Netanyahu rejects US Gaza roadmap as army pulls back to Yellow Line Iran installs IRGC veterans as Hormuz stays shut Deaths on both sides as Russia and Ukraine trade overnight strikes Houthis strike Aramco refinery and hit al-Makha port twice Typhoon Dolphin hits Zhejiang as Hong Kong sets heat record Syria and Russia turn Hmeimim and Tartus into joint training centres Congo puts Ebola toll at 1,887 as outbreak becomes its largest Rhine nears split in two as heat and drought grip Europe Ankara says Mecca defence pact could widen to Egypt Oil climbs as doubts grow over Hormuz reopening Taiwan plans record 16 percent rise in defence spending China's inflation cools as its trade gap with Germany widens Zelensky says North Korea to send up to 50,000 troops to Russia Spain turns back travellers from Italy as Ceuta row deepens Germany widens drone defences after sightings over Patriot base Pentagon presses arms makers for faster deliveries as interceptor stocks thin Israeli army seals off Christian village Taybeh after settler attacks Apple tests Chinese memory chips for iPhones and MacBooks Chinese model Kimi K3 escapes containment in test World's seas hit hottest July on record as El Niño strengthens Ottawa approves federal aid as 102 wildfires burn in British Columbia Nagasaki marks 81 years as Takaichi leaves non-nuclear pledge open Moore Threads plans Hong Kong listing as China steers capital into AI BOJ debates faster rate hikes as weak yen lifts import costs US and Israel target Hezbollah's finances Pope Leo XIV calls for ceasefire and humanitarian corridors in Sudan Thai police say school shooter had viewed violent content online Costa Rican diplomat emerges as front-runner to lead the UN Australia widens curbs on Chinese rare-earth investors as US buys into miner US conditions could sink Saudi civil nuclear deal Vucic threatens to cut water to Kosovo's largest hydropower plant Turkey resumes Black Sea transits as shipowner prepares case against Ukraine Cheap Chinese open-weight models reshape the global AI market Myanmar's junta rejects ASEAN call to free Aung San Suu Kyi Sony and TSMC to invest $6.3bn in Kumamoto image-sensor plant North Korean hacking group builds AI tools for cyberattacks, report says Alleged crime boss Kinahan charged in Dublin after extradition from Dubai Data-centre backlash spreads from British towns to the Texas oil patch Lake Mead falls to its lowest recorded level Chinese provinces push deeper into African agriculture and mining Turkish parliament to pass Kurdish settlement law before summer recess DR Congo hands 15 prisoners to rebel alliance under Doha framework Iran resumes public executions UN expert says no one should be deported to Haiti Study links early social media use to weaker school results California city takes network offline after cyberattack halts 911 dispatch China's Xuelong 2 begins first ice station survey in central Arctic Moody's warns AI race leaves banks dependent on tech suppliers Up to 20,000 seafarers stranded in the Gulf by US-Iran war Dollar near two-month low as US inflation data looms US and Israeli physicists hail China's glueball evidence as triumph FIFA rejects calls for Infantino to resign as Tebas declares his era over Biden's cancer is spreading and very painful, his son says Netanyahu rejects US Gaza roadmap as army pulls back to Yellow Line Iran installs IRGC veterans as Hormuz stays shut Deaths on both sides as Russia and Ukraine trade overnight strikes Houthis strike Aramco refinery and hit al-Makha port twice Typhoon Dolphin hits Zhejiang as Hong Kong sets heat record Syria and Russia turn Hmeimim and Tartus into joint training centres Congo puts Ebola toll at 1,887 as outbreak becomes its largest Rhine nears split in two as heat and drought grip Europe Ankara says Mecca defence pact could widen to Egypt Oil climbs as doubts grow over Hormuz reopening Taiwan plans record 16 percent rise in defence spending China's inflation cools as its trade gap with Germany widens Zelensky says North Korea to send up to 50,000 troops to Russia Spain turns back travellers from Italy as Ceuta row deepens Germany widens drone defences after sightings over Patriot base Pentagon presses arms makers for faster deliveries as interceptor stocks thin Israeli army seals off Christian village Taybeh after settler attacks Apple tests Chinese memory chips for iPhones and MacBooks Chinese model Kimi K3 escapes containment in test World's seas hit hottest July on record as El Niño strengthens Ottawa approves federal aid as 102 wildfires burn in British Columbia Nagasaki marks 81 years as Takaichi leaves non-nuclear pledge open Moore Threads plans Hong Kong listing as China steers capital into AI BOJ debates faster rate hikes as weak yen lifts import costs US and Israel target Hezbollah's finances Pope Leo XIV calls for ceasefire and humanitarian corridors in Sudan Thai police say school shooter had viewed violent content online Costa Rican diplomat emerges as front-runner to lead the UN Australia widens curbs on Chinese rare-earth investors as US buys into miner US conditions could sink Saudi civil nuclear deal Vucic threatens to cut water to Kosovo's largest hydropower plant Turkey resumes Black Sea transits as shipowner prepares case against Ukraine Cheap Chinese open-weight models reshape the global AI market Myanmar's junta rejects ASEAN call to free Aung San Suu Kyi Sony and TSMC to invest $6.3bn in Kumamoto image-sensor plant North Korean hacking group builds AI tools for cyberattacks, report says Alleged crime boss Kinahan charged in Dublin after extradition from Dubai Data-centre backlash spreads from British towns to the Texas oil patch Lake Mead falls to its lowest recorded level Chinese provinces push deeper into African agriculture and mining Turkish parliament to pass Kurdish settlement law before summer recess DR Congo hands 15 prisoners to rebel alliance under Doha framework Iran resumes public executions UN expert says no one should be deported to Haiti Study links early social media use to weaker school results California city takes network offline after cyberattack halts 911 dispatch China's Xuelong 2 begins first ice station survey in central Arctic Moody's warns AI race leaves banks dependent on tech suppliers Up to 20,000 seafarers stranded in the Gulf by US-Iran war Dollar near two-month low as US inflation data looms US and Israeli physicists hail China's glueball evidence as triumph FIFA rejects calls for Infantino to resign as Tebas declares his era over Biden's cancer is spreading and very painful, his son says

Symbolic image: Syria and Russia turn Hmeimim and Tartus into joint training centres

Symbolic image

Syria and Russia turn Hmeimim and Tartus into joint training centres

10 sources

Damascus and Moscow signed a memorandum on Sunday turning Russia's two bases on Syria's Mediterranean coast into joint training centres. Syria takes over the civilian facilities within three months.

The foreign ministry in Damascus, quoted by the state agency SANA, said the memorandum follows 18 months of talks and redefines the function of both facilities under arrangements meant to preserve mutual interests, the most significant step since negotiations began. Foreign Minister Assad Shibani inspected Latakia airport and Tartus port on Sunday, 9 August. Russia's foreign ministry had issued no comment, according to TASS and Le Monde.

Airport and berth handed over

Syria's civil aviation authority took over Latakia International Airport, next to Hmeimim, and began technical checks ahead of a rehabilitation plan to reopen it to flights. Syrian authorities said they also take over the commercial sites Russia ran at Tartus port, including Berth No. 4 and its warehouses.

A foothold since 1971

Russia has held a naval support facility at Tartus since 1971 and built the Hmeimim airbase in 2015 to support Bashar al-Assad; Putin approved permanent, free use of it in 2016. Le Monde calls the two sites Moscow's only official military outposts outside the former Soviet Union.

Other opinions

TASS led on the transfer of the Tartus commercial berth and Telesur headlined that Russia keeps both bases; the Financial Times, Bloomberg and the New York Times framed the memorandum as Syria taking control.