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Syrian Regime Bypasses 'Southern Truce'...Reaches Jordanian Border

Children walk past the rubble of damaged buildings in Ein Tarma in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta, Syria, July 19, 2017. (photo by REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh)
Children walk past the rubble of damaged buildings in Ein Tarma in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta, Syria, July 19, 2017. (photo by REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh)
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Syrian Regime Bypasses 'Southern Truce'...Reaches Jordanian Border

Children walk past the rubble of damaged buildings in Ein Tarma in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta, Syria, July 19, 2017. (photo by REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh)
Children walk past the rubble of damaged buildings in Ein Tarma in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta, Syria, July 19, 2017. (photo by REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh)

Beirut- Syrian regime forces and their allies managed to capture on Thursday areas at the borders of Souweida province with Jordan, a movement considered as bypassing the west southern truce signed under a US-Russian-Jordanian patronage, including the countryside of Deraa.

“The Syrian regime-linked Team 15 in addition to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah have already reached the Syrian-Jordanian borders and controlled the areas of Bi’r Saboun-Tal Assada, reaching the entire Abu Sharshouh border crossing and border posts,” the German news agency quoted sources in the countryside of Souweida as saying.

Also, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday that the advancement made by the Syrian regime forces and their allies has ended the presence of opposition factions at the Syrian-Jordanian border, inside the administrative borders of the Souweida province.

According to the Observatory, “With this advancement, the factions are now left with no external access in east and southeast of Syria, except for a border strip on the southeast border of the Damascus countryside with Jordan, in addition to a border strip with Iraq extending over the provinces of Damascus countryside and Homs, which includes al-Tanf border crossing between Syria and Iraq.”

Meanwhile, regime forces intensified their attacks on the Jobar neighborhood in Damascus and other areas in the Ghouta area using surface-to-surface missiles despite an agreement ratified last month in Cairo under an Egyptian-Russian brokerage to involve the city of Deraa.

The Observatory also spoke about regime forces airstrikes in the areas of al-Manasher, Zhahab, Taldo and Kfarlaha in addition to other areas in the Houla region.

“Warplanes targeted at least two villages in the Houla area causing material damage, without information about casualties, in the first such strike on the northern countryside of Homs since the Egyptian-Russian truce was put in effect last Aug. 3.”

Meanwhile, opposition-linked websites reported that several civilians were killed by the intensified regime forces shelling on the region of Houla in the countryside of north Homs, despite an announced truce in the area.

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Arab World

Sudan Paramilitary Strike on Southeastern City Kills 27

RSF fighters. (AFP file photo)
RSF fighters. (AFP file photo)
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Sudan Paramilitary Strike on Southeastern City Kills 27

RSF fighters. (AFP file photo)
RSF fighters. (AFP file photo)

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces launched drones at an army base in the southeastern city of Sinja on Monday, killing 27 people, military and health sources told AFP.

Sinja, the capital of Sennar state, lies around 300 kilometers (180 miles) southeast of the capital Khartoum, along a strategic road connecting the national capital to the army-controlled east.

The strike comes a day after the army-aligned government announced its return to Khartoum after close to three years operating from its wartime base in the eastern city of Port Sudan.

Since April 2023, the war between the army and the RSF has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 11 million internally and across borders, and created the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.

Sinjah had largely been spared the fighting since the army recaptured the area in late 2024 as part of a wider offensive that saw it later retake Khartoum.

The military source, speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to brief the media, said RSF drones "targeted the headquarters of the army's 17th Infantry Division" in Sinja.

Ibrahim al-Awad, the Sennar state health minister, said that the attack carried out by the RSF also wounded 73 people.

A security source told AFP on condition of anonymity that the attack targeted the army headquarters "during a meeting attended by military, security and government officials" from several eastern and central states.

One resident of Sinja told AFP that they "heard explosions and anti-aircraft fire".

The Sennar region had last been targeted by drones in October.

