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October 9, 2026

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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

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.

Latest News

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

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.

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

Members of the Deir Ezzor Military Council (DEMC), a coalition of Arab tribes and fighters that belongs to the broader US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, stand in line during an announcement by their leader, Ahmed Abu Khawlah (bottom-C), in the town of Shadadi, about 60 kilometres (37 miles) south of the northeastern Syrian city of Hassakeh, on August 25, 2017.
The US-backed Arab and Kurdish fighters said on August 25, 2017 that they would launch an offensive "very soon" to oust the Islamic State (IS) grou

Islamic State regroups in Syrian Kurdish region

Islamic State cells carry out assassinations against the SDF in the SDF-controlled countryside of Deir ez-Zor on an almost daily basis, affecting some civilians and tribal leaders close to the SDF.

'How Does a Detonator Work?' Portland man indicted for publishing Islamic State newsletter

Hawazen Sameer Mothafar allegedly helped IS with social media and published articles online that encouraged jihadi attacks.

Tulsi Gabbard succeeded in House by Afghan war veteran

Gabbard, a Democrat from Hawaii who served in the Army in Iraq and ran for president in 2020, has been a critic of the US prosecution of "endless wars." Her successor, Democrat Kai Kahele, served in Afghanistan.

Turkish-backed Syrian rebel fighters, mask-clad due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, take part in a military parade marking the graduation of a new batch of cadets and attended by officials from the Turkey-backed opposition in the town of Jindayris, in the Afrin region of the northern Syrian rebel-held province of Aleppo, on November 14, 2020. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP) (Photo by BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images)

As Turkey pounds northeast Syria, residents fear new operation

A year after Operation Peace Spring, the residents in the areas under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces fear a new Turkish operation.

A man walks past window shops while nearby pillars are adorned with posters showing Syrian PResident Bashar al-Assad superimposed over Damascus' historic Umayyad mosque, in al-Salihiya district of the capital Damascus on June 10, 2020. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Assad blames Syria’s economic turmoil on Lebanon, not sanctions

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad estimates that Syrians hold between $20 billion and $42 billion in Lebanon's banks.

Lindsey Graham, vocal senator on Syria policy, wins reelection

The South Carolina Republican and member of the Foreign Relations Committee has both praised and criticized Trump's policies on Syria, Israel and other places.

Flowers, candles and an Austria scarf are left at a memorial site at the scene of an attack in Vienna, Austria on November 3, 2020, one day after a shooting at multiple locations across central Vienna. - A huge manhunt was under way after gunmen opened fire at multiple locations across central Vienna in the evening of November 2, 2020, killing at least four people in what Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz described as a "repulsive terror attack". (Photo by JOE KLAMAR / AFP) (Photo by JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Get

Vienna shooter tried to join Islamic State in Syria

Kujtim Fejzulai shot dead four people Monday night in the Austrian capital before being killed by police.

Syrians take part in the funeral of 10 fighters with the Turkey-backed Faylaq al-Sham rebel faction in Syria, in the northwestern city of Idlib, on October 26, 2020, following their death in a Russian air strike. - Air strikes by Syrian regime ally Russia killed 78 fighters from the turkey-backed Faylaq al-Sham faction when they targeted a training camp in the Jabal Duwayli area in Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. (Photo by Mohammed AL-RIFAI / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED AL-RIFAI/AF

Are attacks on Syrian opposition signal from Moscow to Ankara?

As Turkey conducts simultaneous campaigns in different theaters — including assistance to Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict — Moscow must be tempted to exploit the turbulence to extract concessions from Ankara.

Civilians drive along a road behind a Turkish military convoy through the village of Iblin, near Ariha in Syria's rebel-held northwestern Idlib province on October 20, 2020 after Turkish forces vacated the Morek post in Hama's countryside. - Turkey started withdrawing from one of its largest outposts in northwest Syria encircled for the past year by Syrian regime forces, a war monitor and a pro-Ankara rebel commander said. The outpost in Morek is Turkey's largest in the northwest province of Hama, which is

How Turkey’s withdrawal from Morek post affects opposition factions in northeast Syria

Turkish forces withdrew from their observation post in the city of Morek, raising many questions about the fate of Turkish-backed rebels in the surrounding area.

Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses his party's group meeting at the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Ankara, on October 28, 2020. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

The Takeaway: Is Erdogan’s threat to Syrian Kurds linked to US election?

Turkish president also calculates risk of escalation in Idlib; a primer on the Idlib ceasefires; plus: four more quick takes on Syria and Iraq.

Turkey-backed Syrian fighters man a sand barricade near the rebel-controlled town of Tal Abyad in the northern Syria's Raqa province, along the frontline with Syrian Kurdish forces controling the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, on October 10, 2020. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP) (Photo by BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images)

Erdogan warns Turkey has 'right to mobilize' again against Kurdish forces

The Turkish president's comments come a year after Turkey launched an offensive against Kurdish fighters in northeast Syria.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks at The Mountain Top Inn & Resort in Warm Springs, Georgia on October 27, 2020. - Democrat Joe Biden was campaigning in the once reliably Republican state of Georgia on Tuesday and President Donald Trump was hopscotching across the Midwest as the US election campaign entered its final week. Biden, 77, who is leading in the polls ahead of the November 3 vote, was to hold a socially distanced drive-in car rally in Atlanta, Georgia's largest city. (Photo by JIM

Syrian opposition fears being left behind again after US election

Many leaders of the Syrian opposition prefer Donald Trump, who used military force twice against the Syrian government, over Joe Biden, who served in an administration they believe turned a blind eye to the Iranian presence in Syria and allowed the regime to use chemical weapons.