Israel has confirmed it carried out attacks on Syria’s naval fleet, as part of its efforts to neutralise military assets in the country after the fall of the Assad regime. In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces IDF said its ships struck the ports at Al-Bayda and Latakia on Monday night, where 15 vessels were docked. The BBC has verified videos showing blasts at the port of Latakia, with footage appearing to show extensive damage to ships and parts of the port. The IDF also said its warplanes had conducted more than 350 air strikes on targets across Syria, while moving ground forces into the demilitarised buffer zone between Syria and the occupied Golan Heights.

Earlier, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights SOHR said it had documented more than 310 strikes by the IDF since the Syrian government was overthrown by rebels on Sunday. In a statement, Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said the IDF was aiming to “destroy strategic capabilities that threaten the State of Israel The IDF said a wide range of targets had been struck – including airfields, military vehicles, anti-aircraft weapons and arms production sites – in the Syrian capital, Damascus, as well as Homs, Tartus and Palmyra.

It also targeted weapon warehouses, ammunition depots and “dozens” of sea-to-sea missiles. It added that it had done so to prevent them “from falling into the hands of extremists In a video message, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Syrian rebel group that ousted President Bashar al-Assad, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham HTS that Israel would “respond forcefully” if they allow Iran to “re-establish itself in Syria He has previously expressed a desire for peaceful ties with the new Syrian government, and cast its interventions as defensive.

Rami Abdul Rahman, the founder of the SOHR, described the impact of the strikes as destroying “all the capabilities of the Syrian army” and said that “Syrian lands are being violated Meanwhile, the IDF also confirmed it had troops operating in Syrian territory beyond the buffer zone bordering the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The IDF acknowledged that its troops had entered Syrian territory but told the BBC that reports of tanks approaching Damascus were “false”.

It said some troops had been stationed within the Area of Separation that borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights “and then a few additional points When we say a few additional points, we’re talking the area of the Area of Separation, or the area of the buffer zone in vicinity,” IDF spokesperson Nadav Shoshani told the BBC. BBC Verify has geolocated an image of an IDF soldier standing just over half a kilometre beyond the demilitarized buffer zone in the Golan Heights, inside Syria on a hillside near the village of Kwdana.  (BBC)

HAITI – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Haiti’s growth is projected to be barely positive in 2025 and will stabilise at only 1.5 per cent over the medium term pending further improvements in the security outlook. It said Haiti faces an unprecedented multidimensional crisis encompassing humanitarian, economic, social, and security problems and that the economy of the French-speaking Caribbean Community (Caricom) country has a low tax base and a large informal sector that relies heavily on volatile remittance flows. The IMF, whose executive board has just completed Article IV Consultation with Haiti, said that since the last 2019 consultation, the country has suffered a series of shocks, including the pandemic; a devastating earthquake in 2021; cholera outbreaks; and the economic spillovers of the war in Ukraine, which led to a food crisis that triggered acute hunger. “The severe deterioration of security over the last few years has magnified these problems leading to a surge in the number of displaced people within and outside Haiti and to a significant drop in potential growth.”

The Washington-based financial institution said that Haiti’s macroeconomic outlook is challenging and subject to elevated uncertainty. “The supply-side shock caused by the security crisis would continue to greatly affect growth and feed inflation unless the security outlook improves. Fiscal revenues, which are essential to reconstruct basic infrastructure after years of social unrest, and support large development needs, are only slowly recovering.” (Jamaicaobserver)

Photo: Residents evacuate their neighbourhood after armed gangs instilled terror in the Delmas 24 and Solino areas of Port-au-Prince.

The Human Organ and Tissue Transplant Agency HOATTA hosted its inaugural stakeholders’ meeting on Saturday at the Grand Coastal Hotel, marking a pivotal moment in the development of organ and tissue transplantation in Guyana. The event brought together healthcare professionals, policymakers, and other key stakeholders to discuss strategies for enhancing the country’s transplant capabilities. Notable participants included Mr. Daniel Albrecht, PWR a.i., Pan American Health Organisation PAHO Dr. Shanti Singh-Anthony, Chair, HOATTA; Dr. Sondia Gordon, CEO and Secretary, HOATTA; members Dr. David Samaroo; Dr. Pedro Lewis; Dr. Kamela Bemaul-Sukhu and other stakeholders.

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, underscored the life-saving potential of organ and tissue transplantation, and its vital role in improving healthcare outcomes. He lauded HOATTA for its dedication to ensuring safe, accessible, and high-quality transplant services in Guyana. We aim to establish Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) testing locally. The equipment has already been procured, and we are working on recruiting technical personnel. While this process will take time, our vision extends beyond Guyana; we aspire to become a centre of excellence for the Caribbean,” Dr. Anthony stated.

He added, “As it is now, the programmes in the Caribbean have to send their samples to Miami and other parts for testing, … So, if we could offer this service here in Guyana, I think it’s going to be a very good thing. We have a very strong partnership with McMaster University; we have already been talking to them about training a couple of persons for us. ”The health minister said that the Ministry of Health will support a robust training programme to boost the local healthcare capability as it relates to human organ transplants. “A group will be going off next year to get that training and once they come back, we will have that capacity in the country…we are looking at other partners like Brazil, who through bilateral arrangements will facilitate other training in transplant,” Dr. Antony added while reaffirming the government’s commitment to supporting HOATTA’s initiatives. He called for collective efforts to build a robust national transplant programme, adhering to the highest ethical and medical standards Further, Dr. Anthony said that Guyana’s effort to boost human organ and tissue transplant is supported by a number of notable regional and international partners including PAHO and the European Union EU. The meeting included a comprehensive review of the current state of organ donation and transplantation in Guyana. Discussions covered key areas such as legislation, donor recruitment, and raising public awareness. inaugural meeting represents a significant milestone in Guyana’s healthcare sector, laying the groundwork for a sustainable and ethical transplant programme that will benefit citizens and position the country as a leader in regional transplant services.  (Kaieteur News)

Photo: Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony.