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May 16, 2026

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Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives to attend the second day of the first Syrian-Emirati (United Arab Emirates) Investment Forum, at the People's Palace in Damascus on May 12, 2026. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Ports and infrastructure: UAE embraces new economic order in Syria

UAE-Syrian ties have moved faster than expected, with Abu Dhabi embracing President Ahmad al-Sharaa and relations shifting from normalization to investment opportunities.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

A Syrian citizen exchanges old banknotes for new notes released and distributed by the central bank, at a bank in the capital, Damascus, on Jan. 3, 2026.

Interview

UK fintech brings foreign currency accounts to Syrians at home

The launch comes as Syria’s new government attempts to stabilize the country’s shattered economy following the January 2025 rise to power of President Ahmed al-Sharaa after the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad.

Mazloum Kobane, commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), speaks during the pan-Kurdish "Unity and Consensus" conference in Qamishli in northeastern Syria on April 26, 2025.

Interview

Syrian Kurdish commander Kobane says Turkey visit ‘in the making,’ Ocalan meeting possible

The SDF commander-in-chief reflected on a fragile integration deal with Damascus, growing Kurdish backlash and ongoing talks with Turkey as questions mount over Rojava’s political future.

Mazloum Kobane

Mazloum Kobane

SDF commander in chief

Khaled Hablas

Lebanon authorities release Salafist cleric Khaled Hablas: What to know

Hablas was imprisoned for his role in the deadly 2014 clashes with the military and Hezbollah and his release follows Syria lobbying for the return of militants detained in Lebanon.

Latest News

Syria restores Raqqa oil field in former ISIS stronghold: What to know

Pictured in this undated image is the Al-Thawra oil field in Raqqa governorate, as rehabilitation works continue to restore production capacity.

Turkey's border reopening unlocks new sphere of influence in Syria

Turkish Red Crescent's cars and trucks cross the Turkish border as they leave the Syrian city of Tel Abyad on Oct. 19, 2019, in Akcakale, Turkey.

EU restores economic pact to pursue fuller trade ties with Syria

Kaja Kallas

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

Lebanese army soldier Ibrahim Moustafa Shaaban, who was captured by Islamist militants in Arsal, gestures upon his arrival in Al-Mohamara village after his release, in Akkar August 31, 2014. Islamist Nusra Front, a group linked to al Qaeda, on Saturday released four Sunni soldiers and a Sunni policeman whom they captured earlier this month, including Shaaban, a source close to the group said. The circumstances of their release were not immediately clear. REUTERS/Stringer (LEBANON - Tags: CIVIL UNREST TPX IM

New jihadist generation in Lebanon

With the latest security clashes between Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra members and the Lebanese army, it seems that Salafism is shifting its priorities to Lebanon.

Nuns hold candles during a candle-lit vigil at the Balamand Monastery in Koura, near the north Lebanese city of Tripoli, to call for the release of bishops kidnapped in northern Syria two months ago, June 22, 2013. Greek Orthodox Patriarch John Yazigi led the candle-lit vigil on Saturday for Greek Orthodox archbishop Paul Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim, appealing to their kidnappers to free them and urging Syrian security forces to do more to win their release. REUTERS/Omar Ibrahim (L

Qatar foreign minister believes abducted bishops still alive

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah said that he has obtained information that two bishops kidnapped in Syria last year are still alive.

A Syrian army tank is seen in the neighbourhood of Zabadani, near Damascus, in this handout received February 17, 2012. Picture received February 17, 2012. REUTERS/Handout (SYRIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY POLITICS) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTR2Y0W2

Regime, rebels continue clashes in Zabadani

Rebel fighters attacked several Syrian army checkpoints around the town of Zabadani, but it has so far failed to produce safe passageways for civilians and rebel fighters.

U.S. President Barack Obama listens as he hosts a bilateral meeting with Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan during the NATO Summit at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales September 5, 2014. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED KINGDOM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR453P4

Is Turkey the weakest link in anti-IS coalition?

Held back by political weaknesses and ideological constraints, Ankara is likely to be the weakest and most reluctant member of the planned coalition against the Islamic State.

