Worldcrunch
Kinshasa is suing Apple in France and Belgium for “complicity” in the use of rare minerals pillaged by armed groups to build their products. Apple denies the accusations and guarantees traceability, but the case highlights the fragile balance of power in Silicon Valley’s global supply chains.
Replacing the dominant roles of Russia and Iran exerting influence over Syria, following the downfall of President Bashar al-Assad, Turkey and Israel are best positioned to divide up their respective roles on the territory of the shared neighbor.
Israel’s decimation of Iran’s proxies in Gaza and Lebanon, and now events in Syria, have shown the Tehran regime is far weaker than it had wanted the world and its neighbors to believe. The Supreme Leader is now scrambling to rationalize it all, as the Islamic Republic clings to power.
The unprecedented assassination of the head of the Russian army’s chemical weapons division is an act of war that is hard for Ukraine’s allies to defend. Still, Ukrainians can’t be faulted for fighting for the nation’s very existence, especially as the West shows signs of slowing down its support.
Syria is the latest in a series of Indian foreign policy disasters. But can the government’s clear lack of vision on that front explain the flagrant haplessness of the Indian state on the global stage?
The Middle East needs a vision that emanates from the region itself, and includes clear reassurances to all parties.
Here, the opportunity appears for Egypt, which can play a vital role in helping neighboring countries shape this vision, after the Middle East that we knew since the Cold War has gone forever.
The Chancellor has lost the voters’ trust—and his finger-pointing and failure to take responsibility only deepens the damage. The fallout will be felt far beyond his own tenure and may weigh on Germany for years to come.
Amman and its allies, much like the skeptical secular Syrian opposition, await tangible actions on the ground to match the promises of pragmatist rhetoric from Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, who is marketing himself as a statesman committed to building an inclusive new Syria that’s a good neighbor after abandoning extremist ideologies.
Bashar al-Assad’s fall raises short-term questions about the fate of Russian generals sent to Syria after failures in Ukraine, but also deeper reflections on Moscow’s war on multiple fronts.
The Americans already have direct contact, and the French are arriving tomorrow. While remaining “vigilant” about the Islamist nature of Syria’s new rulers, Western nations are reestablishing ties with Damascus to support a return to stability. Turkey, however, is already one step ahead.
After meeting Bashar al-Assad, then heir to the Syrian dictatorship, then Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said he feared for the country’s future.
Amid the chaos of the collapsing Assad regime, the businessmen who were close to power know they are at risk.
A region torn by centuries of conflict, caught in the relentless grip of global power struggles. The Middle East’s wars are no longer just battles for territory, but for control over narratives, lives, and destinies. And it’s all playing out on your phone.
Whatever the official explanations given in Tehran over Bashar al-Assad’s downfall, Iran’s thuggish regime must have noticed that no amount of terror and torture can assure a hated regime’s permanence.
Donald Trump’s second term as U.S. president will undoubtedly bring about a transformation in geopolitics and the world economy. With a businessman rather than a politician in the White House, the country will take a more transactional approach based on negotiations.
Syrian prisons have been opened, unveiling a grim parade of horrors. The emotions are intense, yet much was already known about Assad’s machinery of death — and still, the world could do nothing. The defense of human rights ends where sovereignty begins.
Events have moved very quickly in the past week in Syria, with the demise of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Amid questions over how the country will be run and fears of more conflict, experts parse the national and international influences at play.
The direction of Syria’s new rulers remains uncertain, but examples of transitions in Iraq, Egypt, Libya or Tunisia after the fall of their dictators highlight the pitfalls to avoid. Will Syria be able to escape them?
Misleading videos on the platform are said to have influenced the election in Romania, with accusations against Russian influence. Have we learned anything about manipulation and disinformation since Facebook faced a similar outcry in 2016?
Since he fled in the cover of the night to Russia with his wife and three children, Bashar al-Assad’s entourage and extended family have expressed their anger and humiliation at his deception. He also betrayed his regional allies who went out of their way to protect his regime for years.
Taking advantage of the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Turkey, the United States and Israel separately carried out airstrikes on targets in different areas of the country, each with its own agenda. The reclaiming Syria’s sovereignty will be one of the most important and complex challenges facing the country’s new rulers.
