China to Provide Emergency Medical Supplies to Lebanon

 Smoke billows over Beirut southern suburbs after a strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon October 7, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke billows over Beirut southern suburbs after a strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon October 7, 2024. (Reuters)
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China to Provide Emergency Medical Supplies to Lebanon

 Smoke billows over Beirut southern suburbs after a strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon October 7, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke billows over Beirut southern suburbs after a strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon October 7, 2024. (Reuters)

China will provide emergency medical supplies to Lebanon, China's official foreign aid agency, the China International Development Cooperation Agency, said on Tuesday, as Israel-Hezbollah fighting intensified.

Li Ming, spokesperson for the agency, said in a statement that as the fighting escalated recently, explosions and air strikes "have occurred in many places in Lebanon, causing a large number of casualties."

"At the request of the Lebanese government, the Chinese government has decided to provide emergency humanitarian medical supplies to Lebanon to help Lebanon carry out medical assistance," the statement said.

Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel's third-largest city, Haifa, and Israel looked poised to expand its offensive into Lebanon on Monday, one year after the devastating Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war.

The focus of the war has increasingly shifted north to Lebanon where Israeli forces have been exchanging fire with Hezbollah since the Iranian-backed group launched a barrage of missiles in support of Hamas on Oct. 8.



Syria's New Rulers Name Foreign Minister

Syrians wave the independence-era flag after Friday Noon prayers at the Umayyad Mosque in the capital Damascus on December 20, 2024. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
Syrians wave the independence-era flag after Friday Noon prayers at the Umayyad Mosque in the capital Damascus on December 20, 2024. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
TT

Syria's New Rulers Name Foreign Minister

Syrians wave the independence-era flag after Friday Noon prayers at the Umayyad Mosque in the capital Damascus on December 20, 2024. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
Syrians wave the independence-era flag after Friday Noon prayers at the Umayyad Mosque in the capital Damascus on December 20, 2024. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)

Syria's new rulers have appointed a foreign minister, the official Syrian news agency (SANA) said on Saturday, as they seek to build international relations two weeks after Bashar al-Assad was ousted.
The ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step "comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability.”
No details were immediately available about Shibani.
Syria's de facto ruler, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has actively engaged with foreign delegations since assuming power, including hosting the UN's Syria envoy and senior US diplomats.
Sharaa has signaled a willingness to engage diplomatically with international envoys, saying his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development. He has said he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.
The United States, other Western powers and many Syrians were glad to see groups led by Sharaa's Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) topple Assad.