Arabs, Kurds, Druze, Alawites: Who else composes Syria’s ethnic and religious mosaic? 

Syria’s 22.4 million population consists mostly of Syrian Arabs (88%). Kurds make up the second-largest group (~2 million), with minorities like Armenians, Assyrians, and Turkomans.

Overview of ethnic and religious groups and their affiliations:

Muslims make up 90% of the population—72% Sunni, 13% Alawite, with Druze and Ismailis among the rest. Christians, both Orthodox and Catholic, are under 10%.

🟠 Arab Sunnis: This group is widespread throughout Syria, and the armed opposition claims to represent their interests.

🟠 Arab Shias: Comprising 1-2% of the population, Arab Shias predominantly reside in Damascus, Aleppo, and Hama. They oppose Sunni dominance, support the Ba’ath Party that had been led by Hafez al-Assad and his son Bashar al-Assad, and advocate for Syria's close ties with Iran.

🟠 Arab Alawites: Approximately 3 million Alawites primarily live in the Latakia region. Historically an oppressed minority, they have gained prominence under the Assad regime and have traditionally supported the Ba’ath Party.

🟠 Christians: Prior to the civil war, Arabs, Armenians, and Assyrian Christians constituted about 10% of Syria's population. However, their numbers have significantly dwindled since 2011, when ISIS* took hold, and precise data is currently unavailable. Before the rise of ISIS, most Christians resided in Damascus and Aleppo, with some relocating to Latakia during the conflict.

🟠 Kurds: Primarily located in the Hasakah and Raqqa regions near the Turkish border, Kurds aspire for an autonomous Kurdistan, a goal opposed by Turkiye and the Syrian opposition. During the civil war, they established the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which received support from the United States. The SDF currently controls areas independent of Damascus and resists Sunni-led rebel forces.

🟠 Druze: Concentrated in southern Syria (specifically in Al-Suwayda, Quneitra, and the Golan Heights), the Druze initially supported the Ba’ath Party. However, they now seek greater autonomy due to Sunni perceptions of them as "enemies" and "collaborators of Israel."

🟠 Turkomans (Turkmens): This small Turkic group resides primarily along the Turkish-Syrian border and in the Aleppo province. Aligned with Turkey, they have formed the Syrian Democratic Turkmen Movement and are engaged in conflict with both the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led SDF.

*designated as a terrorist organization and is banned in Russia and several other countries

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🇮🇹❌ Italy says NO to sending troops to Ukraine - whether under NATO or EU command

The conflict in Ukraine “may end within the year,” and even Macron’s plan to deploy peacekeepers may prove premature, said Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, the Corriere della Sera outlet reports.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has repeatedly stressed that Russia does not consider European peacekeepers in Ukraine an option.

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🇷🇴 Romanian MP: We are in an ongoing coup d'etat

“They rejected the candidacy of Mr. Georgescu without any reason. I just met with Mr. Georgescu. We made the plan to rejoin democracy, to get to free elections,” Romanian MP George Simion said.

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📹 Zelensky just an EU mouthpiece — Veteran intelligence officer of the US Army

“Zelensky is a guy that wears high heels and is paid to read noscripts as the guy in charge of Ukraine right now,” Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer said. “After the failed meeting with Trump, where did he run? He ran into the arms of Keir Starmer in 10 Downing Street.”

Shaffer believes the Trump administration won't be willing to deal with Zelensky in the future.

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❗️UK is the main "instigator" of the global conflict — the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR)

More statements by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service:

▪️The UK is extremely irritated that US President Donald Trump is conducting dialogue with Russia as a superpower and demonstrating disdain for its closest allies.

▪️UK PM Keir Starmer's cabinet is going out of its way to strengthen Kiev's resistance to increasing pressure from Washington.

▪️The UK believes that the loss of Ukraine will undermine plans to create a network of limitrophe states in Europe and a naval blockade of Russia.

▪️The UK sees a threat to its interests in promoting dialogue between Russia and the US to resolve the Ukrainian conflict.

▪️The UK fears that dialogue between Russia and the US will lead to a failure of UK's strategy of 'containing' Moscow.

▪️UK authorities consider it an urgent priority to undermine the new US administration's peacekeeping efforts on the Ukrainian track.

