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September 2, 2026

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Tribal and Bedouin fighters deploy in the western neighborhood of southern Syria's predominantly Druze city of Suwayda amid clashes with Druze gunmen on July 19, 2025.

Fresh fighting in Syria's Suwayda leaves one dead: What to know

Renewed clashes in Suwayda highlight the fragile security situation in the Druze-majority province.

Ongoing construction work is pictured at a site in Marota City, a new mixed-use development project near the Umayyad Square in Damascus on July 22, 2026. Syria's new leaders, who inherited a dilapidated economy, are trying to attract capital without waiting for the full lifting of international sanctions. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP via Getty Images)

UAE investment fuels Syria's postwar economic recovery with $7B property deal

The deal would see UAE-based Arada develop a major real estate project in Damascus.

JOSEPH EID/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

UAE gauges new Lebanon deals amid Levant economic stabilization push

Beirut welcomed a high-level business delegation from the UAE in late August as Abu Dhabi pursues new regional economic engagement amid Iran's waning influence.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Latest News

Analysis

Why Turkey welcomes Israel-Syria talks despite mounting red lines

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrive for a joint press conference following their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Feb. 4, 2025.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Sharaa taps Visa as Syria reconnects to global finance: What to know

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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

TOPSHOT - A boy walks through a rainwater pond near a laundry line with clothes hanging out to dry at a flooded camp for Syrians displaced by conflict near the village of Kafr Uruq, in Syria's northern rebel-held Idlib province on January 17, 2021. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images)

Displaced Syrians left out in rain by HTS government's building fees

The Syrian Salvation Government has imposed construction fees on displaced citizens trying to build homes in Idlib, raising the costs beyond what many can afford.

Islamic State kills two dozen pro-regime fighters in Syria

A firefight in the Deir ez-Zor desert is the latest sign of the Islamic State terror network's lingering presence.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY SAMMY KETZ
Sheikh Hikmat Hajari, a top Druze cleric, sits in his home in the southern city of Sweida on January 23, 2013. Abductions of Druze officials in Daraa were rampant in May and June of last year, prompting the inhabitants of Sweida to respond in kind, leaving behind a palpable distrust between the provinces, though Sweida hosts some 9,000 displaced people of Daraa. AFP PHOTO/ANWAR AMRO (Photo credit should read ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Syrian regime scrambles to defuse tensions after insult to Druze leader

The people of Suwayda in southern Syria were outraged when a Syrian army officer insulted the spiritual leader of the Druze community in the governorate, and high-ranking officials are trying to defuse the tension by offering apologies to the community.

A combine harvests wheat in a field in the countryside of al-Kaswa, south of Syria's capital Damascus, on June 18, 2020. - Heavy rain and reduced violence provided a relief to Syrian farmers with a good harvest this year, as a tanking economy leaves millions hungry across his war-torn country. Prior to the outbreak of the conflict in 2011, Syria produced more than 4.1 million tonnes of wheat, enough to feed its entire population. But production plunged to record lows during the war, boosting reliance on imp

Syrians in Kurdish-administered regions struggle with price of bread

Should Syria’s economy and currency continue to deteriorate, it is likely that the cost of wheat will also rise, further straining the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in its efforts to maintain bread subsidies and keep basic goods affordable in northeast Syria.

Syrian government, SDF trade accusations of violations of Russian-mediated cease-fire

No sooner had an agreement been reached between the Syrian regime and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces to lift the mutual sieges imposed in northeast Syria that accusations were traded about violations of the Russian-sponsored deal.

Syrian Kurds hoping for lifeline from Biden administration

Damascus, Ankara and Moscow turn up the heat on US-backed group; UN Syria envoy says, "We can’t continue like this."

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HTS leader shocks popular base after interview with Western journalist

Whenever Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani makes a media appearance, it causes a commotion among Syrian activists and analysts, the most controversial of which is his recent appearance in a suit.

A Turkish soldier stands guard next to a military vehicle during a joint Russian-Turkish patrol in the eastern countryside of the town of Darbasiyah near the border with Turkey in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on December 7, 2020. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP) (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

How Turkey fits in regime-Kurdish showdown in Syria

Some claim that a secret deal between Ankara and Damascus is behind the latest escalation between the Syrian government and the Kurds, but the situation could be more complex than it seems.

Syrian rebel fighters unload artillery shells amid clashes with government forces in the last major rebel bastion of Idlib in northwestern Syria on February 6, 2020. - Syrian regime forces were locked in clashes with jihadists and allied rebels in a key highway town in northwest Syria, a monitor said, despite Turkey warning pro-government fighters should back off. (Photo by Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images)

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham shuts down arms stores across Idlib

The Syrian Salvation Government in Idlib issued a decision to shut down all weapons stores in the areas under its control as a result of accidental shootings and explosions taking place inside these stores.

A man watches as Russian troops escort a convoy of Syrian civilians leaving the town of Tal Tamr in the northeastern Hasakeh province, to return to their homes in the northern town of Ain Issa in the countryside of the Raqqa region, via the strategic M4 highway, on January 10, 2021. - The town of Tal Tamr is on the front line between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian factions supported by Turkey.
Civilians stranded on both sides of the line because of heavy fighting, have been able to retur

Russia, Iran compete for influence in Syria via private security companies

Private security companies in Syria with ties to Russian and Iranian forces are busily recruiting young men with attractive salaries.

Smoke billows following an Israeli airstrike targeting south of the capital Damascus, on July 20, 2020. - Israeli strikes south of the Syrian capital wounded seven Syrian soldiers, state media reported, in an attack which a war monitor said hit several positions of regime forces and Iran-backed militias. (Photo by STR / AFP) (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Syria reports Israeli airstrikes in south

The news follows reports of suspected Israeli airstrikes against Iranian and Syrian military targets in the country in December and January.

A worker walks with a piece of wood on his shoulder at the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), near Guba in Ethiopia, on December 26, 2019. - The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a 145-metre-high, 1.8-kilometre-long concrete colossus is set to become the largest hydropower plant in Africa.
Across Ethiopia, poor farmers and rich businessmen alike eagerly await the more than 6,000 megawatts of electricity officials say it will ultimately provide.
Yet as thousands of workers toil day and night to finish

The Takeaway: Egypt welcomes US mediation to help break high-stakes deadlock over Nile dam

Motaz Zahran, Egypt’s ambassador to the United States, says Ethiopia has "no political will" to resolve dam dispute; who’s buying Golani’s makeover?; former ambassador to United States says Israel needs "united front" against Iran nuclear deal; Egypt’s first female mixed martial arts fighter.