عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Syria Signs Deal with CMA CGM to Operate Two Dry Ports, State Media Says

A shipping container belonging to CMA CGM passes through the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt October 5, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
A shipping container belonging to CMA CGM passes through the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt October 5, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
TT
TT

Syria Signs Deal with CMA CGM to Operate Two Dry Ports, State Media Says

A shipping container belonging to CMA CGM passes through the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt October 5, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
A shipping container belonging to CMA CGM passes through the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt October 5, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Syria's General Authority for Borders and Customs has signed an agreement with French shipping and logistics group CMA CGM to operate two dry ports within the free zones of Adra, in Damascus' outskirts, and Aleppo, Syrian state news agency SANA reported on Tuesday.

The deal covers the management and operation of the dry ports to support logistics and trade. It coincided with the launch of a trial freight train linking Latakia port, which is Syria’s principal maritime access point, to Adra after a 14-year halt due to the Syrian civil war.

CMA CGM was not immediately available for comment.

The agreement follows a separate deal signed in May 2025 under which CMA CGM secured a 30-year contract to modernise and operate Latakia port. Chief Executive Rodolphe Saadé, a Franco-Lebanese of Syrian origin, has family roots in the country.

On May 11, the European Union restored the full application of its 1977 cooperation agreement with Syria, ending a partial suspension imposed in 2011 over human rights violations under Bashar al-Assad.

The move follows Assad's fall in December 2024 and the lifting of most EU economic sanctions in 2025, and is intended to support Syria's economic recovery and signal renewed EU engagement with the country.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Macron Arrives in Syria as First Major Western Leader to Visit Country Under New Leadership

France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) is welcomed by Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (R) as he arrives fo a state visit at the Damascus International Airport in Damascus on July 6, 2026. (AFP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) is welcomed by Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (R) as he arrives fo a state visit at the Damascus International Airport in Damascus on July 6, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

Macron Arrives in Syria as First Major Western Leader to Visit Country Under New Leadership

France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) is welcomed by Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (R) as he arrives fo a state visit at the Damascus International Airport in Damascus on July 6, 2026. (AFP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron (L) is welcomed by Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (R) as he arrives fo a state visit at the Damascus International Airport in Damascus on July 6, 2026. (AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived Monday in Syria, making him the first major western leader to visit the war-torn country since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in 2024. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited April, but Macron is the first leader from western Europe or North America to do so. 

The French president’s visit comes during a period of relative calm in the Middle East after the monthlong war in Iran and Lebanon.  

He will travel next to Ankara, Türkiye, for the NATO summit, where Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is also expected to attend and hold a high-profile meeting with US President Donald Trump. 

Syria’s state-run SANA news agency said Macron would visit with a business delegation to discuss regional security as well as business and investment opportunities. 

Macron was greeted at Damascus airport by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani. 

Macron hosted al-Sharaa in Paris in May 2025, where he urged European and US leaders to lift longstanding sanctions on Damascus. Most of those sanctions had since been lifted. 

Arab World

Sudan Gold Mine Collapse Kills 15 Miners

Workers break rocks at a gold mine near Abu Delelq in Gadarif State, Sudan. (Reuters)
Workers break rocks at a gold mine near Abu Delelq in Gadarif State, Sudan. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Sudan Gold Mine Collapse Kills 15 Miners

Workers break rocks at a gold mine near Abu Delelq in Gadarif State, Sudan. (Reuters)
Workers break rocks at a gold mine near Abu Delelq in Gadarif State, Sudan. (Reuters)

A partial collapse in a decommissioned gold mine in northern Sudan has killed 15 miners, a state company said on Monday.

The miners had snuck into the shut-down Mohamed Tawfiq mine, in Wadi Halfa near the Egyptian border, when "parts of the mine collapsed... killing 15 miners and injuring one," the Sudanese Mineral Resources Company said.

Since war erupted in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, both sides' war efforts have been largely funded by Sudan's gold industry, in addition to foreign backers.

The war has devastated Sudan's already fragile economy and left much of the country out of work, pushing many into a dangerous gold rush.

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining, which takes place in unofficial zones or decommissioned mines, accounts for the majority of gold extracted.

These mines lack proper safety measures and use hazardous chemicals that often cause widespread illness in nearby areas.

Even before the war pushed 25 million Sudanese into acute food insecurity, artisanal mining employed more than two million people, according to industry figures.

Africa's third-largest country is one of the continent's top gold producers, and this year SMRC reported a "five-year high" in production of 70 tons in 2025.

But officials say much of the gold is smuggled across Sudan's borders.

Of last year's 70 tons, only "20 tons were exported through official channels", army-aligned Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim told AFP.

Arab World

Israel’s Detention of Prominent Gazan Doctor Is Arbitrary, UN Body Says

A woman holds a sign that reads "Free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Free Gaza" during a protest in front of the Shin Bet offices, calling for his release, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 1, 2025. (AP)
A woman holds a sign that reads "Free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Free Gaza" during a protest in front of the Shin Bet offices, calling for his release, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 1, 2025. (AP)
TT
TT

Israel’s Detention of Prominent Gazan Doctor Is Arbitrary, UN Body Says

A woman holds a sign that reads "Free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Free Gaza" during a protest in front of the Shin Bet offices, calling for his release, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 1, 2025. (AP)
A woman holds a sign that reads "Free Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Free Gaza" during a protest in front of the Shin Bet offices, calling for his release, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Jan. 1, 2025. (AP)

A UN human rights body on Monday called Israel's detention of Gazan doctor Hussam Abu Safiya arbitrary and sought his immediate release as rights groups and his lawyer warned that his life was in imminent danger.

In its finding, the ‌UN Working ‌Group on Arbitrary Detention said ‌that ⁠Israel's actions contravened multiple articles ⁠of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

"The appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Abu Safiya immediately and accord him an enforceable ⁠right to compensation and other reparations, ‌in accordance with ‌international law," it said.

It also voiced broader concerns ‌that the case, one of several ‌it has received, "may indicate a widespread or systematic practice of arbitrary detention in the country."

Earlier on Monday, the doctor's lawyer alleged that his health was ‌in grave danger and that he had been subjected to brutal ⁠abuse ⁠on a daily basis, prompting calls for his release from rights groups.

The Israel Prison Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Previously, it has rejected allegations that Abu Safiya and other doctors have been mistreated in prison.

The Israeli Supreme Court has in the past declined to comment on appeals for his release.