Nine days after Bashar al-Assad was ousted, the new prime minister installed by Sharaa's Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group said the government was grappling with very low currency reserves and called for sanctions to be lifted. Western states are gradually opening channels to the new authorities in Damascus led by HTS, though they continue to designate it as a terrorist group. FRANCE 24's journalist, Andrew Hilliar has more about the region.
