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On the streets of Damascus on Tuesday, Syrians viewed their leader’s visit to Washington as a shift towards the West that could pave the way to reviving the country’s war-battered economy.On Monday, Donald Trump received Ahmed al-Sharaa, a first for a Syrian head of state since independence in 1946 and a crowning achievement for the former jihadist, whom Washington once sought to arrest in return for a $10 million bounty.”God willing, this visit will be a new beginning for Syria and an opening to the world after years of isolation,” law student Boushra Abdel Bari said.”We hope that this visit… will facilitate the reconstruction of Syria with the United States and the rest of the world.”As Sharaa made his historic visit to Washington, the State Department announced a pause of US sanctions under the Caesar Act, pending their possible permanent lifting by Congress.The law imposed wide-ranging sanctions on investment in Syria in an effort to ensure accountability over abuses under Assad, banning the country from the global banking system.Historically, Syria has been in the orbit of first the Soviet Union then Russia, which was autocratic leader Bashar al-Assad’s main ally during more than 13 years of civil war.But since overthrowing Assad in December 2024, the interim Syrian president has made numerous overtures to the West and to wealthy Gulf monarchies, while being careful not to burn his bridges with Moscow.For Abdel Bari, Assad’s ally Russia “has brought us nothing but ruin and destruction.”Omar Nassar, a 36-year-old printer, also welcomed Syria’s move towards the Western camp.”Syria paid the price for aligning itself with the socialist camp in the past… and was isolated from its Arab and international environment,” he said. “We are very optimistic after this visit. We expect positive repercussions in the economic and diplomatic spheres.”- ‘New Middle East’ -Saddam Hajjar, who runs a coffee kiosk in the Syrian capital, also believed that “things are getting better”. “We hope to be part of the new Middle East in the future,” he said. “The Syrian people deserve a better life after making so many sacrifices.”Assad’s fall ended a civil war that lasted more than 13 years, which broke out after the government cracked down on a peaceful uprising in 2011.The war killed more than half a million people, displaced or forced millions of Syrians into exile, and brought the economy to its knees.Layal Kaddour, a 25-year-old NGO worker, thought the visit to Washington was “a bold political move” that broke years of isolation.”The possible repercussions are an easing of sanctions and the opening up of economic prospects,” she said.But she wondered if her country will now be “subject to international pressure that would influence independent political decision-making,” alluding to concerns about US pressure on Syria to make peace with Israel, which has long been an enemy.

Iraqis voted for a new parliament on Tuesday at a pivotal time for the country and the wider region, in an election that both Iran and the United States will be closely watching.Iraq, which has long been a fertile land for proxy wars, has only recently regained a sense of stability, as it tries to move past decades of war since the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.But even now, the country of 46 million people suffers from poor infrastructure, failing public services, mismanagement and endemic corruption.Polling stations closed at 6:00 pm (1500 GMT), with preliminary results expected within 24 hours of closing.Yet many have lost hope that elections can bring meaningful change to their daily lives and see the vote as a sham that only benefits political elites and regional powers.No new names have recently emerged, with the same Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish politicians remaining at the forefront.More than 21 million people were eligible to vote for the 329-seat parliament, but many may have boycotted the polls amid deep distrust in the country’s political class.The electoral commission has yet to announce the turnout.For Mohammed Mehdi, a public servant in his thirties, voting is a right and a means to achieve change.While he does not blame those who chose to boycott, he said after casting his vote in Baghdad that politicians have spent heavily to win votes, “proving my vote is valuable — so I will use it.”- Boycott -The ballot is marked by the absence of influential Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr who has urged his followers to boycott the vote, which might also contribute to low turnout. The mercurial Sadr accused those in power of being “corrupt” and unwilling to reform. A close associate quoted him as urging his followers to stay home and treat election day as a “family day”.In 2021, Sadr secured the largest bloc before withdrawing from parliament following a dispute with Shiite parties which culminated in deadly fighting in Baghdad.Over the years since US-led forces ousted Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, Iraq’s long-oppressed Shiite majority still dominates, with most parties retaining ties to neighbouring Iran.By convention in post-invasion Iraq, a Shiite Muslim holds the powerful post of prime minister and a Sunni that of parliament speaker, while the largely ceremonial presidency goes to a Kurd. