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Jordan's war on drugs ... in Syria
84 million tablets with the "captagon" logo, produced in Syria by ISIS to finance terrorism.
Can you imagine the DEA fighting the Sinaloa cartel by firing rockets over the Mexican border? Well, that's what Jordan just did with a suspected drug kingpin operating inside Syria.
Early on Monday, a rare flurry of Jordanian airstrikes inside neighboring Syria killed Merhi al-Ramthan, wanted by Amman for alleged cross-border smuggling of Captagon, a highly addictive amphetamine similar to speed. Over the past decade, Captagon has become the most popular drug in the Middle East — raking in billions of dollars for the Syrian army, which mass-produces the pills in cahoots with the regime’s inner circle.
Now that many Arab governments are looking to normalize ties with Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, drug trafficking is so far proving to be a major spoiler with Jordan, which the narcos use as a transit country to distribute the drugs via Lebanon. Syria's foreign minister promised no more “Breaking Bad” last week, but Amman warned it would not take any chances.
In this Quick Take, Ian Bremmer weighs in on the politicization of the Olympics after comments by Team USA freestyle skier Hunter Hess sparked backlash about patriotism and national representation.
100 million: The number of people expected to watch the Super Bowl halftime performance with Bad Bunny, the Puerto Rican superstar and newly minted Album of the Year winner at the Grammys.
Brazilian skiers, American ICE agents, Israeli bobsledders – this is just a smattering of the fascinating characters that will be present at this year’s Winter Olympics. Yet the focus will be a different country, one that isn’t formally competing: Russia.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), appeals for a candidate during a street speech of the House of Representatives Election Campaign in Shintomi Town, Miyazaki Prefecture on February 6, 2026. The Lower House election will feature voting and counting on February 8th.
Japanese voters head to the polls on Sunday in a snap election for the national legislature’s lower house, called just three months into Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s tenure.