auto-update week 50

middle-east/jo.json

@@ -667,7 +667,7 @@
   },
   "Economy": {
     "Economic overview": {
-      "text": "low growth, upper middle-income Middle Eastern economy; high debt and unemployment, especially for youth and women; key US foreign assistance recipient; natural resource-poor and import-reliant"
+      "text": "<p>upper-middle-income Middle Eastern economy; high debt and unemployment, especially for youth and women; global events triggering trade slump and decreased revenue from tourism; growing manufacturing and agricultural sectors; key US foreign assistance recipient; natural-resource-poor and import-reliant </p>"
     },
     "Real GDP (purchasing power parity)": {
       "Real GDP (purchasing power parity) 2023": {

middle-east/le.json

@@ -1138,10 +1138,10 @@
       }
     },
     "Military and security service personnel strengths": {
-      "text": "approximately 73,000 active troops (70,000 Army; 1,500 Navy; 1,500 Air Force) (2024)"
+      "text": "approximately 70-75,000 active troops (2024)"
     },
     "Military equipment inventories and acquisitions": {
-      "text": "the LAF inventory includes a wide mix of mostly older equipment from a diverse array of countries; in recent years, the US has been the leading supplier of armaments to Lebanon; the country's economic crisis has severely limited military procurement (2024)"
+      "text": "the LAF inventory includes a wide mix of mostly older equipment from a diverse array of countries, including the US; the country's economic crisis has limited military procurement efforts (2024)"
     },
     "Military service age and obligation": {
       "text": "17-25 years of age for men and women for voluntary military service; no conscription (2024)",

middle-east/mu.json

@@ -535,11 +535,12 @@
         "text": "Sultan and Prime Minister HAITHAM bin Tarik Al Said (since 11 January 2020)"
       },
       "head of government": {
-        "text": "Sultan and Prime HAITHAM bin Tarik Al Said (since 11 January 2020)"
+        "text": "Sultan and Prime Minister HAITHAM bin Tarik Al Said (since 11 January 2020)"
       },
       "cabinet": {
         "text": "Cabinet appointed by the monarch"
-      }
+      },
+      "note": "<strong>note</strong> - the monarch is both chief of state and head of government"
     },
     "Legislative branch": {
       "description": {