Observers thought the libertarian maverick could never transform the Argentine state’s entrenched welfare system without unleashing social chaos, but one-year later and disaster has yet to strike amidst a modest uptick in economic indices.
Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, there are many questions about the future of Syria. Yet the regional and international powers who planned his collapse did not consider the Syrian people or their future in their calculations. Syrians may be out of Assad’s frying pan, but they’ve been thrown into a fire of armed fundamentalist groups.
The overthrow of the Assad regime is about more than just Russia’s boasting rights as a major power. It will have consequences on the war in Ukraine, and Russian expansion in Africa. Indeed, it may be proof that it is not a major power.
As the Assad regime was crumbling, the sight of the prisoners being freed had its own impact on so many people, including exiled Syrian writer Ruqayyah Al-Abbadi, who knew them from the inside.
While the Islamic Republic of Iran mulls an official response to the fall of its Syrian ally Bashar al-Assad, Iranian politicians are already voicing their anger at the “backstabbing” conduct of two key powers, Turkey and Russia. Could Tehran be the next to get left to fend for itself?
The scenes of joy and vengeance in Damascus recall the outpouring in Baghdad in 2003 when Saddam Hussein, and his statues, were toppled after years of rule by the same bloody political Ba’athist ideology that has held sway in the region for 77 years. But beware the risks of De-Ba’athification like in Iraq.
We must first recognize the joy of the Syrian people at the fall of a brutal regime that ruled for more than half a century. Yet, there’s also major geopolitical stakes in this highly sensitive region, with its losers — Russia and Iran — and its winners, foremost among them Erdogan’s Turkey. And a ton of uncertainty.
France is the latest European country to fall victim of destabilizing, anti-establishment forces. Now that the French government has collapsed, the question remains as to how Europe can integrate these powerful, far-right forces in its governing bodies without sweeping away democratic ideals.
The upcoming challenge is the most serious for Jordan since King Abdullah II assumed power 25 years ago, as the incoming U.S. president will be pressing for a deal that could reshape the whole region.
Following the successful toppling of the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad by rebels led by Islamist extremist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), there should be much trepidation of just how the nation will be ruled in the coming transition of power.
The key question is whether any peace agreement will satisfy the U.S. president, or if he will push for real security guarantees for Kyiv. The question is what Trump will do if Russia or Ukraine (or both) refuse to negotiate on U.S. terms and are not intimidated by the threats of the American leader.
The impacts of the impending Trump presidency, and its unscrupulous use of social media platforms, are already being felt internationally. Trump’s unprecedented comeback is becoming the playbook for how to capitalize on dissatisfaction and regain power.
The reopening of Notre-Dame in Paris, with the participation of Donald Trump on his first foreign trip since being reelected, has turned into a diplomatic event where everyone will want to engage with the president-elect. Ukraine is at the top of the agenda.
Journalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi was released from prison in Iran yesterday, but only for three weeks. This raises questions about the Iranian regime’s strategy following a series of regional setbacks and on the eve of Donald Trump’s arrival at the White House.
Romania’s out-of-nowhere far right presidential candidate Călin Georgescu has become the latest case study showing just how much sway social media platforms can have over elections, going even farther than Donald Trump on Elon Musk’s X.
Returning to their destroyed villages in the south, Lebanese found no one waiting for them. Others have no possibility to return. Meanwhile, Israel considers it just a 60-day pause in fighting. What deal was cut behind closed doors?
France’s “drama” comes after the government of French Prime Minister Barnier collapsed, the final failure on last summer’s bet of President of Emmanuel Macron to dissolve parliament. But even as he hopes for another distraction with the reopening of Notre-Dame, Macron’s political future is looking increasingly impossible.
German history teachers talk about teaching their subject during a resurgence of the far-right AfD party and rising antisemitism in the country.
The surprise attack by rebel groups on Syrian government forces in Aleppo has raised many questions since it coincided with the ceasefire deal in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel. With so many forces and interests around Syria, don’t expect the reignited conflict to end anytime soon.