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Palmyra

Syria

October 22, 2026

Damascus 6:12 am

18°C

Trucks loaded with goods wait to cross over to Syria

Analysis

How Hormuz crisis is reshaping economic ties between Iraq and Syria

Iraq and Syria are expanding trade and energy cooperation, but security risks, economic challenges and longstanding mistrust raise questions about whether their growing partnership can endure.

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

Israeli troops stand guard on the dividing line between the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and Syrian, near Majdal Shams, July 16, 2025.

Analysis

'The problem and the solution': Netanyahu-Sharaa call exposes Israel's Syria dilemma

The Israeli leader revealed that he spoke with the Syrian president last year, but stalled talks and Israel's fortification of a security zone on Syrian land underscore his mistrust of Sharaa.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

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.

Latest News

Explainer

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

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

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

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.

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

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY KAMAL TAHA
Men smoke water pipes at a cafe in the Jordanian capital Amman on February 3, 2014. A ban on water pipes in restaurants and cafes has caused uproar in Jordan where $1 billion worth of tobacco goes up in smoke every year. Under a decision based on a 2008 law that was not previously enforced, the government has announced that by the end of 2014 the licences of more than 5,000 establishments that serve hookahs will be revoked. AFP PHOTO/KHALIL MAZRAAWI (Photo credit s

Foreign, local workers at odds in Jordan's labor market

The unemployment rate among Jordanians is increasing, as Syrian refugees in Jordan are willing to work for longer hours and lower wages.

A view shows a checkpoint used by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in the northwestern city of Ariha, after a coalition of insurgent groups seized the area in Idlib province May 29, 2015. Insurgents who captured the last government-held town in Syria's Idlib province celebrated inside on Friday and made more advances in surrounding areas, in a further blow to the stretched army and allied militia. REUTERS/Abed Kontar - RTR4Y2JU

Israel fears breakup of Syria

Israeli experts are cautious about predicting events in Syria, but concede that despite losses by Hezbollah there, the organization might attack Israel unexpectedly from the Lebanese border.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan speaks during an opening ceremony in Istanbul, Turkey, May 26, 2015. Turkey's general election looks likely to push Tayyip Erdogan's dream of an all-powerful presidency further from his reach, and usher in a period of turbulence as its most divisive modern leader jockeys to maintain his dominance. Barred by the constitution from party politics as head of state, Erdogan has nonetheless campaigned across Turkey before the June 7 parliamentary vote in a sign of how much he has

Erdogan: Journalist will pay 'heavy price'

The Turkish president is furious with the editor of Cumhuriyet for publishing photos of the contents of the infamous MIT trucks stopped en route to Syria, but even more outraged that his policy of intimidation is failing to silence media criticism.

Tourists walk in the historical city of Palmyra, September 30, 2010. Islamic State fighters in Syria have entered the ancient ruins of Palmyra after taking complete control of the central city, but there are no reports so far of any destruction of antiquities, a group monitoring the war said on May 21, 2015. Picture taken September 30, 2010. REUTERS/Nour Fourat - RTX1E3U1

Congress deals blow to IS looting in Syria

The House passed legislation that would make it illegal to import stolen artifacts.

A convoy of Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters enter the village of Tel Khanzir, after they took control of the area from Islamic State fighters, in the western countryside of Ras al-Ain May 28, 2015. The YPG, supported by U.S.-led air strikes, have been making steady gains this month against Islamic State in the northeast, which is important in the battle against the jihadists due to its location bordering territory held by the group in Iraq. Picture taken May 28, 2015. REUTERS/Rodi Said

Turkey plays down death toll of Kurdish youths

The steady stream of Turkey's Kurdish youths killed while fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria have failed to make the news, further fueling tensions between the Turkish government and its Kurdish population.

US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz (L) and US Secretary of State John Kerry wait for the start of a trilateral meeting at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne March 28, 2015. The foreign ministers of France and Germany joined the top U.S. and Iranian diplomats on Saturday to help break an impasse in nuclear negotiations as major powers and Iran closed in on a 2- or 3-page accord that could form the basis of a long-term deal. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool - RTR4V9Q6

Capitol Hill counts down days until Iran nuclear deadline

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of June 1.

Displaced Sunni women fleeing the violence in Ramadi, carry bags as they walk on the outskirts of Baghdad, May 24, 2015. Iraqi forces recaptured territory from advancing Islamic State militants near the recently-fallen city of Ramadi on Sunday, while in Syria the government said the Islamists had killed hundreds of people since capturing the town of Palmyra. REUTERS/Stringer - RTX1ED8I

Baghdad stumbles in response to Ramadi refugees

180,000 Iraqis now displaced by the Islamic State from Ramadi; Islamic State benefits from Saudi military intervention in Yemen; Jabhat al-Nusra’s attempted makeover.

A member of al Qaeda's Nusra Front burn a Syrian national flag in the town of the northwestern city of Ariha, after a coalition of insurgent groups seized the area in Idlib province May 29, 2015. The Syrian army has pulled back from the northwestern city of Ariha after a coalition of insurgent groups seized the last city in Idlib province in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border that was still held by the government. A coalition of rebel groups called Jaish al Fateh, or Conquest Army, said it had taken

Al-Qaeda theorist calls for infiltrating political systems

Abdullah bin Mohammed, an al-Qaeda theorist, believes jihadists need to adopt a new strategy of attaining legitimacy by rebranding themselves and working from within political systems, an idea that might already have taken root in Syria.

Smoke rises from what activists said was due to shelling by forces loyal to Syria's president Bashar Al-Assad on the outskirts of Damascus city in the eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta May 21, 2015. REUTERS/Diaa Al-Din - RTX1DYKI

Syrian opposition defends eastern Ghouta situation

In an interview, Jaish al-Islam spokesman Capt. Islam Alloush told Al-Monitor that the group is confident its goals will be achieved in besieged eastern Ghouta as it is transforming its "militia into a real army."

Kurdish refugees from the Syrian town of Kobani wait to fill their jerrycans around a clean water source at a refugee camp in the border town of Suruc, Sanliurfa province February 1, 2015. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4NRVB

Turkey restricts academic research on Syrian refugees

Turkey's Interior Ministry now requires academics to get prior approval before conducting research on the country's 2 million Syrian refugees.

Relatives of Lebanese soldiers, who were captured by Islamist militants in Arsal, carry pictures of two of them during a protest demanding their release and pressuring the government to act, as they blocked a main road linking Tripoli to Halba, in al-Mhmara town, northern Lebanon August 30, 2014. Islamic State militants beheaded a Lebanese soldier who was one of 19 captured by hardline Syrian Islamists when they seized a Lebanese border town for few days this month, a video posted on social media showed on

Lebanon hopes for return of kidnapped soldiers

As Lebanese media outlets report a deal with Jabhat al-Nusra for the release of 16 Lebanese soldiers kidnapped during the battle of Arsal in August, questions remain about support for the terrorist organization in Lebanese territory.

Is Turkey arming radical groups in Syria?

A trial of gendarmerie officers and prosecutors in Istanbul is producing embarrassing revelations for the government.