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who hopes for a second term, is likely to score a significant win.Sudani rose to power in 2022 with the backing of the Coordination Framework, a ruling alliance of Shiite parties and factions all linked to Iran.But with a single party or list unlikely to achieve an outright majority, he must win the support of whichever coalition can secure enough allies to become the largest bloc.Although they run separately, Shiite parties within the Coordination Framework are expected to reunite after elections and pick the next premier.Sudani has touted his success in keeping Iraq relatively unscathed by the turmoil engulfing the Middle East.- Delicate balance -The next prime minister will have to maintain the delicate balance between Iraq’s allies, Iran and the US, even more so now that the Middle East is undergoing seismic changes, with new alliances forming and old powers weakening.Even as its influence wanes, Iran hopes to preserve its power in Iraq — the only close ally that stayed out of Israel’s crosshairs after the heavy losses its other allies have incurred in Lebanon, Yemen and Gaza since 2023.Tehran has meanwhile focused on other interests in Iraq — challenging the US with powerful Tehran-backed armed groups, and keeping the Iraqi market open to products from its crippled economy.Washington, which holds much sway in Iraq and has forces deployed there, conversely hopes to cripple Iran’s influence, and has been pressuring Baghdad to disarm the pro-Iran groups.On the ground however, Iraqis appeared torn between their hopes for change and disillusionment with the process.”We have unemployment and people are tired, we need progress,” said Ali Abed, 57, after casting his vote in the northern city of Mosul.Others meanwhile chose to boycott.”We have never seen anything good come from these politicians,” said Ali al-Ikabi, a 25-year-old tuk-tuk driver.More than 7,740 candidates, nearly a third of them women and only 75 independents, are standing under an electoral law that many believe favours larger parties.Sunni parties are running separately, with the former speaker Mohammed al-Halbussi expected to do well.In the autonomous Kurdistan region, the rivalry between the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan remains fierce.

When Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr gives an order, his supporters listen. On Tuesday, as many Iraqis lined up to cast their votes for a new parliament, that order was to skip the election entirely and spend the day with family instead.The effects of the influential preacher’s directive were on full display in his Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City, where residents said they were spending a pointedly normal day.Not far from a polling station, when asked what they were up to, a group of men exclaimed in unison: “We are boycotting on the orders of Sayyid”, a reference to the 52-year-old cleric, who has always shown a particular prowess for mobilising — or demobilising — loyalists.Sadr first announced the boycott months ago, and has since released several statements accusing the political class of corruption and resisting reforms.”Out of love and obedience, I am boycotting the election on Sayyid Moqtada Sadr’s orders,” said one of the men near the polling place, Hatem Kazem, 28, who closed his car accessories shop and took the day off.”We are boycotting to bring about change,” he added”We lack good hospitals or schools. We just want to be like other countries.”- ‘Family day’ -Sadr, whose photo is displayed on walls all across the district that bears his family’s name, retains a devoted following of millions among Iraq’s majority Shiite population.At his call, his supporters fill the streets, and disperse within minutes when he tells them to withdraw.In the days leading up to the vote, he issued almost daily messages addressed to supporters and rivals alike, such as: “May those already tested not be tested again,” and “God, do not make me one of the corrupt.” On Monday, a close associate quoted him as advising his supporters to only leave home on election day out of “absolute necessity”.”Let your day be a family day,” he told them.Many heeded the call and responded on social media, where videos circulated showing men cooking or cleaning the dishes.Taxi driver Dia Hassib, 45, said he was boycotting not only because Sadr said so, but also because there has been no improvement in the country, which suffers from poor infrastructure and failing public services.”The same poverty and no jobs,” he said, adding that Sadr’s “path is correct — we are boycotting because nothing is changing”.In 2021, Sadr’s bloc emerged from elections as the biggest parliamentary faction. But soon after, he withdrew from parliament over a dispute with rival Shiite parties that culminated in deadly fighting in Baghdad.- ‘If he says die, we die’ -Sadr, who once led a militia against American and Iraqi government forces, has made several reversals over the years, and he has announced on several occasions that he is withdrawing from politics.His family history has made him beloved among many Iraqis. He is the son of Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadek Sadr, whom former dictator Saddam Hussein had assassinated in 1999.Despite opposing various governments and their backers, Sadr has always had allies at the highest levels of ministries and other institutions.To his followers, meanwhile, he is a champion of the fight against corruption.Abbas Ali, a 21-year-old tuk-tuk driver, said “our country is wealthy but corruption is rampant and young people can’t find jobs”.”I burned my voting card,” he added, saying he was answering Sadr’s call. “Whatever the Sayyid says, we do. If he says die, we die. If he says live, we live.”

