel from one of the tanks dropped by an Israeli warplane in the Syrian desert amidst attacks on Iran.

Do Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz & Johann Wadephul know that Germany has as good as nothing to say (except for big trade relations) in the Middle East? Devaluing international law, using undiplomatic and questionable terms ("Israel is doing the dirty work for us") does not help.

NEW: First ever official working visit today to #Turkiye by Armenian leader in decades Armenian PM Pashinyan in Istanbul to meet Pres Erdoğan. Turkish readout says: - importance of #Armenia-Azerbaijan peace talks underlined - Discussed more steps btw Armenia + Turkiye 🇹🇷🇦🇲 🇦🇿

The US have bombed 3 nuclear sites in #Iran (Fordow, Natanz + Esfahan), says Donald J. Trump : "Now is the time for peace." And: "Remember, there are many targets left. If peace doesn't come quickly, we'll go after those targets with precision speed + skill."

Suicide bombing from ISIS at a Damascus church kills at least 15 people. Locals say, at least one person into the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighbourhood (western outskirts), where people were praying, opened fire with a machine gun, then detonated. #Syria

🇩🇪FM Johann Wadephul demands a "policy of reconciliation" after at least 25 people got killed in a terrorist attack on a church in #Syria Does he want the interim gov. to reconcile with jihadists or does he imply the gov. has something to do with the attack? 👉domradio.de/artikel/christ…

Iran's Supreme National Security Council in a recent statement, after missile attack on a military base in #Qatar : "This action did not pose any threat to our friendly and brotherly country, Qatar, and its noble people." Yet, technically ⬇️

"We will be careful about gathering in public, of course Christians, and even other parts of society, have become afraid, ISIS is in our cities" Angst und Mistauen - Christliche Bürgerwehren in Syrien By Marion Sendker and myself for Deutschlandfunk deutschlandfunk.de/angst-und-miss…

Deutsch-syrische Heraldik: Das neue Wappen des syrischen Präsidenten (14 Federn für die 14 Gouvernorate) sieht dem Bundesadler schon deutlich ähnlicher als dem klassischen Saladinsadler. In irgendeinem Reiseführer wird später sicher stehen, dass das A.Merkel zu verdanken ist.

Turkish police detains Antalya, Adana and Adiyaman mayors this morning on on suspicion of extortion and bribery. Adana and Antalya are pretty large cities. They are all main opposition CHP affiliated politicians.

🇹🇷authorities launched an investigation into Spotify Türkiye for "anti-competitive practices". Dep. minister of culture supports legal action over "provocative" playlists (offensive to the president’s wife + disrespectful of Islam). Spotify denies claims, but open to cooperate.

This is HUGE! The US has just made public a decision to revoke its designation of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, aka, Al-Nusra Front, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. We all knew that Assad-related sanctions are on their way to being lifted, but never did I think that terrorism