Monthly Archives: December 2024

Burkina Faso junta appoints new prime minister

Muhamad Yehia OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso  —  Burkina Faso’s ruling military junta appointed a new prime minister, a day after dissolving the government without providing any reason. Rimtalba Jean Emmanuel Ouedraogo, until now communications minister and spokesperson of the government, will be the West African country’s new prime minister, junta leader Ibrahim …

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Prominent Lebanese figure meets Syrian insurgent who led Assad’s ouster, seeking better relations

Muhamad Yehia BEIRUT  — A prominent Lebanese politician held talks on Sunday with the insurgent who led the overthrow of Syria’s President Bashar Assad, with both expressing hope for a new era in relations. Druze leader Walid Jumblatt is the most important politician from Lebanon to visit Syria since the Assad …

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Israeli warplanes pound Syria as troops reportedly advance deeper into the country

Muhamad Yehia DAMASCUS, Syria — Israel carried out a wave of heavy airstrikes across Syria as its troops advanced deeper into the country, a Syrian opposition war monitor said Tuesday, and the Israeli defense minister announced that his forces had destroyed Syria’s navy. Israel acknowledged pushing into a buffer zone inside …

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Israeli warplanes pound Syria as troops reportedly advance deeper into the country

    Muhamad Yehia DAMASCUS, Syria  — Israel carried out a wave of heavy airstrikes across Syria as its troops advanced deeper into the country, a Syrian opposition war monitor said Tuesday, and the Israeli defense minister announced that his forces had destroyed Syria’s navy. Israel acknowledged pushing into a …

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Netanyahu says Israeli troops will occupy a buffer zone inside Syria for the foreseeable future

Muhamad Yehia JERUSALEM  — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israeli forces will stay in a buffer zone on the Syrian border, seized after the ouster of Syria’s President Bashar Assad, until another arrangement is in place “that ensures Israel’s security.” Netanyahu made the comments from the summit of Mount Hermon …

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Syrian villagers near the Golan Heights say Israeli forces are banning them from their fields

Muhamad Yehia Israeli forces have set up a position in an abandoned Syrian army base in the village of Maariyah and prevented local farmers from accessing their fields, residents said Thursday. Associated Press journalists who visited the area saw the Israeli troops from a distance and watched a local resident …

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Turkey calls for reconciliation between Syrian government and the opposition to end conflict

Muhamad Yehia ANKARA, Turkey  — The recent rapid advance by opposition fighters in Syria shows that Syrian President Bashar Assad must reconcile with his own people and hold talks with the opposition, the Turkish foreign minister said Monday. At a joint news conference in Ankara with his Iranian counterpart, Hakan …

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The warm Turkish welcome for refugees is ending and Syrians are worried

Muhamad Yehia GAZIANTEP, Turkey — Turkey gained renown as a haven for refugees by welcoming more than 3 million Syrians fleeing violence between forces from Bashar Assad ’s government and a patchwork of rebel groups. But the Syrian president’s ouster this month has led many in Turkey to argue that the refugees have no reason …

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Senegal demands answers as the West African country commemorates a French colonial massacre

Muhamad Yehia THIAROYE-SUR-MER, Senegal — Biram Senghor regularly pays his respects at a military cemetery in Thiaroye, a fishing village near Senegal’s capital Dakar, bowing in front of a different grave each time. The 86-year-old has no way of knowing which grave belongs to his father, M’Bap Senghor, one of …

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France’s military is being ousted from more African countries. Here’s why

Muhamad Yehia DAKAR, Senega — It’s been a tumultuous month for France and its relationship with former colonies in Africa, as its influence on the continent faces the biggest challenge in decades. As Paris was devising a new military strategy that would sharply reduce its permanent troop presence in Africa, …

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