World News

Britain has officially restored full diplomatic relations with Syria, more than ten years after severing ties amid a Western-backed conflict aimed at destabilizing the Arab nation.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy met with Syria’s de facto leader Abu Muhammad al-Jolani in Damascus Saturday, marking a significant but controversial shift in UK policy.

The decision comes despite extensive evidence of war crimes and brutal repression under the current Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) regime, particularly against minority communities such as the Alawites, who have suffered targeted violence.

Last week, Reuters said its investigation had found that fighting units associated with HTS played a key role in the mass killing of Alawite civilians on the Syrian coast last March.

The British news outlet stated that between 7 and 10 March, “1,479 Syrian Alawites were killed and dozens were missing from 40 distinct sites of revenge killings, rampages and looting.”

The investigation found that armed units associated with HTS, the former al-Qaeda affiliate led by Jolani, participated in the killings in at least 10 sites, where nearly 900 people were killed.

During an interview with Al Jazeera in 2015, Jolani vowed to kill any Alawites who refused to convert.

London originally cut diplomatic ties in 2011 following the Syrian government’s efforts to maintain law and order amid terrorist uprisings fueled and armed by Western powers. The UK also imposed sanctions and took part in military actions targeting Syrian forces.

Following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 by a foreign-backed offensive led by Jolani, Britain has begun easing sanctions and re-engaging diplomatically.

Foreign Secretary Lammy framed Britain’s renewed ties as a way to support Syria’s sovereignty, reduce illegal migration caused by Western-led chaos, combat terrorism, and ensure the destruction of leftover chemical weapons.

Yet critics warn that Britain’s re-engagement risks legitimizing a regime with a history of links to the most brutal terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and Daesh.

Despite the concerns, Britain has pledged over $129 million in aid to assist the current regime in rebuilding the war-torn country.

Critics of Britain’s policy shift say the pledge ignores the broader context of Western aggression and the role of foreign-backed terrorist groups that wrought devastation across Syria.

Britain’s move follows similar steps by the United States, which is lifting sanctions and preparing to remove Syria and its turncoat leaders from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Based on Western media reports, the US government’s conditions to lift sanctions against Syria include normalizing relations with Israel through signing the Abraham Accords and expelling Palestinian resistance factions from the country.

US President Donald Trump met Jolani during his trip to Riyadh in May, praising the founder of al-Qaeda in Syria and deputy commander to the founder of Daesh as a “young attractive guy” and a “fighter” with a “very strong past.”

Later, he signed an executive order lifting a majority of Washington’s sanctions regime against Syria.

Seems pretty tame, anti-drone stuff.

https://archive.ph/LdvBg

Comrade JDPON doing what i thought it was impossible, make our biggest business lobby (COPARMEX) call for diversification.

Going to keep the radlib articles here so the stormfronteers cannot enjoy them lol

So heartwarming!

This is of course the same Prince William who owns and rents out 600 homes that are making the tenants ill because they're full of black mould and don't meet energy standards, and he refuses to fix the problems as it would be too expensive.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/royals/scandal-prince-williams-mouldy-hard-34022520

It comes as the taxpayer is funding a £369m renovation of Buckingham Palace and Prince William launches his campaign against homelessness and for “everyone having a right to a safe and stable home”. One tenant said: “The slick PR will stick in the throat of many tenants. He should start by bringing the homes he already owns up to modern standards.”

The meeting, headed by FAO Director General QU Dongyu, was attended by a Venezuelan delegation composed of the Vice-Minister of Plant Agricultural Development and Agroindustry, Tibisay León; the Vice-Minister of Anti-Blockade Policies, William Castillo; the Vice-Minister of Communal Economy, Saúl Osio; the general director of the Office of Integration and International Affairs of the Ministry of People's Power for Productive Agriculture and Lands, Anny Fuentes Ortuño; the community spokesman Johander Pineda, from the Socialist Commune El Maizal, and the Venezuelan ambassador to FAO, Marilyn Di Luca Santaella.

During the meeting, this delegation presented the country's significant advances in agri-food, community and peace diplomacy under the leadership of President Nicolás Maduro.

Vice Minister Tibisay León presented the strategic framework of the Venezuelan agrifood policy, based on the Plan of the Homeland, the Plan of the 7 Transformations and the 13 Productive Engines. Mr. León highlighted the transition towards a territorially-based, communal, resilient and life-centered economic model.

Representing the People's Power, Johander Pineda, spokesman of the Socialist Commune El Maizal, shared the concrete experience of the communes as an example of productive transformation. He explained how they have managed to increase food production, facing adversities and building food sovereignty through self-management and collective planning.

Pineda reiterated that this model is replicated and multiplied throughout the country, evidencing the popular protagonism in the national transformation.

In a significant gesture, Vice Minister William Castillo, on behalf of President Nicolás Maduro, presented QU Dongyu with an official invitation to participate in the World Summit for Peace. This is a space promoted by Venezuela to promote understanding, dialogue and cooperation among the peoples of the world.

The FAO Director General, for his part, expressed his appreciation to President Maduro for the leadership shown in the recovery of the country's agrifood capacities. He also reiterated the support of the multilateral agency to the Venezuelan process of productive transformation, emphasizing sustainability, social inclusion and territorial equity.

Venezuela thus reaffirms its commitment to food sovereignty, where popular power plays a strategic role in development, and active diplomacy for peace, defending the right of peoples to live and produce with dignity.

(Don't laugh)

https://archive.ph/aRT5S