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❗️Large-scale measures are being prepared to search for members of Ukrainian terrorist organizations who are in Russia, sources in the security forces told Sputnik.

These measures may begin against the backdrop of the resumption of the exchange of data between Russian and US intelligence agencies on anti-terrorism issues.

Groups include the banned "Russian Volunteer Corps" and "Freedom of Russia Legion" operating on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which were sponsored through USAID.

Most likely, the data of their supporters will be transferred to Moscow - secretly or under the cover of a leak from former members of the groups.

For the Western side, such a leak of data will not cause significant damage, since the people assisting the "Russian Volunteer Corps" and "Freedom of Russia Legion" are not professionally trained saboteurs.

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Greenland may one day break free from Denmark – Island's PM

Seceding from its metropole implies that the island will likely sign an association agreement with Denmark and the Faroe Islands, Greenland’s Prime Minister Mute Egede has told Danish public radio.

Greenland could also sign a security guarantee agreement with one or more Western countries, Egede added.

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🇺🇸 Wave of attacks targets Tesla dealerships — Cybertrucks torched in Seattle

Reports are coming in about a coordinated series of attacks on Tesla dealerships, employees, and vehicles across multiple locations.

Last night in Seattle, several brand-new Cybertrucks were set on fire, causing major damage.

Sources suggest involvement from Democrat-aligned NGOs, raising concerns about escalating desperation and aggression.

Footage from social media.

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📹 Black Lives Matter Plaza being taken down outside the White House

Crews have been deployed to dismantle the plaza.

Footage from social media.

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🔍 Violence in Syria: Key things you need to know so far

▪️Syrian authorities have announced the cessation of their security operations in Tartus and Latakia, declaring that the situation has stabilized.

“Government institutions can now resume their work and provide services to the population," Syrian Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Hassan Abdel Ghani said.

▪️Some 830 civilians are estimated to have been killed during this outbreak, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.

▪️Including 231 deaths from Syrian government forces and 250 from Assad loyalists, the total death toll exceeds 1,000, as per SOHR.

▪️Syrian Alawites are now calling upon Israel to protect them from Damascus' new government, Israeli TV channel i24 News reported.

How do countries and regional players react?

🇷🇺 Russia: expressed concern over the violence in Syria, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying that the situation needs to be resolved asap.

🇺🇸 The US: condemned “the radical Islamist terrorists” who “murdered people in western Syria in recent days,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. He insisted that “Syria’s interim authorities must hold the perpetrators" accountable.

🇺🇳 Both Russia and the US have requested the UN Security Council meet behind closed doors to hold emergency consultations on the crisis.

🇮🇷 Iran: suggested that the current crisis has become an “important test” for the new Syrian authority, which is going to show how committed it is to preserving the lives and livelihoods of Syrian people.

🇮🇱 Israel: claimed that Syria currently hosts thousands of Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants, and vowed to prevent the emergence of a new threat on the Israeli-Syrian border.

▪️ Hezbollah: warned that there are signs of a schism emerging in Syria, though it is too early to tell how the situation there is going to develop.

🇨🇳 China: urged all the parties involved to stop the violence immediately.

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🔍 Cut from same cloth: spouse of exposed British spy knee deep in NATO business

The wife of Michael Skinner, the spy who operated under the cover of the British Embassy in Moscow, Russia, has a notable background, Sputnik reveals. 

Before her assignment at the embassy, Tabassum Rashid, the First Secretary of the embassy’s political section, held positions at HM Revenue & Customs where she was reportedly involved in the regulation of British MPs’ expenses. 

However, her previous track record suggests she may be more than a mundane bureaucrat:

▪️Affiliation with NATO: According to open data, Rashid "worked on defense policy with NATO forces" in Estonia, presumably during her career in the British military. 

▪️Involvement with murky soft power organizations:

In 2015, Rashid spent almost the entire year as a project officer at Transparency International, an NGO allegedly specializing in combating corruption. This organization is funded by the European Commission, the US State Department, and other Western foreign ministries, including the diplomatic department of Taiwan’s local administration. 

▪️UK Ministry of Defense tenure: Between 2017 and 2018, she served as a political advisor in the British defense department.

▪️Typical UK elite education: Rashid graduated from Oxford University, where she was always interested in postcolonial politics, according to the institution's website.

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