Syrians, who fled the fighting in their country, arrive with their belongings at night in the Shebaa region, southern Lebanon, November 11, 2013. Picture taken November 11, 2013. REUTERS/Karamallah Daher (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTX15A7X

Could Arqoub be the next Arsal?

The large number of displaced Syrians in the Arqoub area has raised concerns about the potential for instability in southern Lebanon instigated by jihadists living among the refugees.

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks as he hosts a bilateral meeting with Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan during the NATO Summit at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales September 5, 2014. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED KINGDOM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR453HP

Turkey faces dilemma in fight against Islamic State

Turkey is not keen to have the Kurds, Shiites and the Damascus regime be bolstered in the fight against the Islamic State.

The mother (C) of Lebanese soldier Abbas Medlej, who was beheaded by Islamic State militants in Arsal, mourns during his funeral in his hometown in Ansar, south Baalbak September 7, 2014. Islamic State militants have beheaded the captive Lebanese soldier, images published on social media showed on Saturday, the second Lebanese soldier to be killed in captivity by the group since it raided a Lebanese border town last month. REUTERS/Ahmad Shalha (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST OBITUARY) - RTR458II

IS beheading of Shiite soldier threatens Lebanon's stability

The latest killing by the Islamic State raises worries that Shiite families and clans might retaliate against the Syrian refugee camps in the Bekaa, where many IS supporters are suspected to be present.

Peshmerga fighters inspect the remains of a car, bearing an image of the trademark jihadist flag, which belonged to Islamic State (IS) militants after it was targeted by an American air strike in the village of Baqufa, north of Mosul, on August 18,2014. Kurdish peshmerga fighters backed by federal forces and US warplanes pressed a counter-offensive Monday against jihadists after retaking Iraq's largest dam, as the United States and Britain stepped up their military involvement. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

Islamic State becoming ‘dominant voice’ among global jihadists

The United States intensifies military planning against the Islamic State; Syria’s new Cabinet; Israel faces "highly complex reality" in Syria; IS-linked group threatens more terror, beheadings in the Sinai Peninsula; what Egypt lost in the Al Jazeera trial.

A father of a Lebanese soldier captured by hardline Syrian Islamists, reacts next to a hearse carrying the coffin of another soldier Ali al-Sayyed, who was beheaded by Islamic State militants in Arsal, during his funeral in Qalamoun, in Akkar September 3, 2014. Islamic State militants beheaded al-Sayyed, one of 19 Lebanese soldiers captured by hardline Syrian Islamists when they seized the Lebanese border town for a few days last month, a video posted on social media showed on Saturday. REUTERS/Omar Ibrah

Hezbollah prepares to fight IS in Lebanon

The Islamic State and other extremists groups are proliferating along Lebanon's border with Syria.

Peshmerga fighters inspect the remains of a car, bearing an image of the trademark jihadist flag, which belonged to Islamic State (IS) militants after it was targeted by an American air strike in the village of Baqufa, north of Mosul, on August 18,2014. Kurdish peshmerga fighters backed by federal forces and US warplanes pressed a counter-offensive Monday against jihadists after retaking Iraq's largest dam, as the United States and Britain stepped up their military involvement. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

Europe blind to Islamic State's true threat

With the Islamic State drawing recruits from across Europe, the continent must act against the movement in Syria and Iraq before it's too late.

A view of a damaged mosque in Jobar, a suburb of Damascus July 18, 2014.
REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT RELIGION) - RTR3Z8JI

Regime tries to root out rebels surrounding Syrian capital

Syrian government forces began an offensive last week on the major rebel stronghold of Jobar, the closest rebel-held area to Damascus.

Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem listens to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton (R) as they wait for lunch during a break in the Geneva-2 peace talks in Montreux January 22, 2014. Syria's government and opposition, meeting for the first time, angrily spelled out their mutual hostility on Wednesday at a U.N. peace conference where world powers also offered sharply divergent views on forcing out Bashar al-Assad. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann (SWITZERLAND - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTX17PZ

Syria, West explore cooperation to fight Islamic State

Western intelligence officials have reportedly reached out to the Syrian government on potential cooperation over the Islamic State threat, but so far little progress has been made.