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July 13, 2026

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Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (L) welcomes France's President Emmanuel Macron for a joint press conference in Damascus on July 7, 2026.

Explainer

How Macron seeks to carve out France's role in new Syria

French President Emmanuel Macron became the first Western leader to visit Syria since the fall of the Assad regime, showcasing Paris' support for Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa while seeking to secure a share of the country's emerging reconstruction market.

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.

Latest News

Explainer

French energy, shipping giants explore Syria deals during Macron visit

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.

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

Ludovic MARIN / AFP via Getty Images

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)

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

Netherlands isn’t required to repatriate Islamic State families in Syria, court rules

The Netherlands isn't required to bring home from northern Syria a group of 23 Dutch women suspected of joining the Islamic State or their 56 children.

The ruins of buildings are pictured on July 1, 2019 at the site where the US military carried out a strike against Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists in Syria's northwestern Aleppo province. - The US military said today it had targeted jihadists in an embattled northwestern opposition bastion in northwest Syria the previous day. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the raid in Aleppo province killed six commanders and other jihadists from the Hurras al-Deen group. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Ph

Intel: Al-Qaeda branch confirms US drone killed Zarqawi relative in Syria

An al-Qaeda branch in northwest Syria has confirmed that a US drone strike earlier this month killed one of the group’s most senior leaders, a veteran Jordanian jihadi who had been close to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Syrian demonstrators look at a poster bearing the portraits of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (C-R) and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (C) in the central Saadallah al-Jabiri square in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on January 7, 2020, to mourn and condemn the death of Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani (portrait-L), and nine others in a US air strike in Baghdad. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran hunkers down in Syria after Caesar Act sanctions

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it has no backup plan and is not leaving Syria.

Sheen Ibrahim, Kurdish fighter from the People's Protection Units (YPG) looks for drones operated by Islamic State militants in Raqqa, Syria June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic - RC1D3CB0FA70

Turkish drone strike kills three Kurdish women in Syria

The leader of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces called on the United States and Russian to stop what he called Turkey's "policy of massacres against the Kurds" after last night's drone strike.

Suspected Israeli airstrikes hit various locations in Syria

Syria said it downed several missiles it says came from Israel, but there are also reports of casualties.

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British charity worker detained by HTS in Idlib

Tauqir Sharif was kidnapped by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham on Monday, according to a statement from his aid organization in northwest Syria.

France repatriates children from Islamic State camp in northeast Syria

Ten children are being repatriated to France from the notorious al-Hol camp, according to a northeast Syrian official. Thousands of foreign and local children remain there.

A foreign prisoner, suspected of being part of the Islamic State, lies on top of an examining table next to a doctor inside a prison in Hasaka, Syria, January 7, 2020. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic SEARCH "ISLAMIC STATE PRISONERS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. - RC2YYE9HG8VE

Syrian doctor accused of prison torture arrested in Germany

The suspect faces charges of crimes against humanity and grievous bodily harm.

A woman pushes a cart loaded with a sack of wheat in Qamishli, Syria September 18, 2017. Picture taken September 18, 2017. REUTERS/Rodi Said TO MATCH INSIGHT MIDEAST-CRISIS/SYRIA-WHEAT-ISLAMIC STATE - RC183B72BD10

Syrian Kurds say Turkish charity dwarfed by stolen produce

As Turkey touts its humanitarian aid deliveries to Syria's Idlib, critics weigh the six truckloads of supplies against its thousands of tons of allegedly looted Syrian grain.

General view of the courtroom during the trial against two Syrian alleged former intelligence officers accused for crimes against humanity, in the first trial of its kind to emerge from the Syrian conflict, in Koblenz, Germany June 4, 2020. Thomas Lohnes/Pool via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - PIXELLATIONS FROM SOURCE - RC2H2H9DIBYL

Syrian torture victims file complaint in Germany over prison sex abuse

The criminal complaint accuses nine high-ranking Syrian officials of various sexual and gender-based crimes.

A boy wearing a Turkish flag stands next to a Turkish soldier in the town of Tal Abyad, Syria October 23, 2019. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC1FEACF7860

Turkey gets comfortable in northern Syria

Turkey appears to be preparing to remain in Syrian areas under its control without much thought for the long-term financial and political costs.

Members of the Spanish Guardia civil stand during a raid targeting assets of the family of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in the Puerto Banus marina area of the plush resort of Marbella on April 4, 2017.
The raids, a result of corruption investigation launched in France against Assad's uncle, Rifaat al-Assad, have seen the assets of Rifaat al-Assad and his family in Spain valued at 691 million euros ($736 million), seized.

/ AFP PHOTO / JORGE GUERRERO (Photo credit should read JORGE GUERRERO/AFP via

Bashar al-Assad’s uncle sentenced to four years in French prison for money laundering

A French court convicted Rifaat al-Assad, 82, of misappropriating Syrian public funds to expand his holdings in Europe.