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Syria

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

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (C) heads a meeting of his new cabinet in Damascus August 31, 2014 in this picture released by Syria's national news agency SANA. REUTERS/SANA/Handout via Reuters (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT CIVIL UNREST) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTE

What's different in Damascus?

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has made changes in the economic and services ministries of the new government in a bid to overcome economic challenges and gather support by addressing charges of corruption.

Syrian army soldiers fire during a battle in Syria with rebels near the border fence with the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights September 1, 2014. Heavy fighting between Syrian army forces and rebels erupted on the Golan Heights on Monday, a Reuters photographer said, but it was unclear if either of the two sides had gained an advantage to control a key frontier crossing. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (SYRIA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR44GUY

Israeli Golan residents tell government to 'wake up'

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Eli Malka, head of the Golan Regional Council, expressed concern that with violence in Syria spilling over into the Golan, inaction by the Israeli government might lead to residents there living under conditions similar to those of communities along the border with Gaza.

Israeli soldiers observe the Syrian side of the Quneitra border crossing between the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights and Syria, August 29, 2014. U.N. officials shuttled along the rocky frontier between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Friday, trying to establish the whereabouts of 44 United Nations peacekeepers seized by al-Qaeda-linked militants inside Syria. Israeli forces took up positions at Quneitra, a fortified crossing between Syria and the Golan, barely 400 meters (437 yards) from Nu

Fighting on Golan border puts Israel on the spot

Israel has intercepted a drone over the Golan Heights, but turned a blind eye to a Syrian warplane near its border, highlighting the complex reality of the war in Syria and the difficulty in calculating what is in Israel's best interest.

Former prime minister Saad al-Hariri (R) speaks during a meeting with the members of the "14 March Alliance" as former President Amin Gemayel (2nd R) and Samir Geagea (2nd L), leader of the Christian Lebanese Forces listen in Beirut August 8, 2014. Al-Hariri returned to Lebanon on Friday for the first time in three years, on a visit seen as reasserting a moderate influence over the Sunni community following a deadly incursion by Islamist militants. REUTERS/Dalati Nohra/Handout via Reuters (LEBANON - Tags: P

Hariri’s visit sign of Iranian-Saudi rapprochement

Saad Hariri's return to Lebanon coincided with a rapprochement between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and appears to be part of Riyadh's plan to invest in fighting terrorism and promoting moderate Islam.

Residents of Tabqa city and Islamic State militants tour the streets in celebration after Islamic State militants took over Tabqa air base in northeast Syria August 24, 2014. Islamic State militants stormed the air base in northeast Syria on Sunday, capturing most of it from government forces after days of fighting over the strategic location, a witness and a monitoring group said. Fighting raged inside the walls of the Tabqa air base, the Syrian army's last foothold in an area otherwise controlled by IS, w

US gives new priority to foreign fighters in Syria

US regional allies, including Turkey, may finally be forced to crack down on extremists in Syria.

General view of Lebanon's Roumieh Central Prison overlooking Beirut, where riots erupted on April 7 and continue today April 8. A prison warden and three inmates were slightly wounded in the revolt by prisoners demanding better conditions at Lebanon's largest jail which holds 3,000 inmates. - RTXIFDY

Lebanon's main prison a hotbed for terrorists

Roumieh Prison holds a variety of detainees, including terrorists and radical Islamists who pose a challenge to security in the lockup and in the country.

Syrian women help traumatized children smile again

Kindergarten teachers in the Syrian flashpoint city of Zabadani established a center to provide much-needed psychological support for local children.

People wave Kurdish flags and hold up a picture of jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan (C) of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) during a gathering celebrating Newroz, which marks the arrival of spring and the new year, in Diyarbakir March 21, 2014. Ocalan called on the Turkish government on Friday to create a legal framework for their peace talks, whose fate is looking increasingly uncertain a year after he called a ceasefire by his fighters. Tens of thousands gathered in Diyarbakir, the largest

Is PKK becoming a new Middle East power?

Turkey’s Kurdish movement is proving to be the only force resolved to fight the Islamic State, while boosting its political might in Turkey.

Lebanon's senior Hezbollah official Sheikh Nabil Qawouq leads the payers around the coffin of Ibrahim al-Haj, a Hezbollah commander who died during a mission in Iraq, during his funeral in Mashghara village in the Bekaa Valley July 30, 2014. A Hezbollah commander has died during a mission in Iraq, sources familiar with the incident said on Wednesday, indicating the Lebanese group that is already fighting in Syria's civil war may be involved in a second conflict in the region. Four sources in Lebanon named t

Hezbollah calls for resistance against IS

Hezbollah sources told Al-Monitor that the Islamic State’s attack on Arsal was only the beginning of another series of attacks in parts of Lebanon.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY SAMMY KETZ
A memorial bearing the portraits of soldiers from the city of Tartus, who died during the Syrian conflict, is seen on a wall in the city northwest of Damascus on May 18, 2014. Tartus has itself largely escaped the conflict in Syria, but posters of its sons killed fighting for the regime elsewhere in the country line the western city's main road. AFP PHOTO/JOSEPH EID (Photo credit should read JOSEPH EID/AFP/Getty Images)

Alawites prepare as IS, Jabhat al-Nusra close in on regime areas

Supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad long dismissed the threat from the Islamic State, but that threat has become real as jihadists move into the Homs countryside, approaching Alawite and Christian areas.

Clashes between Druze, Bedouins rattle Syria’s south

Violent clashes erupted last week between Druze residents of Suwayda province and Bedouins backed by Jabhat al-Nusra, threatening to drag this relatively quiet area into Syria’s civil war.

A rebel fighter knocks a hole in a wall inside a room at Karm al-Tarab frontline in Aleppo July 30, 2014. Picture taken July 30, 2014. REUTERS/Hamid Khatib (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR40SK6

Islamic State calls for revenge against Syria’s rebels

The Islamic State alleges Syrian rebels raped and abused female relatives of IS militants when rebels ousted IS from Aleppo earlier this year, and is using that as a rallying cry for its militants as it pushes into rebel-held territory.