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Syria

November 8, 2026

Damascus 10:11 am

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Syria foils Hezbollah-linked plot to attack Homs refinery: What to know

Syrian authorities have intensified a crackdown against Hezbollah’s alleged plans to launch attacks inside Syrian territory as well as smuggling attempts.

BING GUAN/AFP via Getty Images

Lawmakers urge Commerce Dept to ease Syria investment restrictions

Syria may be off the terrorism blacklist, but the Commerce Department’s export controls have yet to catch up.

Muzna Al-Atrash

Explainer

Meet Muzna al-Atrash, Syria's new Druze adviser for peace affairs

Atrash, from the Suwayda province and a member of the Druze community, will advise Damascus on peace affairs as it looks to assert authority in the south.

People inspect the damage at a site targeted by airstrikes

Analysis

How Syria is balancing public anger, regional stability after Jordan's strikes

Shelly Kittleson

By Shelly Kittleson

In Middle East, reporting on regional politics

Latest News

Analysis

Gaza progress, Syria pullback: What Turkey wants from Israel’s next government

Demonstrators hold a banner reading "Free Gaza, free world"

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Syria flash floods kill at least 5, force hundreds of families from camps

Mohammed Mir / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Interview

US oil firm HKN aims to double output in Syria's formerly Kurdish-run fields

A general view shows the Awad oil field in the eastern Qamishli countryside in northeastern Syria, on Feb. 15, 2026.

Matthew Zais

Matthew Zais

HKN vice president for government affairs

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

Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters stand with their weapons in Tel Hamis in Hasaka countryside March 1, 2015. Kurdish forces dealt a blow to Islamic State by capturing Tel Hamis, an important town, on Friday in the latest stage of a powerful offensive in northeast Syria, a Kurdish militia spokesman said. The capture of Tel Hamis was announced by the Kurdish YPG militia and confirmed by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the country's civil war. REUTERS/Rodi Said (SYRIA - T

Iraqi Kurds struggle to avoid regional conflicts

Iraqi Kurds have performed a balancing act to remain largely impartial in the conflicts swirling around them.

The residence of the military commander of the Houthi militant group, Abdullah Yahya al Hakim, is seen after an airstrike destroyed it in Sanaa April 28, 2015. Saudi-led aircraft pounded Iran-allied Houthi militiamen and rebel army units on Monday, dashing hopes for a pause in fighting to let aid in as relief officials warned of a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah - RTX1AM7D

Saudi Arabia’s Islamist-liberal divide

The Saudi regime needs to tend to internal divisions in the kingdom and scale back its interventionism in the region to improve its prospects for long-term stability.

Residents inspect a damaged site after what activists said was a barrel bomb dropped by forces loyal to Syria's president Bashar Al-Assad in Al-Shaar nighbourhood of Aleppo, April 25, 2015. REUTERS/Mahmoud Hebbo - RTX1A91H

Syrian regime continues destruction of Aleppo

Airstrikes continue to pound Aleppo, and despite mounting casualties and public discontent, the regime does not seem likely to budge.

Residents queue up to receive humanitarian aid at the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, in Damascus March 11, 2015. The Palestinian Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, which is under siege by Syrian government forces fighting rebels, has received its first relief supplies since the beginning of December. The aid was delivered by the United Nations Relief and Works Organization (UNRWA) on March 5, the organisation said in a news release.
REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR

PLO fails to address Yarmouk crisis

The crisis in the Yarmouk refugee camp, which emerged after the Islamic State took control of the camp, reveals the weakness of the PLO, as the responsible party to handle the situation of Palestinian refugees around the world.

Hariri: Late Syrian security chief tried to speak out

A statement by Lebanon's former Prime Minister Saad Hariri that Rustom Ghazaleh asked to go on television before his death suggests the former Syrian intelligence chief was about to break with the Syrian government.

Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) fighters gather with their weapons in the Assyrian village of Tel Jumaa, north of Tel Tamr town March 4, 2015. The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) have seized two towns and dozens of villages from Islamic State (IS) in an offensive that got under way on Feb. 21 in the strategically important Hasaka province that borders IS-held areas in Iraq. Picture taken March 4, 2015. REUTERS/Rodi Said (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR4S816

Abductions in Syria cause widespread fear

The Islamic State and the Kurdish People's Protection Units have been carrying out kidnappings in Syria, both seemingly working toward the same goal: terrorizing those who do not support them.

Syrians carry returning intelligence chief in Lebanon, Rustum Ghazaleh, in Damascus April 26, 2005. The last Syrian soldiers and intelligence agents left Lebanon on Tuesday, ending three decades of Syria's direct involvement in its small neighbour. As their buses crossed the frontier, many Lebanese hailed the completion of a withdrawal that had taken seven weeks as the start of a new era. But although Damascus's domination is past, many believe its influence in Lebanon is far from over. REUTERS / Khaled al-

Syria's spy chiefs meet untimely deaths

Ten years following the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon, many of the Syrian security officers who once ruled Beirut are now slowly disappearing within Syria.

Jordan's King Abdullah addresses the European Parliament during a debate in Strasbourg, March 10, 2015. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler (FRANCE - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) - RTR4SQZH

Jordan focuses on IS fight while Gulf allies pull back

Jordan's King Abdullah expresses strong differences from many of his allies on how best to deal with the Islamic State, fighting regional terrorism, developments in Syria and US Middle East policy.

Tunisia's Foreign minister Taieb Baccouche (L) speaks with Imam of the municipal Drancy mosque in Seine-Saint-Denis, Hassen Chalghoumi (2R) on March 18 mars 2015 in front of the Tunisian embassy in Paris where people gathered in solidarity with victims of the Tunis's museum attack. 22 were killed including 20 tourists by two gunmen at Bardo International Museum on March 18, 2015 in Tunis. AFP PHOTO/FRANCOIS GUILLOT (Photo credit should read FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images)

Tunisia’s new government shifts foreign policy

The Tunisian Foreign Ministry’s announcement that it would send a consul to Syria has been refuted by the president as the new government reconfigures Tunisia’s regional alliances.

This undated image released by the U.S. Government shows the steel liner for the reinforced concrete reactor vessel before it was installed at the suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in Syria. The White House on April 24, 2008 broke its official silence on the mysterious September 6, 2007 Israeli air strike. "We are convinced, based on a variety of information, that North Korea assisted Syria's covert nuclear activities," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in a statement. The statement came after intelli

Syria agrees to return highly enriched uranium to China

The recent decision by Syria to modify a small HEU-fueled research reactor will advance the possibility of a Middle East free of the civilian use of weapons-grade uranium.

Lebanese military soldiers man a checkpoint, near the site of an ambush where gunmen killed at least six Lebanese soldiers, in the mountainous border town of Ras Baalbek December 3, 2014. Gunmen killed at least six Lebanese soldiers when they attacked an army patrol near the border with Syria on Tuesday, the army and a Lebanese security source said. The source said the gunmen crossed from Syria to the mountainous border town of Ras Baalbek after dark and ambushed the patrol. Clashes between gunmen and a spe

Lebanese army advances to secure border

The Lebanese army has received a substantial arms shipment from the United States, allowing it to advance against terrorist groups in the mountainous border regions.

Cherry trees are in full bloom in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington April 10, 2013. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXYGQL

Defense bill takes aim at Iran

The must-pass legislation requires Pentagon strategy for countering Iran's "growing unconventional warfare capabilities."