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October 6, 2026

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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)

Feature

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.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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.

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)

UAE-Syria move ahead on $20 billion real estate mega-developments

Major housing and tourism projects in Damascus and Latakia are set to advance following a new agreement with UAE real estate tycoon Mohamed Alabbar.

Syria denies meeting with Lebanon’s Hezbollah in Turkey: What to know

Both Damascus and Ankara denied reports that Syrian officials met with Hezbollah representatives in Turkey, as relations between the two sides remain fraught with tensions mainly over the Lebanese group’s support for Assad’s forces against rebels during the Syrian civil war.

Latest News

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

Analysis

How militias in Anbar could complicate Iraq’s energy ambitions

Iraqi soldiers from the new 'desert battalion' special forces stand next to military vehicles as the take part in a graduation ceremony, after months of training by the French military, at the Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar west of Baghdad on February 29, 2024. (Photo by Ahmad AL-RUBAYE / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Baghdad, reporting on Iraqi politics

Exclusive

How Syrian Air is braving regional turbulence to rise from the ashes

Syria Air

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

NAZEER AL-KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

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.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad speaks during a press conference with Iraq's Prime Minister in Damascus on July 16, 2023.

Analysis

The missing peace between Syria and Turkey

Erdogan, Assad and the West all seem to be accepting a low-level grey zone conflict in Syria.

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti

By Week in Review , Andrew Parasiliti

A member of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), made up of an alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters, removes an Islamic State group flag in the town of Tabqa, about 55 kilometres (35 miles) west of Raqa city, on April 30, 2017.

Islamic State attack kills 26 Syrian soldiers, third in 2 weeks

The deadly attack, the group’s third this month, follows the death of another one of its leaders.

OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images

Syria's Assad 'wins big' in UN deal reviving aid to rebel-held northwest

Aid deliveries will resume to opposition-held northwestern Syria after the United Nations and the Syrian government suddenly agreed to revive the humanitarian pipeline for six months.

A clerk inspects the cargo of a truck among a convoy carrying tent and shelter kits.

US sanctions exemption for earthquake relief to Syria expires

The Treasury announcement came as the Syrian government reauthorized the UN's use of two border crossings to deliver aid.

GEORGE OURFALIAN/AFP via Getty Images

Islamic State attack in Raqqa kills 10 Syrian soldiers, second in a week

IS militants attacked several positions and checkpoints of the Syrian government and allied fighters in the group’s former stronghold of Raqqa.

Turkey drone

Turkey conducts drone strike against Kurdish forces in Syria

Turkey is escalating its attacks on the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces. Meanwhile, another Islamic State leader has been confirmed dead in the country.

Grain is loaded aboard a cargo ship at the Azov Sea Port, Rostov region, on July 22, 2023. On July 21, 2023, Russia said that it understood the concerns African nations may have after Moscow left the Ukrainian grain deal, promising to ensure deliveries to countries in need. (Photo by STRINGER / AFP) (Photo by STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)

Blinken to Russia: Stop using food as 'weapon of war' in Ukraine, Syria

Wheat prices in the Middle East have risen since Russia's abandonment of the grain deal last month.

Syria aid

How Syria's Assad is using aid access to hasten normalization

Experts say Syria's proposal to coordinate UN aid delivery is an attempt to cast itself as a constructive partner at a time when the region is bringing Bashar al-Assad in from the cold.