Syrian pound in decline

The Syrian pound has lost about 30 percent of its value in two months, the London-based Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper reported on Saturday. 

The lira stood at over 12,000 pounds against the US dollar on 21 July, the lowest exchange rate on record, according to the newspaper.

The lira value has been in free fall for two months, since it passed 9,000 lira to the US dollar on 11 May. 

The price of gold also jumped to its highest level against the pound, with the price of 21-karat one gram costing 595,000 lira. 

Syrian traders said the price of essential goods has increased by up to 40 percent amid the currency woes....

Army and security chiefs from Jordan and Syria met on Sunday to curb a growing drug trade along their mutual border that has seen deadly skirmishes, blamed mainly on pro-Iranian militias who hold sway in southern Syria.

The meeting comes after Syria's neighbours got a pledge from Damascus during a meeting last May in Amman to cooperate with their efforts to rein in Syria's flourishing drug trade in exchange for helping end its pariah status after a brutal crackdown of peaceful protesters during the civil war.

The talks headed by Jordanian army head Lieutenant General Yousef Hunaiti and Syrian Defence Minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas in the presence of both countries' intelligence chiefs also tackled the threat drugs posed to regional stability, a Jordanian foreign ministry statement said.

"The meeting discussed cooperation in confronting th...