Syria

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Washington Needs to Give Obama His Due
Washington Needs to Give Obama His Due
OPINION
Mar 15, 2009 2:07 PM CDT

Washington Needs to Give Obama His Due

Pundits too often advocate outdated 'imperial policy'

(Newser) - You just can’t please the Washington establishment, Fareed Zakaria observes in Newsweek. Beltway pundits almost universally blasted former President Bush’s foreign policy as arrogant and incompetent. But now that President Obama is charting a decidedly different course—closing Guantanamo, nixing torture, and signaling openness to talks with Syria,...

US Talks With Syria; Obama to Visit Turkey

(Newser) - Talks are underway between two US representatives and Syrian officials in Damascus, Hillary Clinton said today. The officials arrived in the capital today and sat down with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem. Jeffrey Feltman, the top State Department envoy on the Mideast, said the conversation was "very constructive,"...

Clinton Visits West Bank, Names Syrian Envoys

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton met separately with the Palestinian president and prime minister in the West Bank today, after sitting down with Israeli leaders yesterday, and announcing the appointment of two senior envoys to Syria. Palestinian leaders implored Clinton to push for a freeze on expanding Israeli West Bank settlements, and open...

Clinton Signals Engagement With Syria

(Newser) - In a signal likely to be parsed all over the Middle East, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton shook hands and shared “very pleasant” words today in Egypt with her Syrian counterpart, the Times reports, a meeting that did not likely happen by accident. Some think the US could try...

Slate Scribe Gets in Syrian Street Brawl

Hitchens, two others jumped during junket

(Newser) - Three journalists—including columnist and author Christopher Hitchens—were jumped by thugs during a press junket in Beirut, reports Lawrence Osborne in a column for Forbes. Hitchens “rather gallantly insulted the swastika flag” of a “Syria-loving skinhead party called the SSNP” by scrawling an obscenity on it. He...

Hamas Down But Not Out: Israel
 Hamas Down But Not Out: Israel
Jan 13, 2009 3:11 PM CST

Hamas Down But Not Out: Israel

Rift between Syrian, Gazan wings of Hamas hamper negotiations

(Newser) - Hamas forces in Gaza have been damaged but remain intact enough to fight on, Israeli officials told the New York Times. The onslaught of Israeli airstrikes and ground attacks has shaken the Hamas network, with some groups fighting randomly without coordination from senior leadership. Infrastructure in Gaza has taken several...

Arab States Cancel New Year's Festivities

Celebrations halted in solidarity with Gaza

(Newser) - Dubai's ruler has canceled its ritzy public New Year's Eve celebrations "in solidarity with the Palestinian people" in Gaza, the Times of London reports. Festivities also were called off in Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. In Dubai, residents and tourists scrambled to come up with alternative plans. "We...

Syria Eyes a New Start With America
Syria Eyes a New Start With America
Dec 24, 2008 10:04 AM CST

Syria Eyes a New Start With America

President Assad moots direct talks with Israel, strategic pact

(Newser) - After years of frosty relations with George W Bush, the president of Syria is looking for a new diplomatic start with Barack Obama in 2009. In an interview with Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, Bashar al-Assad says he is willing to work with the United States to stabilize Iraq, and...

Israel Target in Syria Likely Nuclear Site: UN

Uranium, site features could be remnants of reactor

(Newser) - The Syrian facility Israel bombed last year looks a lot like a nuclear reactor, UN inspectors said today, though they stopped short of calling it one. The independent investigation found manipulated uranium and features like large cooling pumps that are hallmarks of a nuclear site, the Washington Post reports. Syria...

DNA Study: Ancient Phoenicians Still With Us

Phoenician blood in North Africa, MidEast

(Newser) - The Phoenicians may have disappeared as a distinct society a few thousand years ago, but it turns out their imprint remains very much alive today. Genetic researchers have discovered the DNA of the seafaring civilization in the blood of men—as many as 1 in 17— who live today in...

