Antoine Khoury

The Syrian army began shelling Kurdish-held neighborhoods in northern Aleppo on Wednesday, following the expiration of a deadline given to residents to evacuate the area.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is set to visit Beirut on Saturday, according to Saudi channel al-Hadath and confirmed by a diplomatic source to L'Orient-Le Jour, as Lebanon attempts to recalibrate its relationship with Tehran.

Mastercard has granted Qatar’s QNB Group a license to expand card issuing and acquiring services in Syria, allowing the bank to offer Mastercard payment solutions to individuals and businesses locally and internationally.

Three rockets struck the Damascus district of Mazzeh on Saturday, landing near a military airport and damaging a mosque and a telecommunications building, according to a statement by city authorities.

Several pro-Iranian terrorist groups, led by Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, on Saturday condemned a U.S. operation carried out overnight in Venezuela, which reportedly involved strikes in the capital and the capture and evacuation of President Nicolás Maduro.

The Israel Defense Forces carried out a new incursion into Lebanese territory during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, advancing roughly 600 meters beyond the border. 

Ahmad Ali Chokr, a former officer of Lebanon’s General Security, has not been seen for the past ten days, according to Lebanese judicial and security sources. 

Lebanon’s cabinet on Friday approved a long-awaited draft law aimed at tackling the financial crisis that has paralysed the country’s economy for nearly six years, pushing it forward despite fierce resistance from political parties, banks and depositors.

The Christian community of Damascus, still mourning a suicide bombing that killed 25 people in June, is celebrating Christmas under heavy security as uncertainty looms over Syria’s political future.

After meeting with the US ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, Kataëb leader Samy Gemayel said Monday that the next phase of the Lebanese army’s disarmament plan represents a “double test” — one for Hezbollah and another for the Lebanese state.

The United States carried out large-scale military strikes against more than 70 Islamic State targets across central Syria on Friday, U.S. officials said, in response to a recent attack that killed American personnel.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry on Friday welcomed the permanent lifting of U.S. sanctions, calling the move a key step toward rebuilding a country devastated by more than a decade of civil war.