Lebanon

The EU has to mobilise all its resources to deal with the refugee influx without undermining the security of member states.

This was stated by European Commission Vice-President Kristalina Georgieva in an interview for the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) on Tuesday.

The images of bodies of Syrian refugees washing up on Turkey's Aegean coast have become etched in people's hearts and minds. Seeking refuge from war at home cannot be considered a voluntary trip that might be regulated with visa regulations of any sort.

Turkey has started implementing visa restrictions for Syrians entering the country by air or by sea as part of its efforts to stem the flow of migrants into Europe.

As Ankara has reversed a six-year agreement that allows visa-free entry to citizens of both Syria and Turkey, Syrians arriving in Turkey by air and sea from other countries need visas as of Jan. 8, 2016.

Turkey has introduced, as of January 08, 2016, visa requirements for Syrians entering the country by air or sea.

The measure, supposedly aimed at stemming the flow of migrants, follows an agreement with the EU to help address the migrant crisis that has caught the region in the past years, the last summer being particularly intense.

Warnings of widespread starvation are growing as pro-government forces besiege an opposition-held town in Syria and winter bites, darkening the already bleak outlook for peace talks the United Nations hopes to convene this month. 

The European Commission has adopted a package of cross-border cooperation programmes totaling EUR 1 B to back social and economic development in the regions on both sides of the EU's external borders.

Turkey is preparing to open 10 new education centers for Syrian migrant children in the Reyhanl? district of southern Hatay province, which is located on the border with Syria.

The deepening crisis between Saudi Arabia and Iran could threaten fragile efforts to negotiate an end to the Syrian war, which has claimed more than a quarter of a million lives, analysts say.
 
"The conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia will definitely have a negative impact" on the peace process, said Samir Nashar, a member of the Syrian opposition-in-exile.
 

Hezbollah said it set off a bomb targeting Israeli forces at the Lebanese border on Jan. 4 in an apparent response to the killing in Syria last month of a prominent commander, triggering Israeli shelling of southern Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia has announced it is severing diplomatic ties with Iran after Saturday’s attack on its embassy in Tehran during protests against executions in the kingdom.

Iranian diplomatic mission was asked to leave the kingdom within 48 hours as Saudis evacuate embassy staff from Tehran, according to Al Jazeera.