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Syria's foreign minister visits Qatar as new authorities seek regional and global diplomatic ties

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  • Japan to give Indonesia high-speed patrol boats in security deal

    Japan will give Indonesia two high-speed patrol boats, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Saturday, as Tokyo seeks to boost regional maritime security cooperation in the face of competing territorial claims with China."We also agreed to... provide high-speed patrol boats through Official Security Assistance, which would be our first with Indonesia."  

  • Watch: Rachel Reeves and Chinese counterpart He Lifeng hold joint news conference after trade meeting

    Watch again as Rachel Reeves and her Chinese counterpart He Lifeng held a joint news conference on Saturday (11 January), following earlier trade meetings. The chancellor described her visit to Beijing as a “significant milestone” in Britain’s relationship with China as she met vice-premier He Lifeng. Ms Reeves said boosting trade and investment with China was “crucial” to achieving economic growth, but must not weaken national security.

  • Syria, Lebanon pledge 'long-term strategic relations' after Assad ouster

    Syria's new ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa and Lebanon's prime minister vowed on Saturday to build lasting ties after the fall of Bashar al-Assad. Sharaa said the new Syria would "stay at equal distance from all" in Lebanon, and "try to solve problems through negotiations and dialogue". Syria's new ruler and Lebanon's prime minister pledged on Saturday to build lasting ties during the first visit by a Lebanese head of government to Damascus since the start of the civil war in 2011.Prime Minister Najib Mi

  • Why Reeves ‘fled to China’ as bond markets fell into crisis

    Rachel Reeves has been accused of being “missing in action” after flying to Beijing on Thursday to meet with communist officials, despite turmoil in the UK bond market.

  • Israel's Netanyahu sends Mossad chief to Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sending the director of the Mossad foreign intelligence agency to ceasefire negotiations in Qatar.View on euronews

  • Saudi FM calls for lifting of international sanctions on Syria

    Saudi Arabia's foreign minister on Sunday called for the lifting of sanctions on Syria after meetings with top diplomats from the Middle East and Europe. This comes just a month after Islamist-led rebels toppled strongman Bashar al-Assad. "We stressed the importance of lifting unilateral and international sanctions imposed on Syria, as their continuation hinders the aspirations of the Syrian people to achieve development and reconstruction," Prince Faisal bin Farhan said after Sunday's talks con

  • Opinion - With Assad out of the way, will Iran choose realpolitik?

    Iran is at a crossroads — either embrace “realpolitik” through practical, realistic negotiations with the West or “roll the dice” in its quest to become a nuclear power.

  • Ambassadors to Israel join rally to demand Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal

    The protest comes on the same day that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was sending the director of the Mossad foreign intelligence agency to ceasefire talks in Doha.View on euronews

  • Reeves accused of abandoning principles over China in ‘delusional’ bid to save UK economy

    Exclusive: Former cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith said that the chancellor’s trip to Beijing was a desperate move ‘because she has trashed the economy’

  • Japan Foreign Minister Iwaya to attend Trump inauguration, sources say

    WASHINGTON/TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya will attend Donald Trump's inauguration as U.S. president on Jan. 20, ensuring that a high-ranking official from a key Asian ally is on hand for the event, two people familiar with the matter said. Iwaya was invited by Trump's camp to the launch of his second term and has accepted, the two people said, confirming Japanese media reports. He will be the first Japanese cabinet member to attend the swearing-in of a U.S. president, the Nikkei newspaper said.

  • Israel identifies body of hostage recovered from Gaza, days after father’s remains were found

    The Israeli military said Friday it had identified the body of a hostage recovered from a tunnel in southern Gaza as the son of Yosef Al-Ziyadnah, a hostage whose body was recovered earlier this week.

  • Ministers from 17 countries meet for Saudi talks on speeding aid to Damascus

    Riyadh meeting also discussed keeping pressure on Syria’s new leadership to meet commitment to inclusive transition