- Fragile return -

In the year following its recapture, more than 200,000 people returned to Sennar state, according to the United Nations' migration agency.

But the agency has warned many such returns across the country remain "fragile", often taking place in areas with damaged infrastructure and ongoing insecurity.

Along with the government, millions of civilians had fled Khartoum early in the war when RSF fighters quickly overran it.

Since the army regained control last year, around 1.2 million have gradually returned, according to the latest UN figures.

Reconstruction efforts are underway, but the RSF, which with its allies now rules around a third of the country, sporadically launches long-range drones deep into army-controlled territory, particularly targeting infrastructure.

The army and its government control Sudan's north, east and center.

The RSF now dominates the vast western region of Darfur and has pushed through the southern region of Kordofan, aiming to capture cities that would bring it closer to Khartoum.

With multiple cities under paramilitary siege, hundreds of thousands face mass starvation in Kordofan.

The UN has called the conflict a "war of atrocities", with both sides accused of targeting civilians.

Varieties

Astronomers Spot White Dwarf Star Creating a Colorful Shockwave

The central square image, taken with the MUSE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope, shows shock waves around the dead star RXJ0528+2838. (European Southern Observatory (ESO)/K. Ilkiewicz and S. Scaringi et al./Handout via Reuters)
The central square image, taken with the MUSE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope, shows shock waves around the dead star RXJ0528+2838. (European Southern Observatory (ESO)/K. Ilkiewicz and S. Scaringi et al./Handout via Reuters)
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Astronomers Spot White Dwarf Star Creating a Colorful Shockwave

The central square image, taken with the MUSE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope, shows shock waves around the dead star RXJ0528+2838. (European Southern Observatory (ESO)/K. Ilkiewicz and S. Scaringi et al./Handout via Reuters)
The central square image, taken with the MUSE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope, shows shock waves around the dead star RXJ0528+2838. (European Southern Observatory (ESO)/K. Ilkiewicz and S. Scaringi et al./Handout via Reuters)

Astronomers have observed a white dwarf - a highly compact Earth-sized stellar ember - that is creating a colorful shockwave as it moves through space, leaving them searching for an explanation.

The highly magnetized white dwarf is gravitationally bound to another star in what is called a binary system. The white dwarf is siphoning gas from its companion as the two orbit close to each other. The system is located in the Milky Way about 730 light-years from Earth - relatively nearby in cosmic terms - in the constellation Auriga.

A light-year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km).

The shockwave - more specifically a bow shock - caused by the white dwarf was observed using the European Southern Observatory's Chile-based Very Large Telescope. The shockwave was seen in an image released by the scientists glowing in various colors produced when material flowing outward from the white dwarf collided with interstellar gas.

"A shockwave ‌is created when ‌fast-moving material plows into surrounding gas, suddenly compressing and heating it. A ‌bow shock ⁠is the curved ‌shock front that forms when an object moves rapidly through space, similar to the wave in front of a boat moving through water," said astrophysicist Simone Scaringi of Durham University in England, co-lead author of the study published on Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy.

"The colors come from interstellar gas that is being heated and excited by the shock. Different chemical elements glow at specific colors when this happens," Scaringi added.

In this shockwave, a red hue represented hydrogen, green represented nitrogen and blue represented oxygen residing in interstellar space.

A handful of other white dwarfs have been observed creating shockwaves. But all of those were ⁠surrounded by disks of gas siphoned from a binary partner. Although this white dwarf is siphoning gas from its companion, it lacks any such disk and ‌is releasing gas into space for unknown reasons.

White dwarfs are among the ‍universe's most compact objects, though not as dense as ‍black holes.

Stars with up to eight times the mass of the sun appear destined to end up as ‍a white dwarf. They eventually burn up all the hydrogen they use as fuel. Gravity then causes them to collapse and blow off their outer layers in a "red giant" stage, eventually leaving behind a compact core - the white dwarf.

