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Syria

October 12, 2026

Damascus 4:09 am

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Demonstrators ride through a street while waving Syrian flags

Analysis

Why Syria and Iraq are taking different approaches to armed groups

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

A view of the Great Umayyad Mosque during the reopening ceremony, Oct. 8, 2026.

Culture

Syria reopens Aleppo's 1,300-year-old Great Umayyad Mosque after 13 years

Syrian authorities are working to restore cultural landmarks and ancient sites that had been damaged or destroyed during the civil war.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, Oct. 6, 2026.

Analysis

Why Syria sending troops to Yemen would be a risky bet for Sharaa

Syria insists it will not send troops to fight the Houthis alongside Saudi Arabia, but its economic dependence on Riyadh could complicate Damascus’ resistance to the idea.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

Culture

Syria's Kurds, Arabs find common cause in battle for language rights

Youths play the daf, an Iranian frame drum, during a protest demanding the right to education in the Kurdish language in Al-Qamishli, Syria, on September 22, 2026. The demonstrations follow a decision by the Syrian Interim Government to allocate only Kurdish language classes in schools. (Photo by Amjad Kurdo / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

Syria’s Sharaa in Riyadh as Saudi airports come under Houthi attacks: What to know

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh, Oct. 6, 2026.

UAE-Syria move ahead on $20 billion real estate mega-developments

A view of a traffic roundabout in central Latakia, Syria on June 12, 2025. The city's road network converges near the coast, forming one of the busiest urban intersections in the province. (Photo by Omar Albaw / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by OMAR ALBAW/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Syria denies meeting with Lebanon’s Hezbollah in Turkey: What to know

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Danny Makki

In London, reporting on Syrian politics and culture

Ali Hashem

In Doha, reporting on Iran, regional politics, conflict

Cagatay Cebe

In Istanbul, reporting on security and counterterrorism

A member of the Saudi border guards force stands guard next to a fence on Saudi Arabia's northern borderline with Iraq July 14, 2014. Three mortar bombs landed inside Saudi Arabia last week close to its northern border with Iraq, where Islamist militants have grabbed land in a lightning advance, officials said. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser (SAUDI ARABIA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3YMVB

Islamic State cell strikes Shiites in Saudi Arabia

A deadly attack by an Islamic State cell on Saudi Shiites has upped the ante in the jihadists' threat to the Saudi royal family as the guardians of Islam's most holy sites.

A medic examines a Kurdish Syrian refugee child inside a temporary medical facility for children on the Turkish-Syrian border near the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province, in this September 24, 2014 file photo. Reuters photographers have chronicled Kurdish refugee crises over the years. In 1991 Srdjan Zivulovic documented refugees in Cukurca who had escaped a military operation by Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq aimed at "Arabising" Kurdish areas in the north. Hundreds of thousands fled int

Turkey's response to measles outbreak questioned

Some believe the Turkish government is downplaying a measles outbreak compounded by the arrival of Syrian refugees despite warnings by World Health Organization and Turkish medical experts.

Amid war, Damascenes promote cycling with mass bike ride

The war did not stop local activists in Damascus from organizing a public bike ride aimed at raising awareness about the benefits of cycling as an alternative means of transportation.

Children eat corn on the cob on a street in Douma, eastern al-Ghouta, near Damascus November 7, 2014. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT SOCIETY) - RTR4DA0I

As Syrian army closes in, Douma residents turn against rebels

Douma’s residents protested against Jaish al-Islam for monopolizing food supplies to the Damascene suburb, while Syrian government forces edge closer to retaking the rebel stronghold.

Russia's Middle East policy after the G-20 summit

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, ever skeptical of US intentions, elaborates on Russia's policies in the Middle East — and risks alienating the West.

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at a news conference at the end of the G20 Leaders Summit in Brisbane November 16, 2014. Obama said on Sunday that Russia would remain isolated by the international community if President Vladimir Putin continued to violate international law and treaties aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine. REUTERS/Jason Reed (AUSTRALIA - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTR4EB4N

Obama says no plans to remove Assad

Obama says no for now to regime change in Syria; Dark backs ‘freeze’ in divided Aleppo; Syrian opposition holds its own in south; Israel, Palestinians fear religious war; Is Egypt winning battle against IS-linked group?

Iraqi security forces pull down a flag belonging to Sunni militant group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) during a patrol in the town of Dalli Abbas in Diyala province, June 30, 2014. The leader of the al Qaeda offshoot now calling itself the Islamic State has called on Muslims worldwide to take up arms and flock to the "caliphate" it has declared on captured Syrian and Iraqi soil. Picture taken June 30, 2014. REUTERS/Stringer (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) -

The Islamic State is here to stay

Unlike al-Qaeda, the Islamic State has been able to institutionalize jihad, thus guaranteeing its survival.

Smoke rises from al-Khalidiya neighbourhood, where forces loyal to Syria's president Bashar Al-Assad are located, during what activists said was shelling by Free Syrian Army fighters from Bani Zeid neighbourhood, in Aleppo November 10, 2014. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4DM55

'Conflict freeze' desperately needed in Aleppo

Residents of Aleppo are losing patience with the hardships the war has brought and want an end to the conflict that has ruined their city and their lives.

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve (2nd R) hosts a meeting of the European G6 interior ministers on November 6, 2014 in Paris. Interior ministers of Spain, Germany, UK, Italy and Poland were meeting with Cazeneuve on November 6 to discuss the fight against terrorism and in particular the problem of "foreign fighters" traveling in Syria and ways to combat their recruiting online. The Turkish and Canadian interior ministers, as well as the American Ministers of Justice and Homeland Security were invit

EU ministers discuss jihadist travel to Syria, border security

While the G6 meeting of interior ministers on Nov. 6 focused on jihadists traveling from Europe to Syria via Turkey, the European Parliament is considering putting in place more stringent security checks and travel restrictions.

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters during a rare public appearance at an Ashoura ceremony in Beirut's southern suburbs November 3, 2014. REUTERS/Khalil Hassan (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) - RTR4COLH

Recent events a good sign for Lebanon

Developments among parties in Lebanon as well as between Iran and the P5+1 might ultimately lead to solutions to Lebanon's current political stalemate.

Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (R) walks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the prime minister's office in Ankara September 12, 2014. Kerry met Turkish leaders on Friday to try to win support for U.S.-led military action against Islamic State, but Ankara's reluctance to play a frontline role showed the difficulty of building a coalition for a regional war. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR460SV

Davutoglu's wishful thinking

Remarks by Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu that US President Barack Obama is coming around to Ankara’s position on Syria are not supported by statements from Washington.

Kurdish refugees watch from a hilltop as thick smoke rises from the Syrian town of Kobani during heavy fighting between Islamic State and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, seen from near the Mursitpinar border crossing on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province October 26, 2014. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis (TURKEY - Tags: MILITARY CONFLICT POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4BNM6

Watching Kobani

The writer gives a personal account of his trip on Nov. 15-16 to Suruc, across from Kobani on the Turkish side of the border, and relates how locals believe that the Kobani battle may bring an end to the Islamic State in military terms.