UK foreign secretary visits Syria after easing sanctions
Syria has been improving relations with Western countries following the fall of President Bashar Assad in December in an offensive led by al-Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Islamist group.
Al-Sharaa's office said Lammy and the president discussed mutual relations and ways of boosting cooperation and the latest regional and international developments. Lammy later met his Syrian counterpart, Asaad al-Shibani, state media reported.
In April, the British government lifted sanctions against a dozen Syrian entities, including government departments and media outlets, to help the country rebuild after Assad's ouster. Weeks earlier the U.K. had dropped sanctions against two dozen Syrian businesses, mostly banks and oil companies.
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Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending many American economic sanctions on Syria, following through on a promise he made to al-Sharaa.
Syria's new leaders have been struggling to rebuild the country's decimated economy and infrastructure after nearly 14 years of civil war that has killed half a million people. In recent months, al-Sharaa visited oil-rich regional countries and France in May in his first visit to the Europe Union.
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Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Consider for a minute Carney's refusal to have Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne bring down a budget until November or December. Rather than a budget and enabling legislation to authorize nearly half a trillion dollars in spending, Carney prefers to rule (and spend) by cabinet decree. Before April's election, parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux estimated the federal deficit for the current fiscal year would be just about $47 billion. That's bad enough, but a significant decrease from the $62-billion deficit that the Liberals had to admit to before Christmas for last year. 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Read More Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don't miss the news you need to know — add and to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here. You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun. Crime Toronto & GTA Columnists Editorial Cartoons Columnists
Toronto Sun
6 hours ago
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SHAPIRO: Is America starting to see the end of patriotism?
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SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account That number has been in steep decline for a decade. In 2004, that number was 91% and was still 81% as of 2016. Then it began to tumble and it hasn't recovered. The trend isn't equivalent across the political spectrum. Republicans have always been far prouder of their country; their pride number has never dropped below 84% in 2022 and currently stands at 92%. The serious decline is located among independents, who have dropped from 76% in 2013 to 53% today, and Democrats, who plummeted from 80% to 36% during that same period. 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Democrats heavily regulated and taxed the free market and then blamed the free market for recession or inflation; Democrats hijacked our educational institutions to pay off their union cronies and indoctrinate young people in their mindset and then blamed capitalists for failing to pay off young people's debts; Democrats abused our scientific and governmental institutions and then suggested that Republican resistance was actually Biblical fundamentalism rearing its ugly head. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Meanwhile, political independents grow increasingly discouraged by our politics. They see Republicans shifting the deck chairs atop the Titanic of state as Democrats eagerly drill more holes in the hull — and they are increasingly depressed. They are not wrong to be. But they are wrong to believe that they can or should chart a middle course between those who love America and its founding principles and those who despise them. 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Toronto Star
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Iran's supreme leader makes first public appearance since Iran-Israel war started
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