"There are plenty of white dwarfs out there, as these are the most common endpoints of stellar evolution," Scaringi said.

The sun appears fated to end its existence as a white dwarf, billions of years from now.

This white dwarf has a mass comparable to the sun contained in a body slightly larger than Earth. Its binary companion is ⁠a type of low-mass star called a red dwarf that is about a tenth the mass of the sun and thousands of times less luminous. It orbits the white dwarf every 80 minutes, with the two extremely close to each other - approximately the distance between the moon and Earth.

The gravitational strength of the white dwarf is pulling gas off the red dwarf. This siphoned material is being pulled into the white dwarf along its strong magnetic field, eventually landing at its magnetic poles. While this process releases energy and radiation, it cannot account for the outflow of material needed to produce the observed shockwave, Scaringi said.

"Every mechanism with outflowing gas we have considered does not explain our observation, and we still remain puzzled by this system, which is why this result is so interesting and exciting," Scaringi said.

"The shape and length of the (shockwave) structure show that this process has been ongoing for at least about 1,000 years, making it long-lived rather than a one-off event," Scaringi added.

The ‌researchers took note of the aesthetics of the colorful shockwave.

"Beyond the science, it's a striking reminder that space is not empty or static as we may naively imagine it: it's dynamic and sculpted by motion and energy," Scaringi said.

Sports

Real Madrid Replaces Coach Xabi Alonso with B Team Manager Alvaro Arbeloa

Real Madrid's defender Alvaro Arbeloa celebrates after scoring a goal during the Spanish league football match Real Madrid CF vs UD Almeria at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on April 29, 2015. (AFP)
Real Madrid's defender Alvaro Arbeloa celebrates after scoring a goal during the Spanish league football match Real Madrid CF vs UD Almeria at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on April 29, 2015. (AFP)
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Real Madrid Replaces Coach Xabi Alonso with B Team Manager Alvaro Arbeloa

Real Madrid's defender Alvaro Arbeloa celebrates after scoring a goal during the Spanish league football match Real Madrid CF vs UD Almeria at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on April 29, 2015. (AFP)
Real Madrid's defender Alvaro Arbeloa celebrates after scoring a goal during the Spanish league football match Real Madrid CF vs UD Almeria at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on April 29, 2015. (AFP)

Real Madrid replaced coach Xabi Alonso with B team manager Alvaro Arbeloa on Monday.

Madrid said in a statement that Alonso left by mutual agreement.

The announcement came a day after Madrid lost to Barcelona 3-2 in the final of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia. It ended a tumultuous stint that lasted less than eight months for the former Madrid and Spain midfielder.

“Real Madrid wishes to announce that, by mutual agreement between the club and Xabi Alonso, it has been decided to bring his time as first team coach to an end,” Madrid said. “Xabi Alonso will always carry the affection and admiration of all Madridistas because he is a Real Madrid legend and has always represented the values of our club. Real Madrid will always be his home.”

The club thanked Alonso and his coaching staff for “their hard work and dedication throughout this time and wish them the best of luck in this new stage of their lives.”

Alonso was under pressure as the team struggled to play well under his command. He had spats with players such as Vinícius Júnior and widespread media reports said he'd lost the locker room.

Madrid trails Barcelona by four points at the halfway point of La Liga.

Like Alonso, Arbeloa is a former player of the Spanish powerhouse, helping it win eight titles from 2009-16, including two European Cups and one Spanish league. Arbeloa also helped Spain win the 2010 World Cup and the 2008 and 2012 European Championships.

He had been coaching the B team since June. He had also coached youth teams at the club.

Alonso arrived in May with high expectations and a contract to June 2028. He led Bayer Leverkusen to an unprecedented German league and cup double in his first full season after taking over the team when it was in the Bundesliga relegation zone the season before.

As a midfielder, Alonso won six titles with Madrid from 2009-14 and a World Cup and Euros champion teammate of Arbeloa's.