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Syria

May 10, 2026

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Crops of wheat and barley in Terbol village on May 10, 2022, in Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

Analysis

MENA wheat importers face food security risks as Hormuz crisis festers

Home to many of the world's largest wheat importers, the Middle East and North Africa face acute food security risks as the US-Israel-Iran war disrupts global fertilizer flows and pushes up prices.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

A young man stands in the entrance of tunnels that were used by the ISIS and the Assad's regime for fighting. Tadamon, Syria, February 7, 2025. (Photo by Raghed Waked / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by RAGHED WAKED/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Syria arrests Amjad Youssef, Tadamoun massacre perpetrator: What to know

Amjad Youssef appeared on video, allegedly killing dozens of civilians in 2013; he is the latest member of the Assad regime to be captured by the new Syrian government.

President of Syria Ahmed al-Shara arrives for the 80th session of the UN’s General Assembly (UNGA) at UN Headquarters on Sept. 23, 2025 in New York City.

Analysis

'Is it worth it?' Syria's Sharaa faces backlash over Missy Elliott performance

Backlash erupts after dancers perform to Missy Elliott’s “Work It,” exposing the tightrope between Sharaa’s outreach to the West and pressure from his Islamist base.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives ahead of a meeting with Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street in central London on March 31, 2026.

Syria’s Sharaa makes fourth visit to Saudi Arabia, first since Iran war: What to know

The visit comes in light of the deepening economic relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia post-Assad.

Latest News

How Syria's border opening with Iraq redefines Turkey-Kurd balance

Members of Iraq's security forces stand guard on the the al-Rabia border crossing with Syria on April 20, 2026.

EU to restore Syria cooperation pact ahead of May talks: What to know

Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP via Getty Images

Sharaa distances Syria from Iran war, says Israel talks ongoing: What to know

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Turkish Presient Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Antalya Diplomatic Forum in Turkey April 17, 2026.

Analysis

Is Syria’s Sharaa poised to outdo Turkey in formalizing gains for Kurds?

Kurdish people waving Kurdistan flags gather to celebrate Nowruz on the hill of Urkesh in the countryside of Amuda in northeastern Syria on March 18, 2026. Nowruz, meaning "new day," is an ancient festival that marks the start of spring and the new year on the vernal equinox, which usually falls on March 20 or 21. It is celebrated by more than 300 million people worldwide and has been observed for over 3,000 years across regions including the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus and parts of Eastern Euro

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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

Syrian refugees, fleeing the recent fighting in Arsal, wait with their belongings in Majdel Anjar in the Bekaa valley, near the Lebanese border with Syria August 8, 2014. The refugees, who had sought shelter in Arsal, were attempting to head back to Syria; however, they say Syrian authorities at the border rejected them until further investigation to verify their identities and statuses. REUTERS/Hassan Abdallah (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR41Q6X

Arsal battle brings Syrian refugee issue to the fore in Lebanon

Since the Arsal battle, Lebanon has been taking a new look at its Syrian refugee crisis, which it has been struggling with for years.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan greets members of his ruling AK Party (AKP) as he arrives at a meeting at the party headquarters in Ankara August 14, 2014. Turkish president-elect Erdogan urged his ruling AK Party on Thursday to work for a stronger parliamentary majority next year to enable them to re-write the constitution, signalling no let-up in his drive to create an executive presidency. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR42E72

Amid regional instability, Turkey focuses on domestic agenda

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party are engrossed in the transition to a presidential system, but unrelenting developments in the Middle East will leave Ankara facing major regional problems.

