Summary: with the world otherwise occupied, the desperate situation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Türkiye and Jordan has been shuffled to one side. Fresh thinking is urgently required.
Summary: the Syrian president who has conducted a ruthless and bloody war now appears poised to be welcomed back into the Arab fold by fellow dictators and authoritarian ruling families.
Summary: Captagon use in the kingdom is on the up; critics blame Vision 2030 and anti-Islamic social engineering masterminded by MbS and his right hand man Saud al-Qahtani for causing widespread nihilism among young Saudis, driving up the demand for illicit drugs.
Summary: the decision to bring Syria back into the Interpol fold has serious and long-term consequences as the battle to contain the captagon trade in the Gulf and the wider Middle East intensifies.
Summary: as the captagon trade continues to boom in the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf, its security and geopolitical implications have become harder to ignore.
Summary: Morocco implements new legislation regarding the production and sale of cannabis but full decriminalisation is still a long way off.
Summary: Hezbollah and its leader Hassan Nasrallah will go to any lengths to prevent the truth about the 4 August 2020 Beirut harbour blast emerging into the light.
Summary: a new report on organised crime around the world indicates Arab countries are amongst the world’s biggest offenders, with states in conflict or post-conflict at the bottom of the list.
Summary: The Assad family and Hezbollah have used the Syrian civil war to build a thriving industry in illicit drugs and in doing so have turned the country into a narco-state
Summary: heroin mostly enters the Arab world from Afghanistan via Iran enroute to markets in Europe. Arab countries close to the main smuggling routes are the most impacted by the trade. The Syrian war has led traffickers to re-route heroin shipments via the Black Sea and Africa.
