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Syria

October 9, 2026

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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

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)

Culture

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

As Kurdish students protest language restrictions, unexpected alliances are emerging between Syria’s Kurds and Arabs.

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

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

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa held talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a visit to Riyadh as the Houthis escalated their attacks on Saudi Arabia and warned international airlines against using Saudi airspace.

Latest News

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

Lebanon seeks Turkey’s help to join Syria-Saudi rail link: What to know

A picture taken on May 1, 2019 shows a railroad of Mar Mikhael neighborhood in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Feature

Syria Golan detentions fuel fury at Israeli forces, doubts in new government

A member of Syria's security forces stands guard outside a former army base near the city of Quneitra in southern Syria, on the edge of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on Sept. 21, 2025.

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

A combine harvests wheat in a field in the countryside of al-Kaswa, south of Syria's capital Damascus, on June 18, 2020. - Heavy rain and reduced violence provided a relief to Syrian farmers with a good harvest this year, as a tanking economy leaves millions hungry across his war-torn country. Prior to the outbreak of the conflict in 2011, Syria produced more than 4.1 million tonnes of wheat, enough to feed its entire population. But production plunged to record lows during the war, boosting reliance on imp

Syrians in Kurdish-administered regions struggle with price of bread

Should Syria’s economy and currency continue to deteriorate, it is likely that the cost of wheat will also rise, further straining the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in its efforts to maintain bread subsidies and keep basic goods affordable in northeast Syria.

Syrian government, SDF trade accusations of violations of Russian-mediated cease-fire

No sooner had an agreement been reached between the Syrian regime and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces to lift the mutual sieges imposed in northeast Syria that accusations were traded about violations of the Russian-sponsored deal.

Syrian Kurds hoping for lifeline from Biden administration

Damascus, Ankara and Moscow turn up the heat on US-backed group; UN Syria envoy says, "We can’t continue like this."

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HTS leader shocks popular base after interview with Western journalist

Whenever Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani makes a media appearance, it causes a commotion among Syrian activists and analysts, the most controversial of which is his recent appearance in a suit.

A Turkish soldier stands guard next to a military vehicle during a joint Russian-Turkish patrol in the eastern countryside of the town of Darbasiyah near the border with Turkey in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on December 7, 2020. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP) (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

How Turkey fits in regime-Kurdish showdown in Syria

Some claim that a secret deal between Ankara and Damascus is behind the latest escalation between the Syrian government and the Kurds, but the situation could be more complex than it seems.

Syrian rebel fighters unload artillery shells amid clashes with government forces in the last major rebel bastion of Idlib in northwestern Syria on February 6, 2020. - Syrian regime forces were locked in clashes with jihadists and allied rebels in a key highway town in northwest Syria, a monitor said, despite Turkey warning pro-government fighters should back off. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images)

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham shuts down arms stores across Idlib

The Syrian Salvation Government in Idlib issued a decision to shut down all weapons stores in the areas under its control as a result of accidental shootings and explosions taking place inside these stores.

A man watches as Russian troops escort a convoy of Syrian civilians leaving the town of Tal Tamr in the northeastern Hasakeh province, to return to their homes in the northern town of Ain Issa in the countryside of the Raqqa region, via the strategic M4 highway, on January 10, 2021. - The town of Tal Tamr is on the front line between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian factions supported by Turkey.
Civilians stranded on both sides of the line because of heavy fighting, have been able to retur

Russia, Iran compete for influence in Syria via private security companies

Private security companies in Syria with ties to Russian and Iranian forces are busily recruiting young men with attractive salaries.

Smoke billows following an Israeli airstrike targeting south of the capital Damascus, on July 20, 2020. - Israeli strikes south of the Syrian capital wounded seven Syrian soldiers, state media reported, in an attack which a war monitor said hit several positions of regime forces and Iran-backed militias. (Photo by STR / AFP) (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Syria reports Israeli airstrikes in south

The news follows reports of suspected Israeli airstrikes against Iranian and Syrian military targets in the country in December and January.

A worker walks with a piece of wood on his shoulder at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), near Guba in Ethiopia, on December 26, 2019. - The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a 145-metre-high, 1.8-kilometre-long concrete colossus is set to become the largest hydropower plant in Africa.
Across Ethiopia, poor farmers and rich businessmen alike eagerly await the more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity officials say it will ultimately provide.
Yet as thousands of workers toil day and night to finish

The Takeaway: Egypt welcomes US mediation to help break high-stakes deadlock over Nile dam

Motaz Zahran, Egypt’s ambassador to the United States, says Ethiopia has "no political will" to resolve dam dispute; who’s buying Golani’s makeover?; former ambassador to United States says Israel needs "united front" against Iran nuclear deal; Egypt’s first female mixed martial arts fighter.

A Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) flag is pictured as Kurdish and Italian associations attend a rally against the visit of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on February 5, 2018 in Rome.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet Pope Francis on February 5, with a protest ban imposed in central Rome as feelings run high over Turkey's offensive against Kurdish militia inside Syria. Nevertheless a sit-in protest by 200 people, organised by a Kurdish association in Italy, was scheduled to take pla

US-backed Syrian Kurdish unity talks to resume amid mounting distrust

Although talks are set to resume this week, the prospects of a Syrian Kurdish unity deal seem more elusive than ever, with plenty of sticking points threatening to sink the effort.

A Syrian man reacts as water floods tents at a camp for the internally displaced near the town of Kafr Lusin in the rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib, by the border with Turkey, on January 19, 2021. - Flooding following heavy rain at displacement camps in northwest Syria has killed a child and damaged or destroyed the tents of thousands of people, according to residents and aid workers. (Photo by Aaref WATAD / AFP) (Photo by AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images)

Al-Qaeda-linked leader again descends on Idlib streets to polish his image

Once more, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria’s Idlib is making appearances in public places and visiting camps in a bid to present himself as a popular leader and to have his organization’s name removed from the international terrorist list.

Triple car bombings in Turkey-occupied Syria draw UN condemnation

Bombings in Afrin, Azaz and a village near al-Bab claimed at least 18 lives this weekend.