middle-east/sy.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "Introduction": {
     "Background": {
-      "text": "<p>After World War I, France acquired a mandate over the northern portion of the former Ottoman Empire province of Syria. The French administered the area until granting it independence in 1946. The new country lacked political stability and experienced a series of military coups. Syria united with Egypt in 1958 to form the United Arab Republic. In 1961, the two entities separated, and the Syrian Arab Republic was reestablished. In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Syria lost control of the Golan Heights region to Israel. During the 1990s, Syria and Israel held occasional, albeit unsuccessful, peace talks over its return. In 1970, Hafiz al-ASAD, a member of the socialist Ba'ath Party and the minority Alawi sect, seized power in a bloodless coup and brought political stability to the country. Following the death of al-ASAD, his son, Bashar al-ASAD, was approved as president by popular referendum in 2000. Syrian troops that were stationed in Lebanon since 1976 in an ostensible peacekeeping role were withdrawn in 2005. During the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hizballah, Syria placed its military forces on alert but did not intervene directly on behalf of its ally Hizballah. In 2007, Bashar al-ASAD's second term as president was again approved in a referendum.</p> <p>In the wake of major uprisings elsewhere in the region, antigovernment protests broke out in the southern province of Dar'a in 2011. Protesters called for the legalization of political parties, the removal of corrupt local officials, and the repeal of the restrictive Emergency Law allowing arrests without charge. Demonstrations and violent unrest spread across Syria, and the government responded with concessions, but also with military force and detentions that led to extended clashes and eventually civil war. International pressure on the Syrian Government intensified after 2011, as the Arab League, the EU, Turkey, and the US expanded economic sanctions against the ASAD regime and those entities that supported it. In 2012, more than 130 countries recognized the Syrian National Coalition as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people. In 2015, Russia launched a military intervention on behalf of the ASAD regime, and domestic and foreign-government-aligned forces recaptured swaths of territory from opposition forces. With foreign support, the regime continued to periodically regain opposition-held territory until 2020, when Turkish firepower halted a regime advance and forced a stalemate between regime and opposition forces. The government lacks territorial control over much of the northeastern part of the country, which the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) hold, and a smaller area dominated by Turkey. <br><br>Since 2016, Turkey has conducted three large-scale military operations to capture territory along Syria's northern border. Some opposition forces organized under the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and Turkish forces have maintained control of northwestern Syria along the Turkish border with the Afrin area of Aleppo Province since 2018. The violent extremist organization Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly the Nusrah Front) emerged in 2017 as the predominant opposition force in Idlib Province, and still dominates an area also hosting Turkish forces. Negotiations have failed to produce a resolution to the conflict, and the UN estimated in 2022 that at least 306,000 people have died during the civil war. Approximately 6.7 million Syrians were internally displaced as of 2022, and 14.6 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance across the country. An additional 5.6 million Syrians were registered refugees in Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and North Africa. The conflict in Syria remains one of the two largest displacement crises worldwide (the other is the full-scale invasion of Ukraine).</p>"
+      "text": "<p>After World War I, France acquired a mandate over the northern portion of the former Ottoman Empire province of Syria. The French administered the area until granting it independence in 1946. The new country lacked political stability and experienced a series of military coups. Syria united with Egypt in 1958 to form the United Arab Republic. In 1961, the two entities separated, and the Syrian Arab Republic was reestablished. In the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Syria lost control of the Golan Heights region to Israel. During the 1990s, Syria and Israel held occasional, albeit unsuccessful, peace talks over its return. In 1970, Hafiz al-ASAD, a member of the socialist Ba'ath Party and the minority Alawi sect, seized power in a bloodless coup and brought political stability to the country. Following the death of al-ASAD, his son, Bashar al-ASAD, was approved as president by popular referendum in 2000. Syrian troops that were stationed in Lebanon since 1976 in an ostensible peacekeeping role were withdrawn in 2005. During the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hizballah, Syria placed its military forces on alert but did not intervene directly on behalf of its ally Hizballah. In 2007, Bashar al-ASAD's second term as president was again approved in a referendum.