Archive November 2, 2025

According to Washington’s envoy to Damascus, Donald Trump will meet with Syria’s interim leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, for talks on November 10 for what would be the first time a Syrian president has traveled to the US capital.

US envoy to Syria, Tom Barrack, announced to the Axios newspaper on Saturday that al-Sharaa is scheduled to sign a deal to join an international US-led coalition against the ISIL (ISIS) group during his visit.

A Syrian source with knowledge of the situation, according to the Reuters news agency, claimed the trip was scheduled to take place within the next two weeks.

No previous Syrian president has made an official visit to Washington, according to the US State Department’s historical list of foreign leaders.

Al-Sharaa, who seized Bashar al-Assad’s rule in December, has been attempting to re-establish relations with international powers that had previously ruled Damascus.

In their first meeting in 25 years, he and Trump met in Saudi Arabia in May.

A Syria that is still adapting to life after more than 50 years of the Assad family’s rule was the subject of the meeting, which took place on the sidelines of Trump’s get-together with the Gulf Cooperation Council leaders.

Al-Sharaa also addressed the September UN General Assembly in New York.

On the sidelines of the Bahraini Manama Dialogue, Barrack, the US envoy to Syria, stated to reporters that the US had been trying to persuade Damascus to join the coalition it had led since 2014 to combat ISIL, an armed group that once held up about a third of Syria and Iraq between 2014 and 2017.

“We are trying to get everyone to be a partner in this alliance, which is very important for them,” Barrack said.

Al-Sharaa once oversaw al-Qaeda in Syria, but Osama bin Laden’s network was abandoned by his anti-Assad rebel group ten years ago, and he later clashed with ISIL.

Al-Sharaa once had a head-mounted $10 million US reward.

Before joining fighters fighting US forces in Iraq, al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Julani, fought alongside him in the Syrian conflict. He was even held there for a number of years by US troops.

ISIL was driven out of its most recent stronghold in Syria in 2019 by the US-led coalition and its regional partners.

After Israel and Hamas began implementing a ceasefire and captives’ agreement earlier this month, Trump is urging Middle East allies to take advantage of the situation to create a lasting peace in the region. The two-year Israeli occupation of Gaza will be ended with a permanent resolution in that agreement.

The situation is still precarious despite the fragile ceasefire and captivity release agreement.

104 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza earlier this week, according to the enclave’s health authorities. The strikes, the deadliest since the ceasefire’s initiation on October 10, presented the most significant challenge to the fragile truce to date.

In the meantime, Syria and Israel are negotiating a resolution that Damascus hopes will force Israel to stop its airstrikes and withdraw its troops from southern Syria.

Barrack previously stated to the Manama Dialogue that the US has been mediating de-escalation talks between Syria and Israel.

He claimed that an agreement between Syria and Israel was on the verge of completion, but he would not specify a date.

Syria and Israel have faced off in the Middle East for decades.

After several people were taken to hospitals in the United Kingdom as a result of a stabbing on a train near Cambridgeshire in eastern England, two suspects have been detained by police in the country.

The British Transport Police stated in a statement on X on Saturday that they are currently responding to a stabbing incident on a train to Huntingdon.

It stated that “two people have been detained.”

According to a separate statement from Cambridgeshire police, they were called at 19:39 GMT after reports that several people had been stabbed on a train.

Two men were detained in Huntingdon after the train was stopped by armed officers. According to the police, “a number of people have been hospitalized.”

A large-scale response to Huntingdon Railway Station, which included three air ambulances, was organized by the East of England Ambulance Service, which included numerous ambulances and critical care teams.

It stated, “We can confirm that we have taken a number of patients to the hospital.”

There was “blood everywhere” as people hid in the restrooms, according to one witness who saw a man with a large knife.

When some passengers attempted to flee, they were “stamped]on by others,” and a witness claimed that they “heard some people shouting we love you].

One of the suspects was tasered by police, according to another witness who spoke with Sky News.

The horrifying incident on a train close to Huntingdon is extremely concerning.

All those who have been affected are in my thoughts, and I thank the emergency services for their assistance.

Anyone in the area should consult the police for advice.

The “appalling” incident, according to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, is “deeply concerning.”

In a statement on X, Starmer stated, “My thoughts are with all those affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services for their response.

According to Starmer, “anyone in the area should heed the police’s advice.”

The East Coast Mainline services in the UK are provided by London North Eastern Railway, or LNER, which confirmed that one of its trains had an incident and that all of its railway lines had been closed while emergency services worked at Huntingdon Station.

LNER, which operates trains east of England and Scotland, warned of “major disruption” for passengers.

It has major stops, including those in London, Peterborough, Cambridge, York, and Edinburgh, and trains frequently are incredibly busy and crowded.

Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Paul Bristow, wrote in a post on X that “hearing reports of horrendous scenes on a train in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire,” adding that his “thoughts are with everyone affected.”

According to official government data, knife crime has increased steadily in England and Wales since 2011.

While the UK has some of the strictest gun laws in the world, Starmer has labeled widespread knife crime a “national crisis.”

Their use has been slowed down by his Labour government.

As part of the government’s efforts to reduce knife crime by a decade, nearly 60 000 blades have been “seized or surrendered” in England and Wales, according to the Home Office on Wednesday.

According to the government, knife murders have decreased by 18% in the last year because of the fact that you can already spend up to four years in prison for using a knife in public.