Also worth noting that Trump’s 60-day deadline for Iran to reach a nuclear deal expired on Wednesday. If there’s no deal by then, “there will be bombing” Trump said back in April. He didn’t say it would be US bombing.

The US has authorized the departure of dependents & non-essential personnel from embassies and bases within striking distance of Iran amid fears that Israel will soon attack Iran. “We think it’s more serious than any time in the past” a diplomat told the Post www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

UPDATE: • US evacuating personnel in Iraq • Pentagon authorizing departure of military dependents ACROSS Middle East • < 24hrs after Iran threat to hit US bases • Trump losing confidence in deal • Israel-Yemen escalation • Talks in Oman Sunday www.al-monitor.com/originals/20...

One-stop-shop article by @lizsly.bsky.social on #Lebanon and #Hezbollah very much worth reading. ⬇️ via @economist.com. www.economist.com/1843/2025/05...

Great article by @lizsly.bsky.social covering the rise, fall and transformation of Hizbullah www.economist.com/1843/2025/05...

My long read on the rise, fall & contested future of Hezbollah, and what it all means for Lebanon. With huge thanks to @abbiefs.bsky.social www.economist.com/1843/2025/05...

The Daily Mail complaining that immigrants have not the English too well. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

If you want something absolutely horrifying to read on a Sunday morning, this is it. I think crypto is a scam, but when criminal gangs get involved and target family members it should be alarming for everyone.

"Hizbullah gaslit us!" Supporters are cursing it, opponents sense an opportunity. @lizsly.bsky.social profiles the most successful militia in the world as it hits an existential crossroad www.economist.com/1843/2025/05...

Incredible scenes in Syria as people celebrate the surprise lifting of US sanctions, the chief impediment to recovery after the fall of Assad. “There were fireworks over Damascus, and people danced in the streets.” Over to the Syrians. By @leloveluck www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Three months after Assad’s fall Syrians are still unearthing new horrors. The latest: bodies in the basements of buildings in towns reconquered by the regime. Chilling reporting by @leloveluck & Zakaria Zakaria with amazing photos by @salwangeorges www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Debra Tice says Trump’s team has already reached out to offer help to find her son Austin, missing in Syria since 2012. “I haven’t experienced that for the last four years” she told journalists in Damascus, a dig at Biden. By @leloveluck www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

Debra Tice, mother of missing U.S. journalist Austin Tice, has arrived in Beirut en route to Syria to join in the search for him. Let’s hope that he will soon be found now that Assad has gone

Danish officials are being warned by Trump advisers & allies that he is “much more serious” about acquiring Greenland than he was in his first term. This time, the threat can’t be dismissed https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/08/politics/danish-officials-trump-greenland/index.html

Israel says it needs to prepare for a potential war with Turkey & sees the new Sunni government in Syria as potentially a “greater threat” than Iran. Israel needs a policy of “eliminating threats entirely and maximising response”. Setting up the region for endless wars

Reflections from Syria. Very briefly, for now. Lots more to come in the days/weeks ahead. Three things are happening at once: 1/ The joy, relief, and miracle of it all. 2/ The huge grief and horror.  3/ The uncertainty, complexity, and huge work ahead.

It's been two weeks since the Assad regime fell, and in Syria, the scale and pace of the change has been dizzying. Here's a thread of some of our @washingtonpost.com coverage: 🧵

@lizsly.bsky.social on the dangers of growing outsider posturing to have a say in Syria's future wapo.st/4ffuszH

"That he had survived all this time under the terrible conditions only to be killed at the very end is one of the hardest things for his friends to bear... [But] he died a hero" Sarah Afshar on death of Syrian activist Mazen al-Hamada. By @lizsly.bsky.social: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...

The joy felt by millions of Syrians at Assad’s departure has been tempered by the realization that most of the estimated 100,000 people who went missing in the gulag of his prison system will probably never return. — @lizsly.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...

Mazen al-Hamada told the world about the horrors of Assad’s prisons & the torture he suffered. No one listened & now he is dead, under torture in the last hours of Assad’s regime www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...

I assume lots of reporters will be in Syria soon. There will be lots of interest in stories about people released from Assad's torture houses. Hacks: Please consider the extreme trauma such people have gone through. Talk to trauma specialists before you go. Don't add to trauma to fill your quota.

Assad’s fall was swift & unexpected, stunning a world that had come to accept his survival. But with hindsight it wasn’t so surprising. He miscalculated, refused to compromise and relied solely on brute force to survive (plus Russia & Iran) www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...

There’s only one way to wrap up today’s momentous events: -The rebels have reached Damascus -Government soldiers are abandoning their posts -The Assad regime is effectively gone, it can only be a matter of hours -A new Syria is being born, for better or worse

Iran has begun evacuating its military personnel from Syria. “We cannot fight as an advisory and support force if Syria’s army itself does not want to fight.” Even Assad’s staunchest ally is giving up on him www.nytimes.com/2024/12/06/w...

The Syrian rebels have taken Hama. The Syrian army announced its withdrawal. This is momentous. The next city is Homs. After that, Damascus. www.reuters.com/world/middle...

This map shows recent developments in north-west Syria.

Syria’s rebels reorganized, rearmed & seized the moment of maximum weakness among Syria’s allies. Iran is “the weakest it’s been in decades.” Hezbollah too. Russia is preoccupied in Ukraine. By @leloveluck @kfahim & @sgreports www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...

Events are moving fast in Syria: -The rebels have reached Hama, a day after taking Aleppo -Protests & attacks reported around Syria -Rumors of gunfights in Damascus -Assad surfaces to call Iraq’s PM. Asking for militia help? -Russia has fired the top general in Syria -Iran’s FM due in Damascus Sun

Simply astonishing advances by Syrian rebels into Aleppo city. They’ve reached parts of the city they couldn’t take in 4 years of fighting a decade ago. It goes to show how much the Assad regime depended on Hezbollah and Iran for its survival.

Brand new to following Syria? Followed back in the day but need a refresher? Bored this weekend? Have I got a thread for you. Much of this will rely on @frontlinepbs.bsky.social's phenomenal coverage of the conflict. First up: www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontli...

With winter approaching and storms rippling through the region, a look at the worsening living conditions for tens of thousands of displaced Gazans. @nbcnews @hallieonnbc with @brionysowden.nbcnews and our indefatigable teams in Gaza. www.nbcnews.com/now/video/ra...

Iraq has banned alcohol again - but this time it seems pretty serious. Even private clubs like Alwiyah & the Hunting Club have shut their bars, and so have hotels. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...

Criminal gangs that are rivals to Hamas are stealing much of the already meagre aid reaching Gaza. Israel appears to be turning a blind eye, giving the gangs “passive, if not active benevolence” according to an internal UN memo www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/1...

👋🏽 Some FP journalists/Middle East voices here @halagorani.bsky.social @lizsly.bsky.social @natansachs.bsky.social @libyaliberty.bsky.social @leahmcelrath.bsky.social @lkrozen.bsky.social @leloveluck.bsky.social @hdagres.bsky.social @acarvin.bsky.social @annettef24.bsky.social Worth FF

This is such a heartbreaking story about the children injured by air strikes in Israel’s war on Lebanon, beautifully written by @seldeeb.bsky.social apnews.com/article/92c8...

“Russia has lost nearly half the combat effectiveness of its army,” Radakin said. “Last year it fired 10mn artillery shells but at best can produce 1mn shells a year. It has lost 2,500 tanks and at best can produce 200 [new] tanks a year,” he said.