  • Syria, Lebanon pledge firm ties after years of tensions

    Syria's new ruler and Lebanon's prime minister pledged on Saturday to build lasting ties during the first visit by a Lebanese head of government to Damascus since the civil war started in 2011.Prime Minister Najib Mikati's trip came after Islamist-led rebels seized Damascus last month, bringing an end to the rule of Bashar al-Assad.Previous Lebanese governments refrained from visits to Syria amid tensions at home over militant group Hezbollah's support for Assad during the conflict.Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said he hoped to turn over a new leaf in relations, days after crisis-hit Lebanon finally elected a president this week following two years of deadlock."There will be long-term strategic relations between us and Lebanon. We and Lebanon have great shared interests," said Sharaa.It was time to "give the Syrian and Lebanese people a chance to build a positive relationship", he said, adding he hoped Joseph Aoun's presidency would usher in an era of stability in Lebanon.Sharaa said the new Syria would "stay at equal distance from all" in Lebanon, and "try to solve problems through negotiations and dialogue".Mikati said ties should be based on "mutual respect, equality and national sovereignty".The new authorities in Syria also said Sharaa had phoned Aoun to congratulate him Saturday.- Syrian refugees -Syria was the dominant power in Lebanon for three decades under the Assad family, with president Hafez al-Assad intervening in its 1975-1990 civil war and his son Bashar al-Assad only withdrawing Syria's troops in 2005 following mass protests triggered by the assassination of Lebanese ex-prime minister Rafic Hariri.After mending ties with Damascus, his son Saad Hariri was the last Lebanese premier to visit the Syrian capital in 2010 before the civil war.Taking office on Thursday, Aoun swore he would seize the "historic opportunity to start serious... dialogue with the Syrian state".With Hezbollah weakened after two months of full-scale war with Israel late last year and Assad now gone, Syrian and Lebanese leaders seem eager to work to solve long-pending issues.Among them is the presence of some two million Syrian refugees Lebanon says have sought shelter there since Syria's war started.Their return to Syria had become "an urgent matter in the interest of both countries", Mikati said.Lebanese authorities have long complained that hosting so many Syrians has become a burden for the tiny Mediterranean country which since 2019 has been wracked by its worst-ever economic crisis.Mikati also said it was a priority "to draw up the land and sea borders between Lebanon and Syria", calling for creation of a joint committee to discuss the matter.Under Assad, Syria repeatedly refused to delimit its borders with its neighbour.Lebanon has hoped to draw the maritime border so it can begin offshore gas extraction after reaching a similar agreement with Israel in 2022.- 'Smuggling' -The Lebanese premier said both sides had stressed the need for "complete control of (land) borders, especially over illicit border points, to stem smuggling".Syria shares a 330-kilometre (205-mile) border with Syria with no official demarcation at several points, making it porous and prone to smuggling.Syria imposed new restrictions on the entry of Lebanese citizens last week, following what Lebanon's army said was a border skirmish with unnamed armed Syrians.Lebanese nationals had previously been allowed into Syria without a visa.Several foreign dignitaries have headed to Damascus in recent weeks to meet the new leaders, with a delegation from Oman also in town earlier Saturday.Unlike other Arab Gulf states, Oman never severed diplomatic ties with Assad during the war.Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani visited Damascus on Friday, while France's Jean-Noel Barrot and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock did last week.Shaibani has visited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan this month, and said Friday he would head to Europe soon.Syria's war has killed more than half a million people and ravaged the country's economy since starting in 2011 with the brutal crackdown of anti-Assad protests.bur-jj/mlm

  • EU ministers will consider easing sanctions on Syria at a meeting later in January

    European Union foreign ministers will meet in late January to discuss easing sanctions imposed on Syria, the bloc's foreign policy chief said Sunday. Kaja Kallas' comments came at a gathering of top European and Middle Eastern diplomats in the Saudi capital of Riyadh to discuss Syria’s future.

  • Just Over A Year After Splitting From His Wife Of Almost 3 Decades, Hugh Jackman Was Photographed Holding Hands With His Ex-Broadway Costar Sutton Foster

    Hugh and Deborra split after 27 years of marriage in September 2023, while Sutton filed for divorce from her husband of 10 years in October 2024.

  • I Was A Virgin At 59. I Chose A Controversial Way To Have Sex — And I Couldn't Be Happier.

    "Before I knew it, I was undressed, and for the first time in my life, I enjoyed a sensual experience."

  • Premier League footballer arrested after claim he filmed ‘sex tape’ without consent

    A Premier League footballer was arrested at his training ground after a complaint was made that he recorded a “sex tape” without a woman’s consent.

  • We tried Singapore’s worst-rated claypot rice

    The post We tried Singapore’s worst-rated claypot rice appeared first on SETHLUI.com.

  • Princess Kate is daughter Charlotte's double in unearthed baby photo

    Prince William's wife the Princess of Wales was her daughter Princess Charlotte's double in an unearthed baby photo with Carole Middleton

  • NATO allies worry the US can't defend Europe and counter China, but there's a way

    China's growing threat may leave the US military less focused on defending its NATO allies in Europe. But a new study argues how the US can do both.