Opinion

Cleaved of its leverage, Iran will embrace chaos in Syria, with jihadists and smugglers waiting. Politics and investment will help stabilise Syria, and could offer Palestine hope. Up steps Riyadh

The wartime leader has just opted to bring independent anti-corruption bodies under his control, prompting thousands to protest on the streets of Kyiv. In Brussels and Moscow, they are watching.

The Palestinians are a minority in Israel, yet they are being bombed out of existence in Gaza. Odd, then, to see Israel bomb the Syrian government to defend the existence of another minority.

The president wants America's central bank to lower the interest rate so he can restructure the country's $37bn debt mountain, but the markets want him to leave the Federal Reserve alone.

Armed non-state actors in places like Iraq, Türkiye, Lebanon, Palestine, Yemen, and Syria are going to make-or-break the states in which they operate. Across the board, it is crunch time.

The Muslim Brotherhood was banned in April, but its political wing remains popular and restive. How will the state square that circle while enacting structural reforms and navigating crises nearby?

The past few days represent a watershed moment. For the central Damascus government, whose troops were bombed as they sought to quell the violence, this is make-or-break time.

Iran is suddenly showing Sasanian kings who defeated the Roman Empire alongside its commanders killed by Israel. It is not the first to reach for holy books and history books to rally a population.

Hundreds have been killed in a Druze-dominated area of southern Syria in the biggest test of President Ahmed al-Sharaa's short tenure. Another war is the last thing anyone needs.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa wants Beirut to transfer the roughly 170 Syrians in jails such as Roumieh. For years, Beirut wanted to do so, citing costs. Now, suddenly, there are obstacles.

Is talk of a new 'Greater Syria' loose, or loaded? Donald Trump's handpicked pro-Turkish diplomat proselytising on the new Middle East will know by now that his comments are being analysed.

A transitional government in Damascus has a gargantuan task, which is no less that the institutional rebuilding of the state. Currently, it is fighting fires and crisis managing. Where is the vision?