An Islamic State operative infiltrated Syria's security set-up and waited until he was with American soldiers. The assault requires an urgent reassessment of personnel and recruitment in Damascus.

Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will go off what his opposite number in Damascus does, not what he says. In the meantime, Israeli actions make a genuine peace more difficult.

France and Germany are quietly rebuilding troop numbers, fearful that the United States and Türkiye will not fight Russia when push comes to shove. Others may follow.

To the surprise of many, Syria's interim president has neither removed Assad-era staff nor sought revenge on his key lieutenants. It has helped stop Syria from fragmenting.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks presidential clemency in the face of incarceration and political oblivion

Sudan's army needs a Russian lifeline to avoid collapse in the ongoing civil war. The price is a naval facility in Port Sudan, giving Moscow access to the Red Sea.

The Gulf states are showing that their security is indivisible and that they will pursue their defence from any that offer it, creating a new 'strategic autonomy' borne of the Trump era.

The experienced French envoy had front-row seats as relations between Beijing and Moscow blossomed, but as she recalls from her days studying in China: it wasn't always so.

There are signs that a new Pacific-Atlantic trade corridor financed by Beijing to bypass any US naval blockade of the Panama Canal will reorient Latin America towards Asia.

Gone are the days when Washington could wax lyrical about democracy while toppling governments and supporting authoritarians. With Venezuela and others, it needs a new playbook.