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June 22, 2026

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Hassan Akkad speaks about fleeing Syria in 2015 and his work as a filmmaker at a BAFTA event, Sept. 2023.

Culture

In Syria, detention of Hassan Akkad raises alarm about free expression under Sharaa

Akkad, a British-Syrian filmmaker, was detained Wednesday night after his campaign questioning the whereabouts of funds allegedly pledged for relief, reconstruction and community initiatives across Syria.

Mazloum Abdi (Kobani), commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), speaks with AFP during an interview in the countryside outside the northwestern Syrian city of Hasakah, in the province of the same name, on January 24, 2019. - Any deal between Syria's Kurds and the Damascus regime should respect the "special status" of Kurdish-led forces who fought the Islamic State (IS) group, Kobani said. The SDF control around a third of Syria after expelling jihadists from a large northeastern swathe of t

Syrian Kurd commander Kobane kicks off European tour amid scrutiny from Damascus

Commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces Mazlum Kobane is on a European tour and will likely meet French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris.

Latest News

Analysis

Why Trump’s push for Syria to confront Hezbollah is an unlikely bid

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa is welcomed by Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides in Nicosia on April 24, 2026, on the sidelines of a European summit.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

'Let Syria take care of Hezbollah': Trump criticizes Israel, leans on Sharaa to help in Lebanon

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE - JUNE 16: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral meeting with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the G7 summit, on June 16, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France. Leaders from the Group of 7 (G7) countries convened in Evian, France, near the Swiss border, for their annual summit to discuss challenges to peace and security for Ukraine and Europe, the situation in the Middle East, and other geopolitical issues. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Get

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

SONY DSC

Syrian Heavy Metal Bands Rock On During War

With the situation in Syria deteriorating daily, Syria’s rock and heavy metal artists continue to make music despite pressure from more than just their government.

Members of the Free Syrian Army gather as gunfire is heard between them and the armed Kurds of The Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) in the northern Syrian town of Ras al-Ain, November 25, 2012. Iran said Turkey's plans to deploy Patriot defensive missiles near its border with Syria would add to the region's problems, as fears grow of the Syrian civil war spilling across frontiers. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR3AV5G

Kurdish Jihadists Fight Kurds in Syria

Some young Iraqi Kurdish men are being lured by al-Qaeda's call for jihad in Syria, even if it puts them into combat with their Kurdish brethren.

An Israeli Postal Service employee shows a man how to adjust a gas mask at a distribution point at a shopping mall in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim near Jerusalem August 26, 2013. Thousands of Israelis lined up for gas masks at nationwide distribution centers or phoned in orders fearing a deadly chemical weapons attack in Syria may wind up ensnaring their own nation in conflict, officials and analysts said on Monday. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CIVIL UNREST) -

Israel Must Take Clear Stand on Syria

An operation against Syria carries the potential for escalation that could lead to Armageddon, yet the United States must make it clear: Using weapons of mass destruction is not an option.

An Israeli soldier inspects a building after it was destroyed during an Iraqi Scud missile attack last night January 26, 1991. At least one person was killed and 69 wounded. Reuters/Ulli Michel /landov BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE - RTR2P2QB

Israel Should Be Part Of Coalition Against Syria

Israel has a moral obligation to be part of the international coalition being formed against the Assad regime, both as a concerned neighbor and as part of the international community.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speak during a joint news conference after their meeting in Moscow, May 7, 2013. The U.S. secretary of state sought Russian help in ending Syria's civil war on Tuesday, telling President Vladimir Putin in Moscow that common interest in a stable Middle East could bridge divisions among the big powers. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTXZE2I

US-Russia Diplomacy Could Be Casualty of Attack on Syria

A US attack on Syria may undermine the prospects for a Geneva II peace conference and worsen already strained ties between Washington and Moscow.

Iranian President Hassan Rowhani (L) and Oman's Sultan Qaboos bin Said (C-R) review the honour guard during the latter's welcoming ceremony at Tehran's Saadabad Palace on August 25, 2013. The Iranian authorities have announced that Sultan Qaboos of Oman, the only Gulf leader to maintain good relations with Tehran, arrived in Iran for a focus on economic issues and diplomacy visit. AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI (Photo credit should read BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images)

Sultan Qaboos, UN's Feltman Test Diplomacy with Iran

Sultan Qaboos of Oman and UN Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman create diplomatic flurry in Tehran.

Members of the Free Syrian Army react as they fire a home-made rocket towards forces loyal to the Syrian regime in Deir al-Zor, June 16, 2013. Picture taken June 16, 2013. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT) - RTX10QLQ

US Attack on Syria Will Achieve Nothing

US attack on Syria will backfire on the Obama administration and Israel, awaken nationalism within the Syrian people and strengthen President Bashar al-Assad.

Israeli mounted policemen guard as Israeli-Arab protesters wave Palestinian flags during a demonstration to show their solidarity with Bedouin citizens, in the Israeli-Arab town of Umm el-Fahm August 1, 2013. Hundreds demonstrated on Thursday against an Israeli cabinet plan to relocate some 30,000 Bedouin citizens who live in unrecognized villages in Israel's southern Negev desert and relocate them to towns built by the government. Clashes erupted at the demonstration as police prevented the protesters from

Syria's Tragedy IsA Warning to Israel

There are lessons for Israel in the Syria war.

A boy who survived from what activists say is a gas attack cries as he takes shelter inside a mosque in the Duma neighbourhood of Damascus August 21, 2013. Syrian activists accused President Bashar al-Assad's forces of launching a gas attack that killed nearly 500 people on Wednesday, in what would, if confirmed, be by far the worst reported use of chemical arms in the two-year-old civil war. The Syrian armed forces strongly denied using chemical weapons. Syrian state television said the accusations were fa

Reports of Syria Chemical Attack Split Iraqis

The alleged chemical attack in Syria has revealed a sectarian rift in Iraq, with some Sunnis accusing Syria’s Alawite regime, while some Shiites blame the massacre on the opposition.

The burnt interior of Kevork Church is pictured after clashes between Free Syrian Army fighters and forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, at the al-Midan area in Aleppo October 30, 2012. REUTERS/George Ourfalian (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR39RY3

Aleppo Christians Fear Iraq-Style Ethnic Cleansing

Many Christians in Aleppo are fleeing, while others are taking up arms alongside the regime to defend their way of life.

United Nations (U.N.) vehicles transport a team of U.N. chemical weapons experts to the scene of a poison gas attack outside the Syrian capital last week, in Damascus August 26, 2013. The experts dressed in blue U.N. body armour, left in a six-car convoy, according to a Reuters witness, and were accompanied by security forces and an ambulance. They said they were headed to the rebel-held outskirts of Damascus, known as Eastern Ghouta, where activists say rockets loaded with poison gas killed hundreds of peo

Five Game Changers in Syria

What can prolong or shorten the Syria conflict?

Lebanon's Hezbollah supporters wave Palestinian and Hezbollah flags during a demonstration, organised by Lebanese and Palestinian factions, against Israel's military operation in Gaza, in front of the U.N. headquarters in Beirut November 17, 2012. Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas government buildings in Gaza on Saturday, including the prime minister's office, after Israel's cabinet authorised the mobilisation of up to 75,000 reservists, preparing for a possible ground invasion. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON - T

Hezbollah-Hamas Relations 'Good' Despite Beirut Bombing Accusations

Sources close to Hezbollah claim ties with Hamas remain on relatively good terms despite disagreements and accusations that Hamas was involved in bombing a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut.