News
Instagram Music Is Finally Available In The Middle East
In 2018, Instagram launched an exciting new feature called Instagram Music. The feature gives users the ability to add music to photos and videos in their Instagram stories. Instagram clearly understands that some things are best said with music, so after years of waiting, the company has made Instagram Music available in the Middle East.
The delay was primarily due to music licensing deals. Instagram is legally required to purchase a license for all the music in order for users to use them within Instagram stories. These music licensing deals are geo-restricted, so Instagram can’t offer the feature to countries they have not obtained a license for.
When the feature was first introduced, it was only available in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden, Canada, Australia, and France. So users who were not from these specific countries typically got the famous “Instagram Music isn’t available in your region” message when they scrolled through Instagram stories of people who had this feature.
“For that reason, we’ve been working with creators and music partners around the world to help people connect and share how they feel through music across the Facebook family of apps. We see music as a core part of the future of entertainment on Facebook and Instagram. Now there are even more ways for people to create and discover content they’ll love.” said Facebook in a written statement.
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To enjoy this feature, simply open your Instagram app, swipe right, and create a new story. After that, tap on the sticker icon or swipe up. Once this is done, you’ll find an icon that is titled “Music”. You should then be able to choose any of the available songs to add to your story. You can select a part or segment of a song to use in your story. When displaying song lyrics, you’ll have the freedom to change the style, font, color, and size of the text appearing on screen.
News
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.
Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.
The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc
— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026
“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.
Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.
Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget
The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.
Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
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