Nuns pray in Saint Peter square during a mass at the Vatican on September 7, 2013. The pope has called for a global day of fasting and prayer on Saturday for peace in Syria and against any armed intervention. AFP PHOTO / Filippo MONTEFORTE (Photo credit should read FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images)

Envoy: US 'appalled' by reported killing of priest in Syria

US envoy to Syria Robert Ford has condemned the killing of Catholic Priest Father François Mourad and stated that "unprovoked violence against civilians is completely unacceptable"

Iraqi Christians displaced by the violence in their country wait in line to receive aid from a Chaldean Catholic Church truck in Beirut August 13, 2014. Well financed and armed, Islamic State insurgents have captured large swathes of territory in a summer offensive, as the Iraqi army - and now Kurdish Peshmerga forces in the self-governing north - have crumbled in the face of its onslaught, massacring Shi'ites and minority Christians and Yazidis as they advance. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLI

Lebanon a safe haven but Middle Eastern Christians still at risk

The arrival of Iraqi Christians in Lebanon is significant, as the country has historically been considered a safe haven for Christians in the Levant, and requires considerable diplomatic support from religious and political authorities in the region.

A militant Islamist fighter waving a flag, cheers as he takes part in a military parade along the streets of Syria's northern Raqqa province June 30, 2014. The fighters held the parade to celebrate their declaration of an Islamic "caliphate" after the group captured territory in neighbouring Iraq, a monitoring service said. The Islamic State, an al Qaeda offshoot previously known as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), posted pictures online on Sunday of people waving black flags from cars and holdi

IS emerges from radical Islamic jurisprudence

The Islamic State and other radical groups found their religious underpinnings in the heart of Islamic teachings.

A student wears a headlight, due to electricity shortage, as he takes his year-end examinations at a school in Aleppo's al-Sha'ar district June 5, 2013. REUTERS/Muzaffar Salman (SYRIA - Tags: CONFLICT EDUCATION SOCIETY) - RTX10CK8

Power outages add to Aleppo’s suffering

The electricity network in Aleppo has been severely damaged by the war, with power outages of more than a year in some neighborhoods.

A man reads the Bible sitting in a street of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on February 20, 2014. Syria's government forces have begun using a powerful type of cluster munition rocket not previously seen in the country's conflict, Human Rights Watch said in a statement. AFP PHOTO/ALEPPO MEDIA CENTRE/FADI AL-HALABI (Photo credit should read Fadi al-Halabi/AFP/Getty Images)

Aleppo's forgotten Christians

The ethnic cleansing of Christians in Mosul has alarmed Aleppo's large Christian community, which criticizes the West for failing to protect the Middle East's Christians.

Damage is seen on a building and a mosque from the fighting between Lebanese army soldiers and Islamist militants, in the Sunni Muslim border town of Arsal, in eastern Bekaa Valley August 7, 2014. Militant Islamists have mostly withdrawn from the Lebanese border town of Arsal, which they seized at the weekend, taking with them captive Lebanese soldiers, militant and security sources said on Thursday, as a truce to end the deadly battle appeared to hold. REUTERS/Ahmad Shalha (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL U

Arsal: The battle that begins a long war

The Arsal agreement reached between the Lebanese military and government parties and the militants indicates that the two parties are betting on different factors.

U.N.-Arab League envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi addresses the media before a meeting on Syria at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva June 25, 2013. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) - RTX1104B

Brahimi on Syria: 'We need to get out of this vicious circle'

UN Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has said that there is "no military solution" to the Syrian conflict.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (R) meets with Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani in Ankara July 30, 2013. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX1252R

Turkey downplays IS threat, but concerns grow

As the Islamic state draws closer to the Turkish border and Ankara struggles to overcome its differences with the Iraqi administration, Turkey may be left to face the jihadist threat on its own.

Hezbollah supporters wave Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian and Hezbollah flags as they listen to their leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addressing his supporters during a rally to mark "Quds (Jerusalem) Day" in Beirut's southern suburbs July 25, 2014. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION) - RTR4056R

Gaza war brings Hamas, Hezbollah closer

The war on Gaza offers an opportunity to renegotiate the strategic relationship between Hamas and Hezbollah, whose relationship has been severed over the past three years, providing major obstacles can be overcome.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (3rd R) meets with members of the Syrian Opposition Coalition at the United States Mission to the United Nations in New York, July 25, 2013. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX11Z6I

Kerry meets Syria opposition

US Secretary of State John Kerry has said that the US and Moscow are both committed to convening for peace talks "as soon as possible."