US: Attack Was 'Warning' to Jihadist-Friendly Syria

Damascus closes American school, cultural center

(Newser) - The US says its attack Sunday on a Syrian village was a warning to Damascus to take more action against Iraq-bound militants. “We are left with no choice but to take matters into our own hands,” an official tells the Times of London. Washington recently praised Syria for...

US Says Raid in Syria Killed Iraqi Militant

Administration defends cross-border operation as self-defense

(Newser) - Special forces carried out a secret raid in Syrian territory Sunday to kill an Iraqi militant, the US acknowledged yesterday. About two dozen American commandos swooped into a village on the Iraq-Syria border and fought a brief gun battle. While Syria condemned the raid as "terrorist aggression," top...

US Strike 'Serious Aggression': Syria
 US Strike 'Serious 
 Aggression': Syria 
updated
Oct 26, 2008 4:36 PM CDT

US Strike 'Serious Aggression': Syria

US yet to respond to claim

(Newser) - US military helicopters launched an extremely rare attack today on Syrian territory close to the border with Iraq, killing eight people in a strike the government in Damascus condemned as "serious aggression." A US military official said the raid by special forces targeted the foreign fighter network that...

Syria Formalizes Lebanon Ties
 Syria Formalizes Lebanon Ties 
Oct 14, 2008 3:12 PM CDT

Syria Formalizes Lebanon Ties

Damascus hopes symbolic gesture eases international pressure

(Newser) - Syria today established formal diplomatic relations with Lebanon for the first time since the nations won independence in the 1940s, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Bashir al-Assad’s regime sent its first-ever ambassador to Iraq yesterday, moves one expert says show Syria “wants to play ball with the world....

Syria Car Bomb Kills 17
 Syria Car Bomb Kills 17 
Sep 27, 2008 8:49 AM CDT

Syria Car Bomb Kills 17

14 wounded in blast near Damascus airport, temple

(Newser) - A car bomb on the road to Syria’s main airport killed at least 17 passers-by and injured 14 others, the Daily Telegraph reports. The car, at an intersection in the country’s capital, Damascus, had held 440 lbs of explosives; the target of the bomb, which exploded near a...

Russian Warships Head to Venezuela for 'Training'

Chavez says coordinated exercise is 'warning' to US

(Newser) - Russian warships left this morning for coordinated training exercises with the Venezuelan navy, the AFP reports. The group, consisting of a nuclear-powered guided-missile cruiser, anti-submarine ship, and supporting craft, were seen firing artillery on the open ocean in tests. Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said the deployment was a “warning”...

Tit for Tat? Russia Could Station Missiles in Syria

Moscow could regain Mediterranean naval base—and key Cold War relationship

(Newser) - Syria could host batteries of Russian missiles in return for Russian military technology and the reopening of a Soviet-era naval base on its Mediterranean coast, the Times of London reports. President Bashar al-Assad flew to Moscow today to discuss a deal, which may be Russia’s response to the US-Poland...

Iran Refuses to Cede Nuclear Rights
Iran Refuses to Cede Nuclear Rights
Aug 3, 2008 12:49 PM CDT

Iran Refuses to Cede Nuclear Rights

President rejects deadline for halting uranium enrichment

(Newser) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected an informal deadline from the UN Security Council to halt its uranium enrichment program, the AP reports. In talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Ahmadinejad refused to cede "a single iota of its nuclear rights" despite threats of more sanctions. Tehran maintains its nuclear program is...

Barack: Don't Tell Europe What It Wants to Hear

Careful change is what Europe wants to believe in

(Newser) - The vast majority of Europeans are hoping Barack Obama will be elected president, according to polls that give him as much as 86% support among voters in France, Britain, and Germany. The overwhelming support reflects a hope for a new era of unity with the US, writes Roger Cohen in...

New Mediterranean Union Eyes Mideast Peace

'Gesture of peace' launches new 43-nation group

(Newser) - The inaugural meeting yesterday of the Union of the Mediterranean, which brought together the 27 EU countries and their neighbors to the south, kicked off discussions about a number of mutual projects. But French President Nicolas Sarkozy used it as an opportunity to flex some diplomatic muscle by bringing Syrian...

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