</p> <p>In the wake of major uprisings elsewhere in the region, antigovernment protests broke out in the southern province of Dar'a in 2011. Protesters called for the legalization of political parties, the removal of corrupt local officials, and the repeal of the restrictive Emergency Law allowing arrests without charge. Demonstrations and violent unrest spread across Syria, and the government responded with concessions, but also with military force and detentions that led to extended clashes and eventually civil war. International pressure on the Syrian Government intensified after 2011, as the Arab League, the EU, Turkey, and the US expanded economic sanctions against the ASAD regime and those entities that supported it. In 2012, more than 130 countries recognized the Syrian National Coalition as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people. In 2015, Russia launched a military intervention on behalf of the ASAD regime, and domestic and foreign-government-aligned forces recaptured swaths of territory from opposition forces. With foreign support, the regime continued to periodically regain opposition-held territory until 2020, when Turkish firepower halted a regime advance and forced a stalemate between regime and opposition forces. The government lacks territorial control over much of the northeastern part of the country, which the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) hold, and a smaller area dominated by Turkey. <br><br>Since 2016, Turkey has conducted three large-scale military operations to capture territory along Syria's northern border. Some opposition forces organized under the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and Turkish forces have maintained control of northwestern Syria along the Turkish border with the Afrin area of Aleppo Province since 2018. The violent extremist organization Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly the Nusrah Front) emerged in 2017 as the predominant opposition force in Idlib Province, and still dominates an area also hosting Turkish forces. Negotiations have failed to produce a resolution to the conflict, and the UN estimated in 2022 that at least 306,000 people have died during the civil war. Approximately 6.7 million Syrians were internally displaced as of 2022, and 14.6 million people were in need of humanitarian assistance across the country. An additional 5.6 million Syrians were registered refugees in Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and North Africa. The conflict in Syria remains one of the two largest displacement crises worldwide (the other is the full-scale invasion of Ukraine).<br><br>On 8 December 2024, Syrian Islamist rebels captured the capital city of Damascus and overthrew President Bashar al-ASAD. The former president and his family fled to Moscow, where they were granted political asylum. The al-ASAD regime had ruled Syria for over 50 years.</p>"
     }
   },
   "Geography": {
@@ -532,10 +532,10 @@
     },
     "Executive branch": {
       "chief of state": {
-        "text": "President Bashar al-ASAD (since 17 July 2000)"
+        "text": "vacant; former President Bashar al-ASAD was overthrown by Islamist rebels on 8 December 2024; ASAD and his family flew to Moscow where they were granted political asylum"
       },
       "head of government": {
-        "text": "Prime Minister Hussein ARNOUS (since 30 August 2020)"
+        "text": "Prime Minister Muhammad al-BASHIR (since 8 December 2024)"
       },
       "cabinet": {
         "text": "Council of Ministers appointed by the president"
@@ -1090,8 +1090,7 @@
   },
   "Military and Security": {
     "Military and security forces": {
-      "text": "Syrian Armed Forces: Syrian Arab Army (includes Republican Guard), Syrian Naval Forces, Syrian Air Forces, Syrian Air Defense Forces, National Defense Forces (NDF), and Local Defense Forces (LDF) (2023)",
-      "note": "<strong>note:</strong> NDF and LDF are pro-government militia and auxiliary forces; some militia and auxiliary forces are backed by Iran; the Syrian military is also supported by the Russian armed forces, the Iran-affiliated Hizballah terrorist group, and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps"
+      "text": "prior to the fall of the Syrian ASAD regime in December 2024, the Syrian Armed Forces (SAF) consisted of the Syrian Arab Army (included the Republican Guard), Syrian Naval Forces, Syrian Air Forces, Syrian Air Defense Forces, National Defense Forces (NDF), and Local Defense Forces (LDF); the NDF and LDF were pro-government militia and auxiliary forces, some of which were backed by Iran (2024)"
     },
     "Military expenditures": {
       "Military Expenditures 2019": {
@@ -1111,18 +1110,17 @@
       }
     },
     "Military and security service personnel strengths": {
-      "text": "current estimates not available; the Syrian Armed Forces (SAF) continue to rebuild after suffering significant casualties and desertions since the start of the civil war in 2011; prior to the civil war, the SAF had approximately 300,000 troops, including 200-225,000 Army, plus about 300,000 reserve forces (2023)",
-      "note": "<strong>note: </strong>pro-government militia and auxiliary forces probably number in the tens of thousands"
+      "text": "not available; prior to the start of the civil war in 2011, the SAF had approximately 300,000 total troops (2024)"
     },
     "Military equipment inventories and acquisitions": {
-      "text": "the SAF's inventory is comprised mostly of Russian and Soviet-era equipment&nbsp; (2024)"
+      "text": "prior to the fall of the ASAD regime in December 2024, the SAF was inventory was comprised mostly of Russian and Soviet-era weapons and equipment (2024)"
     },
     "Military service age and obligation": {
-      "text": "men 18-42 are obligated to perform military service; compulsory service obligation reportedly up to 30 months; women are not conscripted but may volunteer to serve, including in combat arms (2023)",
-      "note": "<strong>note 1:</strong> the military is comprised largely of conscripts; men in their late 40s and 50s reportedly have been drafted into military service during the civil war<br><br><strong>note 2:</strong> Syrian women have been serving in combat roles since 2013; in 2015, the Syrian military created an all-female commando brigade"
