General

Face to face with a maskless man threatening to shoot her, Amanda Andrade-Rhoades had limited options. The freelance photojournalist was working solo on assignment for The Washington Post Wednesday of last week as supporters of President Donald Trump descended on the U.S. Capitol, rioting as Congress voted to certify the 2020 election results. The man was tall and older, with a mustache and a tan jacket, Andrade-Rhoades told VOA. Coming within inches of her face, he said, "I'm coming back with a gun for tomorrow, and I'm coming back for you." She had limited protection — no bulletproof vest, no people around to help — and saw no reason to escalate the conflict. She walked away. By the end of the day, Andrade-Rhoades says, she had been struck by four rubber bullets — three in th...

Jeddah, The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has welcomed the United States of America's decision to blacklist the Houthi rebels in Yemen as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Dr. Yousef A. Al-Othaimeen, the OIC's Secretary-General, asserted that this decision would contribute positively to the efforts of Martin Griffiths, the UN Special Envoy to Yemen, to reach a political solution to the Yemeni crisis and put an end to the terrorist attacks committed by the Houthis in Yemen and against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. "It is a crucial step to strengthen the efforts geared to combat terrorism and stem its financing at the international and regional levels, as these terrorist rebels, supported by regional entities and groups, pose real risks to interna...

Damascus, Everyone realizes that terrorism and most of its organizations were made in the West with the aim of implementing plots that target countries and the capabilities of peoples that won’t yield to the Western and US dictates. Director of Damascus Countryside Endowments, Sheikh Khodre  Shahrour, told SANA that the US wants to spread terrorism in the region , supported and made in the West, to divide regional countries and impoverish its people in the interest of the Zionist entity. “Islam has no relation to terrorism as they try to market, and Syria is a good example for coexistence,” Sheikh Shahrour said. He added that Syria, which adopts moderate ideology, has established al-Sham International Islamic Center to counter terrorism and Extremism. The center, according to S...

New York, Syria has renewed its demand that the International Security Council urgently move to implement the resolution No. 497 for the year 1981 and to oblige the Israeli occupation entity to halt its illegal settlement practices and its repressive measures against people of the occupied Syrian Golan, and to withdraw from the occupied Syrian Golan completely till the line of Jun 4th, 1967. In a letter addressed to the UN Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council with regard to setting up new facilities at the settlement named after “Trump” in al-Qan’abeh village in the occupied Syrian Golan, Syria’s permanent delegation to the UN asserted that the Golan is an inseparable part of the Syrian territory, and Syria will work on restoring every inch of its land by all poss...

Damascus, Speaker of People’s Assembly, Hammouda Sabbagh, affirmed on Thursday the deeply-rooted relations that connect Syria and Iran, hailing support offered by Iran to Syria  in all domains. Sabbagh, meeting Ambassador of Iran in Damascus, Javad Turk-Abadi, expressed appreciation for the invitation he received to participate in a virtual dialogue seminar to be held by the Iranian Islamic Shura Council next Monday in the framework of support and solidarity with the Palestinian people. He stressed that Syria will continue its support for the Palestinian people until they regain all their legitimate rights. For his part, the Iranian Ambassador affirmed his country’s principled and firm stance in support of Syria, its sovereignty and territorial integrity.   Source: Syri...

There was Israeli aggression on areas in Deir al-Zor and Albu kamal in Syria, state news agency SANA said on Wednesday. The agency gave no further details.   Source: National News Agency

The Middle East Airlines issued Wednesday the following press release:   As of 14 Jan 2021 until 25 Jan 2021, the following procedures must be applied by all passengers arriving to Lebanon. For all passengers arriving to Lebanon as a final destination: - Passengers, except children under the age of 12 years, must hold PCR negative test result from one of the certified laboratories by local authorities at point of departure and show it at check in. - Negative test result validity must not exceed 96 hours between the test result and the date of arrival to Lebanon. - Passengers who do not carry a negative PCR test result are not allowed to board. - Passengers must complete the medical form issued by the Ministry of Public Health of Lebanon and this is available throu...

New York, Syria’s Permanent Representative to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari denounced the Israeli occupation authorities’ suppressive practices that have continued for decades against the people of the occupied Syrian Golan as they constitute “a flagrant violation of the international law, the UN charter and the UN relevant resolutions.” In a letter directed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday, al-Jaafari reiterated that the UN resolution no. 497 for the year 1981 has emphasized that the Syrian Golan is an occupied Syrian land and that any measures taken by the Israeli occupation authorities on this occupied land are null and void and they don’t have any legal effect, calling for putting pressures on the Israeli occupation to stop its repressive practices against the people o...

Damascus, The office of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Damascus on Wednesday received personal protection equipment for confronting coronavirus offered by China. The protective equipment included 104 thousand surgical face masks ,20700 face masks ,50 thousand sterilised surgical gloves,7400 medical eye protective goggles and 20 thousand medical protective suits to support UNRWA efforts in protecting Palestinian refugees who receive medical services at its facilities, in addition to its employees operating in the medical centers. In a speech after signing aid delivering documents, Chinese Ambassador in Damascus, Feng Biao, stressed China’s consistent support for the efforts of Palestine and the Arab countries to combat the corona epidemic,...

Bratislava, Slovak university professor, Franti?ek Sikfaranda, , condemned the aggressive policies practiced by the US in the Middle East, stressing that the American occupation of part of the Syrian lands represents a flagrant violation of international law. In an article published on the Slovak Hlavni Dinik website, Shakfaranda pointed out that “Under the hearing and sight of the American occupation in Iraq, the terrorist organization of DAESH emerged, which for a time has become a security threat to the entire region, that means the US is responsible for its emergence .” He considered that the attack on the Capitol building in Washington cannot be separated from American foreign policies, pointing out that the way any country acts in foreign relations negatively affect its interna...