Syria Conflict

Zaidi

Iraq's Zaidi meets Sharaa on first Syria visit: What to know

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has sought to assuage concerns about his past militant activity in Iraq, whose oil trade and security cooperation with his two country is rising.

Mourners attend the funeral of those who were killed in airstrikes carried out by Jordan the night before on the village of Al-Taf in the Al-Lajat region, located in the northeastern countryside of Daraa, on Oct. 27, 2026.

Syria slams Jordan over crossborder strikes, denies coordination: What to know

Jordan said its airstrikes targeted ISIS fighters, while Syria said civilians were killed, sparking outrage.

New female cadets from the new women's police academy attend the first cohort graduation ceremony after completing a six-month training program, in al-Tal on the northern outskirts of Damascus, on Sept. 22, 2026.

Culture

Syrian women easy target in Sharaa’s drive to consolidate power

Syria’s interim president is balancing Western demands for inclusion with pressure from Islamist hard-liners as he seeks to consolidate power and shed his jihadi past.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Turkish House in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023.

Analysis

What’s at stake for Turkey as Israel heads to the polls?

Israel’s Oct. 27 election could offer a chance to ease tensions with Ankara, but competing ambitions in Syria and beyond threaten to push the two US allies toward a dangerous confrontation.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

Analysis

How Israel’s elections could bring thaw with Syria

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives for the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly gathering, UN Headquarters, New York, Sept. 22, 2026.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Analysis

'The problem and the solution': Netanyahu-Sharaa call exposes Israel's Syria dilemma

Israeli troops stand guard on the dividing line between the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and Syrian, near Majdal Shams, July 16, 2025.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Syria to rejoin Arab group at IMF, leaving Russian-led constituency

An attendee walks past signage displayed inside the venue for the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC) in Bangkok on October 14, 2026. (Photo by ANTHONY WALLACE / AFP via Getty Images)

Explainer

Syria arrests Mihrac Ural, ex-Assad militia head also wanted by Turkey

Mihrac Ural, who was also known as Ali Kayali, was arrested

Syrian Arab fighters on the Turkish-held outskirts of Manbij, in northwestern Syria, during fighting against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on September 4, 2023

Kurds, pro-Turk forces fight in north Syria after 90 killed

Agence France-Presse

refugee camp

UN mulls green Islamic bonds to fund climate change refugee projects

The United Nations is reportedly interested in issuing Islamic bonds to help those displaced by climate change.

Troops from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) special operations.

Turkey's Erdogan eggs on Syria's Arab tribes against US-backed Kurds

Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria "poses a threat to its national security."

A picture taken during a tour origanized by the Jordanian Army shows a drone flying over an observation post along the border with Syria, on February 17, 2022. - Drug trafficking from Syria into Jordan is becoming "organised" with smugglers stepping up operations and using sophisticated equipment including drones, Jordan's army said, warning of a shoot-to-kill policy. Since the beginning of this year, Jordan's army has killed 30 smugglers and foiled attempts to smuggle into the kingdom from Syria 16 million

Jordan downs drone carrying drugs from Syria in 9th incident this year

The incident is the ninth this year as Jordan battles increasing drug smuggling attempts from neighboring Syria.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad speaks during a press conference.

Syria’s Assad abolishes notorious military field courts

Thousands of civilians are believed to have been executed after being tried at these courts.

Fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) attend a joint military exercise with forces of the US-led "Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve" coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group in the countryside of the town of al-Malikiya (Derik in Kurdish) in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on September 7, 2022.

Syria’s Kurds struggle to contain backlash after detaining allied Arab militia leader

Kurdish-led forces guarding Syria’s Islamic State prisons have been on high alert amid spreading clashes in Deir Ezzor province.

Tens of thousands of people rally in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on October 26, 2011, as an Arab delegation led by Qatar was headed for Syria for mediation between the Syrian government and its opponents. The demonstrators, waving Syrian flags and brandishing pictures of Assad and his brother Maher (L), swarmed to Omayyad square in the heart of Damascus. AFP PHOTO/LOUAI BESHARA (Photo credit should read LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Syria: clashes in Damascus countryside with Maher Assad brigade leave 5 dead

The residents of Zakia town had been raising anti-regime banners, and a man was killed by local militias affiliated with Maher al-Assad’s Fourth Division this week.

A man snaps a picture of a red rose raised by a protester.

Will Syria’s Assad resort to violence as Suwayda protests grow?

No longer neutral, Suwayda province's Druze minority now demand the ouster of Bashar al-Assad.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visits the Memory Wall of Fallen Defenders of Ukraine during his official visit in Kyiv, on August 25, 2023, the Independence Day of Ukraine, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by GLEB GARANICH / POOL / AFP) (Photo by GLEB GARANICH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey’s Fidan to visit Russia as Ukraine's grain deal, Syria talks stall

Ankara’s efforts to revive the Black Sea grain deal and stalled high level talks between Ankara and Damascus are expected to be high on the agenda of the talks between top Russian and Turkish diplomats.

Syrian military airplanes fly by Aleppo's airport, February 19, 2020.

Suspected Israeli airstrikes knock Syria’s Aleppo airport out of service

The attack is one of several suspected Israeli strikes against Syrian airports this year.

Protests in Al-Karama Square in the center of Suwayda, Sunday Aug. 27, 2023.

Syria protests enter second week, activists close Baath headquarters

The protests now calling for the end of Bashar al-Assad’s rule were initially prompted by the government's decision to cut fuel subsidies.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/saudi-arabia-eyes-chinese-bid-nuclear-plant-wsj-2023-08-25/

US lawmakers make unannounced trip to northwest Syria

The three Republican lawmakers visited a school for displaced children during their short visit.