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Lebanon Latest: concerns about latest escalation in regional fighting

Lebanon Latest: concerns about latest escalation in regional fighting

NewsFeed Al Jazeera’s Robert McBride brings you the latest from Beirut with concerns about how renewed fighting in the region will impact Lebanon. Published On 9 Jul 20269 Jul 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)

Chemical weapons watchdog restores Syria’s voting rights, citing progress

Chemical weapons watchdog restores Syria’s voting rights, citing progress

Syria regains voting rights in the OPCW as new leadership makes progress in addressing chemical weapons issues. Published On 9 Jul 20269 Jul 2026 The global chemical weapons’ watchdog has announced it has handed voting rights back to Syria because “concrete steps” have been taken to address outstanding issues since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime. In a statement published on Thursday, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said the decision follows a “significant change” in circumstances since Syria was suspended in 2021. That was due to the former government’s failure to declare the full scope of its chemical weapons programme and the repeated use of poison gas during the civil war. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Since a lightning offensive ousted long-time ruler al-Assad in 2024, “the new Syrian authorities committed to fulfilling Syria’s obligations under the Convention and have since taken concrete steps to cooperate with the Technical Secretariat to achieve this goal”, read the statement. Actions taken by the new government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa include facilitating verification activities and taking initial steps in destroying identified remnants. “These decisions reflect the tangible progress achieved through continued cooperation and constructive engagement between the Technical Secretariat and the Syrian Arab Republic, with the support of the wider community of States Parties,” said OPCW Director-General Fernando Arias. In 2013, Syria joined the OPCW and agreed to the destruction of its weapons to be supervised by the watchdog. Back then, Syria was believed to possess about 1,000 tonnes of toxins and had agreed to destroy them under a joint Russian-US proposal designed to avert a US military strike on its territory. Advertisement Syria’s decision followed a global outcry over a suspected chemical attack that same year in Ghouta, an eastern suburb of the capital Damascus. US intelligence estimated that at least 1,400 people, including 426 children, were killed in that attack which it attributed with “high confidence” to the Syrian government. Al-Assad denied involvement and blamed rebels. According to OPCW, while Syria submitted an initial declaration of its chemical weapons programme, the former government did not declare all its chemical weapons programme and attempted to mislead inspectors about its overall scope and scale. Adblock test (Why?)

A quest for closure: In search of the missing after Venezuela’s earthquakes

A quest for closure: In search of the missing after Venezuela’s earthquakes

A quest for closure Posters now crowd walls, lampposts and shopfronts across La Guaira and the capital Caracas. They bear the faces of the dead. As rescue efforts continue, families search for their loved ones, hoping they will be among the 6,462 people rescued so far. But some face the grim prospect of identifying the dead. Inside an air-conditioned room at a funeral parlour in La Guaira, small wooden boxes line the floor, containing the remains of those who have already been identified and cremated. Staff say they have lost count of the bodies that have passed through since the earthquake. It has taken a psychological toll. “I went five days without sleeping — days and nights spent with people, living through their pain,” Santiago Rodriguez, who works at the funeral parlour, told Al Jazeera. Santiago Rodriguez, a funeral parlour worker, fears some families may never receive closure [Alfie Pannell/Al Jazeera] Every day, Rodriguez sees new families arriving at the funeral parlour, looking for their missing relatives. But many leave without answers. Some bodies have been buried without names, though photographs have been taken in case they can be identified later. Fingerprints can no longer be taken: Many bodies are now too decomposed. Workers in white forensic overalls can be seen throughout the day lugging corpses out of the building to stack in a van. Many of the bodies are being transported to a mass grave in La Esperanza, La Guaira. Rodriguez fears a situation similar to what Venezuela experienced in 1999, when mudslides in La Guaira killed an estimated 30,000 people in this region. The death toll was so high, and the devastation so vast, that some victims were never found. The same is likely to happen this time, Rodriguez said. Small wooden boxes cradle the remains of those who have been cremated at a funeral home in La Guaira, Venezuela [Alfie Pannell/Al Jazeera] A preliminary report from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimates that the earthquake created 1.2 million tonnes of debris across La Guaira. Entire city blocks were flattened. “When they start removing all that rubble, the machines will destroy the remains of many bodies,” Rodriguez said. He also believes the lack of government assistance has cost lives. While human rights groups have criticised the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela for violently suppressing dissent, Rodriguez said he is no longer scared. “The authorities have not really appeared at all,” he said. “We lost some of our family. I lost my two grandchildren — my daughter’s two children. What else do I have to lose?” Adblock test (Why?)