+      "text": "prior to the fall of the ASAD regime in December 2024, men 18-42 were obligated to perform military service; compulsory service obligation was up to 30 months; women were not conscripted but could volunteer to serve, including in combat arms (2024)",
+      "note": "<strong>note:</strong> the military was comprised largely of conscripts; men in their late 40s and 50s reportedly had been drafted into military service during the civil war"
     },
     "Military - note": {
-      "text": "the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has operated in the Golan between Israel and Syria since 1974 to monitor the ceasefire following the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and supervise the areas of separation between the two countries; UNDOF has about 1,000 personnel <br><br>multiple actors have conducted military operations in Syria in support of the ASAD government or Syrian opposition forces, as well in pursuit of their own security goals, such as counterterrorism and border security; operations have included air strikes, direct ground combat, and sponsoring proxy forces, as well as providing non-lethal military support, including advisors, technicians, arms and equipment, funding, intelligence, and training:<br><br><strong>pro-ASAD elements</strong> operating in Syria have included<strong> the Syrian Arab Army, Lebanese Hizballah, the Iranian military, Iranian-backed Shia militia, and Russian forces</strong>; since early in the civil war, the ASAD government has used Lebanese Hizballah and Iranian-backed irregular forces for combat operations and to hold territory; since 2011, Iran has provided military advisors and combat troops from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as well as intelligence, logistical, material, technical, and financial support; it has funded, trained, equipped, and led Shia militia/paramilitary units comprised of both Syrian and non-Syrian personnel, primarily from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan; Russia intervened at the request of the ASAD government in 2015 and has since provided air support, special operations forces, military advisors, private military contractors, training, arms, and equipment; Iranian and Russian support has also included assisting Syria in combating the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS) terrorist group<br><br><strong>Turkey </strong>has intervened militarily several times since 2016 to combat Kurdish militants and ISIS, support select Syrian opposition forces, and establish a buffer along portions of its border with Syria; Turkey continues to maintain a considerable military presence in northern Syria; it has armed and trained militia/proxy forces, such as the Syrian National Army, which was formed in late 2017 of Syrian Arab and Turkmen rebel factions in the Halab (Aleppo) province and northwestern Syria<br><br>the <strong>US and some regional and European states</strong> have at times backed Syrian opposition forces militarily and/or conducted military operations, primarily against ISIS; the US has operated in Syria since 2015 with ground forces and air strikes; the majority the US ground forces are deployed in the Eastern Syria Security Area (ESSA, which includes parts of Hasakah and Dayr az Zawr provinces east of the Euphrates River) in support of operations by the Syrian Democratic Forces against ISIS, while the remainder are in southeast Syria around At Tanf supporting counter-ISIS operations by the Syrian Free Army opposition force; the US has also conducted air strikes against Syrian military targets in response to Syrian Government use of chemical weapons against opposition forces and civilians, and since October 2023, against facilities in eastern Syria associated with Iran’s IRGC and affiliated militias in response to attacks by Iran-backed militias on US forces in Syria and Iraq; in addition, France, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UK have provided forms of military assistance to opposition forces and/or conducted operations against ISIS, including air strikes<br><br><strong>Israel</strong> has conducted hundreds of military air strikes in Syria against Syrian military, Hizballah, Iranian military, and Iranian-backed militia targets<br><br>the<strong> Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)</strong>, a coalition of forces comprised primarily of Kurdish, Sunni Arab, and Syriac Christian fighters; it is dominated and led by Kurdish forces, particularly the People’s Protection Units (YPG) militia; the SDF began to receive US support in 2015 and as of 2024 was the main local US partner in its counter-ISIS campaign; the SDF has internal security, counterterrorism, and commando units; Turkey views the SDF as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a US-designated terrorist organization <br><br>the <strong>ISIS</strong> terrorist group lost its last territorial stronghold to SDF forces in 2019, but continues to maintain a low-level insurgency inside Syria; in addition, the SDF holds about 10,000 captured suspected ISIS fighters in detention facilities across northern Syria, including 2,000 from countries other than Iraq and Syria<br><br>the <strong>Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham </strong>(HTS; formerly known as al-Nusrah Front) terrorist organization is the dominant militant group in northwest Syria and has asserted considerable influence and control over the so-called Syrian Salvation Government in the Iblib de-escalation zone and the Aleppo province (2024)"
+      "text": "the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) has operated in the Golan between Israel and Syria since 1974 to monitor the ceasefire following the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and supervise the areas of separation between the two countries; UNDOF has about 1,000 personnel (2024)"
     }
   },
   "Space": {