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October 16, 2026

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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)

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

Syria will rejoin the Arab constituency at the International Monetary Fund beginning Nov. 1 and has applied for membership in the EBRD.

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

Explainer

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

The Turkey-born militia chief and a longtime ally of the Assad-regime, was sought by Ankara over the deadly Reyhanli bombings and by Damascus over his alleged role in massacres on the Mediterranean coast.

In first, Israel’s Netanyahu says he held call with Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa

It is the first publicly disclosed contact between the leaders of Israel and Syria, which lack formal relations and have fought several wars. Sharaa’s government began US-mediated talks with Israel in 2025.

Latest News

Analysis

Why Syria and Iraq are taking different approaches to armed groups

Demonstrators ride through a street while waving Syrian flags

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

Culture

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

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

Analysis

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

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

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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

Women walk past a tent in al-Hol camp, Syria, January 8, 2020. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic SEARCH "ISLAMIC STATE PRISONERS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. - RC2YYE9CVKHM

Islamic State prison riot underscores fragile security in northeast Syria

The issue of what to do with Islamic State prisoners in northeast Syria continues to be a nagging problem.

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on May 1, 2020, shows smoke billowing above buildings in Syria's central city of Homs. - SANA said that the explosions ringing out of a Syrian army position in Homs resulted from a "human error during the transport of some ammunition, which led to human and material losses", while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor relying on sources inside Syria, said Israeli air strikes hit a missile depot belonging

Alleged Israeli strikes target northern, eastern Syria

Iranian militia targets were bombed near Aleppo and in the Deir ez-Zor countryside.

Iranian and Syrian flags flutter on a truck carrying humanitarian aid in Deir al-Zor, Syria September 20, 2017. Picture taken September 20, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki - RC1C8E382200

Iran seems to reconsider military entrenchment in Syria

According to Israeli assessments, Iran has begun giving up on its tremendous military investment in Syria.

Assad’s billionaire cousin denies tax evasion, begs for help in Facebook video

Syrian telecom tycoon Rami Makhlouf has made a rare public statement calling on his cousin President Bashar al-Assad to dismiss charges of tax evasion.

People inspect the damage after a blast east of Homs city, Syria in this handout released by SANA on May 1, 2020. SANA/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THIS IMAGE - RC2PFG9URBKH

Two sets of explosions rock Syria, amid claims of Israeli involvement

There were explosions at a military warehouse in Homs and airstrikes in the Syrian Golan Heights today.

An ambulance passes by Islamist rebels from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham outside the villages of al-Foua and Kefraya,Syria July 18, 2018. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RC1BD239EA00

Extremist Syrian rebel group tests Turkey's limits in Idlib

Jihadi forces resisting the reopening of the key M4 highway in Idlib are squeezed between Turkey’s amity and military might, but Turkey itself is not without dilemmas.

Islamist rebels from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham are seen outside the villages of al-Foua and Kefraya, Syria July 18, 2018. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi - RC194E7A7120

Intel: US Syria envoy says Turkey must put pressure on Idlib militants

Turkey should keep up the pressure on the hard-line Islamist group in control of Syria’s embattled Idlib province, the US special envoy for Syria said today.

AFRIN, SYRIA - APRIL 28: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY √¢ MANDATORY CREDIT - "SYRIAN CIVIL DEFENSE (WHITE HELMETS) / HANDOUT" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) Civil defense members try to extinguish fire after an attack carried out by PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, and Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Turkey regards as a terror group, in northwestern Syria's Afrin on April 28, 2020. At least 40 civilians, including 11 chil

Syrian Kurdish groups deny responsibility for bloody Afrin bombing

A truck explosion led to more than 50 deaths Tuesday in Turkish-controlled Afrin, Syria.

A views shows closed shops at Souk al-Hamidieh, as restrictions are imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Damascus, Syria March 26, 2020. REUTERS/Yamam Al Shaar - RC2TRF9UADYW

Syria allows businesses to reopen during the day

The Syrian government announced the easing of the country's coronavirus lockdown today.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at a press briefing at the State Department in Washington, U.S., April 22, 2020. Nicholas Kamm/Pool via REUTERS - RC2T9G9TDPES

Intel: Pompeo condemns terrorist attack in Syria’s Afrin

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned on Tuesday a terrorist bomb attack that killed at least 40 people in the northwestern Syrian city of Afrin.

AFRIN, SYRIA - MARCH 28: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY √¢ MANDATORY CREDIT - " TURKISH NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTRY / HANDOUT" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----) A footage captured from a video shows burning vehicles and shops after an attack carried out by PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU, and Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Turkey regards as a terror group, in Afrin, Syria on April 28, 2020. Civilian death toll in YPG/PKK attac

Afrin truck bombing kills dozens in Syria

The explosion during the holy month of Ramadan in the city controlled by Turkish-backed Syrian rebels killed at least 36 and wounded at least 40.

A view shows the Jewish settlement of Modiin Illit in the background and the Israeli barrier in the foreground in the village of Bilin, where a Friday anti-Israel weekly protest is held, as the area is seen empty of Palestinian demonstrators amid concerns of the spread of the coronavirus disease, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 20, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RC2PNF9HQOZQ

Netanyahu's annexation plan can't be stopped

Annexation of the Jordan Valley is a long-standing Israeli objective, going back to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.