Bassam al-Hassan ran Syria's chemical weapons programme and advised ex-President Bashar al-Assad. A BBC and NPR investigation says he now lives in Lebanon, protected and paid under an arrangement with US and Lebanese authorities, because he talks about a missing American journalist.

• Hassan is wanted for crimes against humanity and sanctioned by Washington. The BBC says he has stayed in Lebanon since the Assad regime collapsed in 2024.
• A record of one meeting offers him "residency", "protection" and help with his "living needs" in return for information on Austin Tice, abducted in Syria in 2012. The deal is believed to date to spring 2025.
• Money reportedly flows through an intermediary, making it harder to trace.
• Sources say the investigation has advanced little since. A dig at a site Hassan named found nothing, though two sources say US authorities stopped digging before the search was complete.
• Two branches of Syria's new government want him returned for trial. Only the FBI replied to the BBC, declining to comment.

Why it matters: Lebanon is the address, and Damascus says there is little it can do, so the case now tests how far an intelligence-sharing deal can stretch against a war-crimes warrant.

If you've ever done the math on what the generator guy charges every month, this one is for you. The 2027 budget sets aside money so ordinary households can borrow to go solar, with repayment spread over three years.

• The government allocated $11 million to the Social Affairs Ministry's Public Corporation for Housing (PCH) to finance about 4,400 loans averaging $2,500 each.
• No mortgaging your car or home. Applicants need only a salary certificate or a guarantor, and people with limited incomes get priority.
• Repayment runs 36 months at $75 a month, so borrowers pay back $2,700 in total, including $200 in interest.
• A PCH study says $2,500 buys a system of 10 to 13 amps with an inverter and battery.
• Finance Minister Yassine Jaber says this is only a start and the amount should grow. Applications open once Parliament passes the budget.

What to watch: Everything hinges on Parliament approving the 2027 budget, since the PCH will only announce full conditions and open applications after that vote.

The fighting in the south has burned and bulldozed far more than homes. A Daraj investigation tallies the damage to farmland, forests and nature reserves, and what residents say it has cost them in livelihoods.

• Environment Minister Tamara Al-Zein says over 16,000 hectares of farmland and forest have burned between Oct⁠ober 2023 and Aug⁠ust 2026.
• Professor George Mitri says about 35% of agricultural land has burned twice in two years.
• A government report puts destroyed agricultural assets at $118 million.
• Soil tests found glyphosate in all 36 samples from three border villages, and about 2,122 hectares were sprayed.
• Farmers describe it in simpler terms. One teacher-turned-farmer says he once pressed 300 tins of oil. Now he buys it.

The bigger picture: Agriculture is about 13% of GDP and supports roughly 30% of Lebanese, per Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani, so the losses reach well beyond the villages hit.

Britain's consulate general in East Jerusalem, open for nearly 200 years, stopped operating on Israel's deadline Thurs⁠day. London won't retaliate, and says it will keep a smaller, independent presence there under a new name.

• Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar ordered the closure last⁠ month, in retaliation for the UK's plan to ban trade with Israeli settlements.
• The building becomes the "UK Mission, Jerusalem". Sa'ar says only seven diplomats may work there, with very limited scope.
• The UK still rejects Israel's legal right to close the consulate, and insists East Jerusalem is occupied Palestinian territory.
• Unlike most consulates, it reports directly to London, not to the Tel Aviv embassy. Seven other consulates general in East Jerusalem share that status.
• One source called the deal a temporary "ceasefire". Israel votes on 27 Oct⁠ober, and talks could resume under a new government.

What to watch: The seven other consulates general in East Jerusalem share this independent status, so each will be watching what happens once Israel's election is over.

The New York Times reports that David Milstein, aide to US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, blocked or rewrote embassy cables critical of Israeli actions in the West Bank and Gaza. Huckabee calls the account "so lacking in fact" that he considers it "farcical".

• The Times spoke to 15 US officials and nine former diplomats, all anonymous, and reviewed dozens of internal documents.
• In late Mar⁠ch, embassy staff drafted an urgent report on a major settlement expansion. Three officials say Milstein blocked it.
• He reportedly pushed to say Israel was handling investigations into the killings of nine Palestinian Americans properly, when embassy staff had found little progress.
• Cables from the Palestinian affairs section reportedly fell from several a week to a few a month.
• The State Department says the team "remains focused on advancing President Trump's America First agenda".

Zooming out: Officials told the Times that White House and State Department staff twice bypassed standard channels to ask embassy staff directly, because news coverage and embassy reporting didn't match.

Yemen's Houthis say they struck Riyadh's King Khalid airport with a ballistic missile and have escalated their campaign against Saudi Arabia. The group offered no evidence, and Saudi Arabia hasn't commented on the claim.

• Three people told Reuters that shrapnel left a parked Saudia plane heavily damaged by fire. No passengers were believed aboard, though injuries couldn't be ruled out.
• Lufthansa and Air India suspended flights. Cirium data showed almost half of the airport's departures cancelled by 1500 GMT.
• Saudi authorities say three people died this⁠ week in strikes on Riyadh and Abha airports.
• The Houthis cite Saudi backing for government forces in Yemen's reignited civil war, and say they will target energy plants.
• Riyadh is due to host the WPC Energy Congress this⁠ week.

Why it matters: With the Houthis advancing toward Taiz and warning energy workers to stay away from plants, the fighting now reaches Saudi airspace and a major energy gathering.