In 2018, Syria also recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia, prompting Georgia to cut ties, according to al-Araby al-Jadeed. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday announced the end of diplomatic ties between Kyiv and Damascus after Moscow ally Syria recognized the independence of eastern Ukraine’s two separatist republics. The breakaway states …

Turkey lifted its opposition to allowing Sweden and Finland to join the NATO Western alliance. Turkey’s agreement came on Tuesday, less than a day before the opening of the NATO summit in Madrid, following talks between leaders of the three countries. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called it a “historic decision.” …

Israel’s covert campaign to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program has rattled the Iranian leadership, resulting in a significant housecleaning in the intelligence division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the elite branch of the armed forces. Ebrahim Jabbari, the head of the unit in charge of protecting Supreme Leader Ayatollah …