In the chaos following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, looting on a massive scale hit Syria’s armories. Tens of thousands of small arms and light weapons flowed into the hands of civilians, criminals, and armed groups in a country which already had a thriving illicit arms …

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said Sunday his group would not surrender or lay down its weapons in response to Israeli threats, despite pressure on the Lebanese militants to disarm. His speech came ahead of a visit expected Monday by US envoy Thomas Barrack during which Lebanese authorities are due to …

Hamas and Israel were resuming talks in Qatar on Monday, a Palestinian official said, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travelled to Washington to meet President Donald Trump, who has pushed for a “deal this week” between the foes. The latest round of negotiations on the war in Gaza began on …

The U.S. dollar is tumbling as President Donald Trump’s economic agenda—at the executive and legislative level—takes full shape. Economists told Newsweek this could advance Trump’s goal of promoting American goods in foreign markets and strengthening exports, but warn that a weakened dollar comes with significant downsides, including the jeopardization of …

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Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin’s three-year war against Ukraine has battered the Russian Black Sea Fleet (BSF). Ukrainian successes have largely forced the fleet to abandon its traditional Sevastopol base in Crimea for safer anchorage in the Sea of Azov and Novorossiysk on the Black Sea’s eastern coast (see EDM, November …

In the aftermath of the coordinated United States (US)-Israel airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the Islamic Parliament of Iran passed a resolution recommending a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz—a 32-kilometre-wide passageway between Iran and Oman that opens in the Arabian Sea. Although the final decision rests with Iran’s Supreme …

Agents from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) raided the independent cultural space Revolt Center in Syktyvkar, the capital of the Komi Republic, on Tuesday morning. According to the Telegram channel Novaya Respublika, officers also searched the homes of the center’s staff, “from managers to baristas.” The raids are reportedly linked …

Roman Starovoit, Russia’s former transport minister, was officially dismissed from his post on July 7. That very evening, news broke that he had died by suicide. Investigators say his body was found with a gunshot wound inside his personal vehicle in the Moscow region. Before his appointment to the Transport …

US air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities have upended the already tense standoff between Tehran, Washington, and Israel, raising urgent questions about what comes next — and just how far Iran might go in its retaliation. Tehran faces the difficult task of crafting a response that is neither too weak …