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August 28, 2026

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

Visa and Mastercard announced Wednesday that their networks can now be used to make international card payments in Syria.

Mazloum Kobane, leader of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), speaks during a televised speech at the People's Palace in Damascus on Aug. 25, 2026.

Analysis

Capitulation or compromise? What SDF's dissolution means for Sharaa, Turkey and Syria's Kurds

The Syrian Democratic Forces' dissolution ends an era of Kurdish self-rule while opening a new political chapter in Damascus.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

Syrian Airlines expands Europe comeback with Vienna, Copenhagen flights

A Syrian Air passenger jet lands at Aleppo airport on March 18, 2025, the first aircraft to land after it was shut during the offensive that toppled former President Bashar al-Assad.

Exclusive

Israel recalibrates Syria policy, explores path to security deal

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (C) watches as US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack prepares to sign an agreement in Damascus on September 16, 2025. Shaibani announced on September 16 a plan backed by Jordan and the United States to restore calm to Druze-majority Sweida province, which witnessed deadly violence in July. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

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

Vehicles move past as people queue outside the main headquarters of the Central Bank of Syria to exchange US dollars at prices lower than the black market.

Who is Maysaa Sabrine, first woman to lead Central Bank of Syria?

Syria’s new leadership has appointed Maysaa Sabrine to head the country’s central bank, the first woman to do so in the institution’s history.

A man flashes a portrait of slain Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in front of the rubble of a building at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut's southern suburbs, on November 12, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

With Hamas, Hezbollah battered, Israel pivots to Iran, Syria, Yemen in 2025

As 2024 comes to an end, Israel is now less worried about threats from Hamas and Hezbollah and instead very much concerned over Iran and Syria.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Asaad Shaybani, Foreign Minister for the interim Syrian government, and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha (Andriy Sybiga) give a joint press conference in Damascus on December 30, 2024. Ukraine's Foreign Minister on December 30 urged the new Syrian leader to expel Russia from the country during an unannounced visit to Damascus. Moscow was one of former president Bashar al-Assad's key backers, intervening to help to turn the tide of Syria's civil war in his favour in 2015. The ex-president's toppling

Ukraine FM in Syria, urges interim government to expel Russia

The visit comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced a large shipment of wheat flour to war-torn Syria, as the two countries seek to reset relations following years of tensions over former President Bashar al-Assad's alliance with Russia.

DAMASCUS, SYRIA - DECEMBER 30: The leader of the new Syrian administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa waits to greet Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha (not in picture) ahead of a meeting between the Syrian leadership and a Ukrainian delegation to help strengthen ties between the two countries on December 30, 2024 in Damascus, Syria. Syria is transitioning after the fall of the Baath regime and the Assad family's rule, with a temporary administration now in place in Damascus and Aleppo. (Photo by Ali Haj Suleim

Syria’s FM to visit Saudi Arabia on first foreign trip as Sharaa praises Riyadh

The newly appointed foreign minister in the Syrian interim administration established after the fall of Assad said he accepted an invitation from his Saudi counterpart to visit the kingdom, which would be his first official visit abroad.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the third session of the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Nov. 19, 2024.

Erdogan hails Turkish century, calls for eliminating terror threat in Syria

Syrian Kurds distance themselves from the PKK.

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 13: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan listens to translation as he meets with U.S. President Donald Trump and five Republican U.S. senators in the Oval Office of the White House on November 13, 2019 in Washington, DC. During their meeting, Trump and Erdogan were scheduled to discuss Turkey's purchase of a Russian air defense system as well as the Turkish offensive against the Kurds in Syria. Also in DC today, the first public impeachment hearings took place in the House Intell

Analysis

As resurgent ISIS exploits Syria’s void, will Trump cede fight to Turkey?

Following the fall of the Syrian regime, the Islamic State is exploiting power vacuums to rebuild as Turkey positions itself to potentially take over counter-ISIS efforts while advancing its own regional interests.

Colin P. Clarke

By Colin P. Clarke

In Pittsburgh, US, reporting on counterterrorism, militancy

Storks are seen as a combine harvests wheat on a farm field near Malopolovetske village, some a hundred kilometers from Kyiv on July 20, 2024, amid Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP) (Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

Ukraine sends Syria 500 tons of wheat in first post-Assad aid: What we know

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has indicated a desire to help Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, who was heavily backed by Russia.

Fighters affiliated with Syria's new administration are deployed after closing a road leading to the Alawite-majority Mazzeh 86 neighbourhood in western Damascus, on Dec. 26, 2024.

Amid Alawite tensions, Syria's new rulers launch security operation: What we know

Syrian authorities conducted a search and made arrests in Tartous on Thursday following an ambush the day prior and amid rising violence throughout the country.

US Representative Mike Waltz speaks during a hearing of the House Task Force on the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 26, 2024.

Trump's national security adviser says ISIS, Israel border priorities in Syria

Congressman Mike Waltz said the incoming Trump administration will re-designate Yemen’s Houthis as terrorists and said the prospects for Israel-Saudi normalization are “good.”

Syria's newly appointed foreign minister, Assad Hassan al-Shibani, meets with Polish officials in Damascus.

Syria's new foreign, defense ministers close to Turkey, influential in HTS

Following the toppling of Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s new transitional government swiftly filled vacancies by appointing new foreign and defense ministers on Saturday.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham leader Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives for a meeting with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party, in Damascus, on Dec. 22, 2024.

From UK to Jordan: Delegations pour into Damascus, meet Syria's al-Sharaa

Officials from the Arab world, Turkey, the US and Europe have sent delegations to Syria since the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.

President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives for the European Political Community summit at Puskas Arena on Nov. 7, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary.

Turkey’s Erdogan says end near for PKK, Syrian offshoots

The Turkish president's remarks come amid growing speculation of an imminent Turkish-backed rebel offensive against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.