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Syria

July 7, 2026

Damascus 1:57 pm

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Syrian security forces patrol near France's President's hotel during his visit in Damascus on July 7, 2026. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Breaking | Last Updated: July 7, 2026, 5:23 am

Two explosions rock Damascus, while Macron in town

Two explosions were heard in Damascus on Tuesday morning, while French President Emmanuel Macron is in the city for a meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

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

Analysis

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

A battle over wheat prices could be the first political contest over who reconstruction will benefit.

Haddon Barth

By Haddon Barth

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

Analysis

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

On June 26, Emirati and Syrian officials discussed plans for a logistics corridor connecting Syrian ports to Gulf markets via Iraq.

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

Volunteers of the Druze-led National Guard manage traffic at a checkpoint, Suwayda, Syria, Jan. 22, 2026.

Clashes between Druze fighters, Syrian forces raise fears of renewed violence

The episodes in Druze-majority Suwayda escalated amid kidnappings, various disputes, and absent movement on integrating Druze into state institutions.

Latest News

Syria launches gas project with Saudi firm in latest Gulf energy partnership

Oil drilling near Dakhiliyah in the desert region of Hasakah, Syria, Jan. 25, 2026.

Syria, Lebanon stress noninterference as Damascus mulls Hezbollah talks

Nawaf Salam and Asaad al-Shibani shake hands in Beirut on July 2, 2026.

At least 6 killed, 22 wounded in Damascus cafe explosion: What to know

Syrian security forces and people gather at the site of an explosion at a cafe in the capital, Damascus, on July 2, 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

AFP via Getty Images

Prigozhin’s death spells end of Wagner, but Russia won't abandon its missions

With the Wagner Group's top leadership reportedly dead in a likely assassination, Moscow is continuing to quietly replace the private mercenary outfit in its overseas operations.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad faces ongoing protests that began last week against the cost of fuel and are now spreading.

Protests in southern Syria gain momentum, spread to Aleppo

Anti-government protests in government-held areas have been driven by a fuel price hike on top of the generally dismal economic situation in war-torn Syria.

Syria Israel

Syrian soldier injured by suspected Israeli airstrikes near Damascus

Israel is regularly accused of striking Syrian and Iranian military targets in the country. The latest attack comes amid especially high tensions between Israel and Iran.

RAMI AL SAYED/AFP via Getty Images

Protests continue in Syrian government territory

Rare anti-government demonstrations are ongoing in southern Syria's Suwayda over the dismal economic situation in the country.

Girls stand next to a tent at the Al-Yunani makeshift camp for internally displaced people in Syria.

Analysis

Normalizing Assad won’t solve Syrian refugee crisis

Even restoring the country to the pre-war status quo is unlikely to entice many refugees to return.

Nadia Almasalkhi

Shelly Culbertson

By Nadia Almasalkhi , Shelly Culbertson

A truck drives on a road as a plume of smoke rises from a building during a reported Russian airstrike on Syria.

Russian airstrikes target Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria

The al-Qaeda offshoot is focused on defending its territory from Russian-backed Syrian government forces, but it has also clashed with the Islamic State recently.

Members of the Syrian security forces gather on the Syrian side of the border-crossing between Albu Kamal in Syria and Al-Qaim in Iraq, on September 30, 2019, after the crossing re-opened today after it was seized by the Islamic State (IS) group jihadists in 2014. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Pentagon denies US military to cut Iran’s land route into Syria

The top commander of US-led coalition forces in Iraq and Syria denied his forces are preparing to cut the road from al-Qaim to Albukamal, pushing back on recent reports in Arabic-language media.

A child watches as Jasmine (not pictured) paints amidst the rubble in the city of Jindires on Feb. 28, 2023, near Aleppo, Syria.

Protests in southern Syria as economy worsens

Syria’s economy is in tatters, and the removal of subsidies has led to relatively rare protests in government territory.

NAZEER AL-KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

Breaking | Last Updated: August 17, 2023, 7:39 pm

US sanctions Turkey-backed Syrian militias over rights abuses in Afrin

Washington has accused the Suleiman Shah Brigade, the Hamza Division and their leadership of committing serious rights abuses in the Kurdish-majority enclave of Afrin.

RAMI AL SAYED/AFP via Getty Images

US officials challenge Turkey’s claim to have killed Islamic State leader

US officials suggest that the Syrian jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham really was behind the death of Islamic State leader Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Quraishi.

Newly appointed Minister of National Defense Yasar Guler speaks during his handover ceremony at the Ministry of National Defense, Ankara, Turkey, June 5, 2023.

Turkey dismisses Assad’s tirade, says withdrawal from Syria 'unimaginable' now

Turkey's defense minister says withdrawal of Turkish troops from Syria would be "unimaginable" before his country’s national security concerns are addressed.

A photo taken on March 4, 2015 shows a banner bearing a portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a street in the city of Damascus.

Turkey-Syria reconciliation slips away as Assad bashes Erdogan

The top diplomats of Syria and Turkey met in Moscow earlier this summer, but little substantial progress seems to have been made in their path toward reconciliation.