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Palmyra

Syria

July 10, 2026

Damascus 11:03 am

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US President Donald Trump meets Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) on the sidelines of the NATO Summit at Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara, on July 8, 2026.

US to drop Syria from terror blacklist

The terrorism label remained a key obstacle to Syria's postwar reconstruction.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) shakes hands with France's President Emmanuel Macron following a joint press conference in Damascus on July 7, 2026.

Explainer

French energy, shipping giants explore Syria deals during Macron visit

The two countries signed preliminary pacts spanning transport, healthcare, banking, infrastructure and development on Tuesday, even as twin explosions in the capital underscored the fragile investment environment.

Ludovic MARIN / AFP via Getty Images

Macron's Syria visit eyes to boost France's economic role: What to know

The two leaders discussed ways to strengthen cooperation and various regional developments during the first visit by a Western head of state to Syria since the civil war ended.

Latest News

Two explosions hit Damascus as Macron visits Syria

Security personnel and first responders prepare to cordon off an area near the Four Seasons Hotel following two blasts nearby in Damascus on July 7, 2026. Syrian authorities said 18 people were wounded by two blasts in central Damascus on July 7 near the hotel where France's president spent the night, with the Elysee Palace saying his visit is ongoing. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

How Syria’s wheat fields turned into first battleground over reconstruction

Farmers roast harvested wheat using fire in a field on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, on May 18, 2026.

Haddon Barth

By Haddon Barth

Analysis

Can a UAE-backed Syria-Iraq corridor become Gulf's next trade route?

An aerial view shows port of the western Syrian port city of Latakia, on Dec. 18, 2024.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

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

Syrians attend the screening of the Oscar-nominated film "Last Men in Aleppo" at the University of Idlib in the country's rebel-held province, Idlib, Syria, Feb. 12, 2018.

Syria's Idlib University bans mixed-gender online groups

Idlib University, managed by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s government in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, issued a decision banning mixed-gender groups on social media, causing uproar and division among students.

Russian army soldiers patrol the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra on May 5, 2016.

Russia gains foothold in Syria’s Palmyra through archaeological restoration

Russia has begun a project to rehabilitate Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra in its latest efforts to gain a foothold in the country’s vital sectors.

International humanitarian aid trucks cross into Syria's northwestern Idlib province through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, on Sept. 7, 2020.

Biden administration not trading Syrian oil for aid corridors with Moscow

The Biden administration said Syrian oil is for the people of Syria, not for the United States.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Islamic State revives religious police in northeast Syria

The Islamic State's religious police are back at work in the areas under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria.

idlib museum

Uzbek jihadis destroy antiquities in Idlib Museum

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham tries to manage the even more radical groups under its rule.

Opposition fighters belonging to Ansar al-Islam and Ahrar ash-Sham walk on a street next to the frontline that divides rebel and regime-controlled areas in the Tadamon neighborhood, south of Damascus, and near the Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp, Syria, June 15, 2015.

Does Kurdish jihadist group threaten Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in north Syria?

Ansar al-Islam is a Kurdish Salafist and jihadist group operating in the Kurdistan mountains in northern Iraq all the way to Latakia in Syria, fighting against the Syrian government.

OLIVIER MATTHYS/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey wild card in US-Russia conflict over Syria aid

The US administration might be open to a position shift on the Syrian file to secure the flow of cross-border international aid to Syria, a prospect that may spoil Turkey's calculations in Syria and particularly in Idlib.

A general view taken on August 13, 2017, shows an Islamic State group poster in the central Syrian town of Al-Sukhnah.

Is Islamic State rebuilding in Syrian desert?

Hardly a day passes without the Islamic State carrying out an attack against government forces and their allied militias in the Syrian desert.

Syrian civilians wait at a checkpoint of the Syrian Democratic Forces on the western entrance of Raqqa as they are prevented by forces from entering the the embattled city, Syria, Oct. 26, 2017.

Syria's internal border crossing key to power, revenues for government and opposition groups

The internal crossings in Syria are used to prove control and sway, and they are a key source of income for the warring sides.

US President Joe Biden (R) speaks with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan prior to a plenary session of a NATO summit at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters in Brussels, on June 14, 2021.

The Takeaway: Pragmatism is the new watchword in US-Turkey relations

Plus: A fresh start for Israel; Iran’s hard-line front-runner on the issues; Egypt’s faltering Palestinian mediation; Saudi-Syria talks; Golani’s makeover.

US President Joe Biden (R) talks to Russian President Vladimir Putin prior to the US-Russia summit at the Villa La Grange, in Geneva on June 16, 2021.

Biden discusses imperiled Syrian aid at high-stakes Putin summit

The two leaders met ahead of a looming UN Security Council deadline to renew a massive cross-border aid operation that Russia is intent on shutting down.

An undated image of Abu Mohammed al-Gulani (center) posted to Twitter on May 30, 2020.

HTS posts infographic on life and times of Syrian jihadist leader

The fallout continues over the PBS documentary on Abu Mohammed al-Golani, leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which controls Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib.