"The first Turkish Airlines passenger plane landed at Damascus International Airport after a hiatus of some 13 years, with Syrian passengers on board," Syria's official news agency SANA reported. Eksi told reporters that Turkish Airlines would operate three flights to Syria a week.

Syria's change of government last month has spurred a flurry of diplomatic activity. Turkish and Qatari delegations have visited Damascus, while al-Shibani embarked on trips to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan. These efforts aim to rebuild ties with regional powers and advocate for the lifting of Western sanctions. ■

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud will visit Damascus on Friday and meet with top officials in the new Syrian administration, a Syrian official said on Thursday.

No country has as much to gain from a stable Syria as Turkey, and few have as much to lose if it implodes. Turkey is home to more than 3m Syrian refugees, and wants Syria to be safe enough for many to return.

Syria's change of government last month has spurred a flurry of diplomatic activity. Turkish and Qatari delegations have visited Damascus, while al-Shibani embarked on trips to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan. These efforts aim to rebuild ties with regional powers and advocate for the lifting of Western sanctions.

Syrian Finance Minister Mohammed Abazeed met with Germany’s temporary representative in Syria Bjorn Gehrmann on Wednesday, in the first such meeting of a European Union official since Islamist rebels seized power from the Assad regime last year.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says President Donald Trump has invited him to visit the White House on Feb. 4. This will make Netanyahu the first foreign leader to visit Washington in Trump’s second term.

Wealthy Arab nations consider bankrolling Gaza’s reconstruction, but they want assurances Palestinians will lead in the postwar period.

During the 2024 MEBAA business aviation show, AeroTime met with Tahnoon Saif, CEO of Mohammed bin Rashid Aerospace Hub and asked him about the path ahead for the organization he leads. “The airport is the heart of the project,” he said. “We are talking about the biggest international airport, once it is completed by 2032-34. That’s the time frame.”

Skyscraper-studded Dubai has been on a hot streak for the last five years — and some are starting to get burned.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shibani said on Wednesday that the country will open its economy to foreign investment and that Damascus is also working on energy and electricity partnerships with Gulf states.

E ven before the ceasefire in Gaza Donald Trump had begun to reshape the Middle East. He was influential in pushing Israel to a truce with Lebanon in November. The fragile deal struck between Israel and Hamas on January 15th further reduces the intensity of the fighting in the region and resets Israel’s domestic politics.