BEIRUT: Amnesty International on Friday called on the United Nations to keep delivering crucial aid to quake-stricken Syrians via two crossings in rebel-held areas even if authorization from Damascus expires.
On February 6, a devastating earthquake hit Turkiye and Syria, killing more than 55,000 people across both countries.
The UN chief said on February 13 that Syrian President Bashar Assad had agreed to open the Bab Al-Salama and Al-Rai crossings from Turkiye to allow aid to enter for an initial period of three months.

LONDON: In October 1963, a young British artist, fresh out of London’s Royal College of Art but already making a name for himself as a groundbreaking painter, traveled to Egypt, fulfilling an ambition to visit a country that had long fascinated him.

David Hockney’s odyssey to the land of the pharaohs 60 years ago would prove to be a turning point in the nascent career of an artist on the cusp of achieving global fame.

KHARTOUM: Airstrikes and artillery pounded Khartoum on Friday after Sudan’s warring army and Rapid Support Forces paramilitary failed to agree to a ceasefire despite committing to protect civilians and allow humanitarian access.

A so-called declaration of principles was signed in Saudi Arabia late on Thursday after nearly a week of talks between the two factions, which had shared power before falling out over a transition to civilian rule.

BEIRUT: Syrian intelligence on Friday detained Beirut’s Civil Defense chief for four hours after he crossed overland into the country en route to Egypt.

Walid Hashash, 57, director-general of the Civil Defense in the Lebanese capital, was detained and interrogated by the Palestine Branch of Syria’s intelligence service.

It is the first time such an incident has taken place since the resumption of Lebanese movement into Syria at the end of 2021.

RAMALLAH: The apparent lack of a strong reaction in the West Bank to the deadly Israeli campaign targeting the Islamic Jihad movement in the Gaza Strip is because the resistance group has set a new precedent by responding to the aggression with rocket attacks rather than protests, according to a Fatah leader.