Hundreds of Israelis bid farewell to army officer Hadar Goldin, who was laid to rest Tuesday in the central town of Kfar Saba after Hamas returned his remains more than a decade after his death in Gaza.Crowds packed the military cemetery, with some climbing onto rooftops to glimpse the funeral, while others filled the streets and watched on a large outdoor screen.Blue-and-white Israeli flags fluttered in the wind, as mourners held the young lieutenant’s portrait alongside a homemade banner reading: “We will remember forever.”Israel received Goldin’s remains on Sunday as part of an ongoing Gaza ceasefire deal brokered by US President Donald Trump that has halted the latest war.His father, Simcha Goldin, hailed his son as a “Jewish warrior”, while urging tearful mourners to “behave righteously and do not hate one another. That is Hadar’s legacy.” “I ask you to act the same way, and to let there be a little more of Hadar in our daily lives,” he saidHadar Goldin, 23, was killed on August 1, 2014 during a previous Israeli offensive in Gaza known as “Operation Protective Edge”.He was leading a mission to destroy Hamas tunnels when he was killed in an ambush in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah and his body seized, just hours into a short-lived humanitarian truce, Israeli officials say.”Today, you have returned to the land for which you fought. But we will keep returning to every place where a promise remains unfulfilled,” Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said in his eulogy at the funeral.”We will fight on until every one of our sons has come home.”On Tuesday, soldiers wearing the green uniforms and purple berets of Goldin’s Givati Brigade carried his flag-draped coffin into the cemetery.His return closes an agonising 11-year ordeal that haunted both his family and the nation.- Leave no one behind -“Today is a hard day, but I am happy because Hadar’s coming was a dream,” Israel Blumshtein, a 76-year-old resident of Kfar Saba, told AFP, adding that he had kept a picture of Goldin in his car for six years.He said it was important that his body be returned “because in our army… we do not leave anyone anywhere”.Goldin’s twin brother, Tzur Goldin, said Hamas’s hostage-taking sought “to weaken Israeli society, which is built on family”.”It aims to set one family’s interests against those of the whole, to force us to decide who matters more or less, to privilege one value over another, to destroy us from within,” he continued. “Our victory, for everyone, will be to ensure the founding principle of Israeli society — not abandoning one another, leaving no one behind — remains intact.”At the end of the funeral, the crowd joined in singing a mournful rendition of the “Hatikvah” (The Hope), Israel’s national anthem.Goldin’s family had held a symbolic funeral in 2014 after parts of his body were recovered from a tunnel soon after his death, but repeated attempts to retrieve the rest of his remains through previous prisoner exchanges failed.The head of Israel’s National Center of Forensic Medicine, Chen Kugel, told AFP that Goldin’s return gave “a sense of closure, for the family… but also for the entire country”.”Now he’s in Israel, in his home. Even if that home is a grave.”- ‘We will still fight’ -“It’s some kind of relief because he’s been there for more than 11 years,” said Aharon Gamzu, a 48-year-old software engineer who was draped in an Israeli flag at the funeral.”We all go to the army when we are 18 and we trust the army, the country, if something will happen to us they will do everything to bring us back,” he added.By his side, Einat Carmel Gamzu said it was important to attend “to give him a last honour, our honour for him and the family”.Since the truce in the latest Gaza war came into effect on October 10, Hamas has returned all 20 living hostages it held and the remains of 24 others, including Goldin.Four bodies of hostages seized during Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack — which sparked the retaliatory war in Gaza — are still in the Palestinian territory.”The story of Hadar is really moving and touching and exceptional, that’s why we now feel closure,” said Urit Uziel, a 67-year-old scientist and neighbour of the Goldin family.”But we will still fight for the return of everybody, all four of them, home.”