The Syrian government is siphoning off millions of dollars of foreign aid by forcing UN agencies to use a lower exchange rate, according to new research. The Central Bank of Syria, which is sanctioned by the UK, US and EU, in effect made $60m (£44m) in 2020 by pocketing $0.51 of every aid...

  Beirut, Lebanon – Continuing Syrian government human rights abuses mean refugees should not be returned, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says, urging host nations to immediately halt all refugee returns. The New York-based organisation said in a new report on Wednesday that it had...

Lebanon will be able to provide six more hours of power a day through the national grid within weeks after a deal with Egypt and Jordan, Energy Minister Walid Fayad told The National. The country is suffering a major power crisis with state-run Electricite du Liban recently announcing that...

A boast by the leader of Hezbollah that he commands 100,000 fighters came as a surprise to many Lebanese, not least because it was addressed to a domestic audience rather than the militia's archenemy Israel. Experts say the figure, which exceeds the size of Lebanon's army by about 15,000...