LONDON: Nothing perhaps better illustrates the dramatic geopolitical shift underway in the Middle East than the footage that emerged on Sunday of Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa playing basketball with Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the US military’s Central Command. The footage, apparently filmed the day before Al-Sharaa’s historic meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House, was released on social media by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani, along with a simple caption: “Work hard, play harder.” The Syrian president has certainly been working hard.

Ahmed al-Sharaa to become first Syrian president to visit the White House in nearly 80 years.

The Syrian president will visit the White House, a first for any leader from post-independence Syria.