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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.

Latest News

Analysis

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

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.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad speaks during a press conference with Iraq's prime minister in Damascus on July 16, 2023, as Assad's engagement with Middle East countries increases

Syria's Assad to visit China on Thursday

Agence France-Presse

RAMI AL SAYED/AFP via Getty Images

Kurdish forces kill 14 pro-Turkey fighters in north Syria attack

The attack comes amid infighting between rebel factions loyal to Ankara in north Syria.

A Russian helicopter flies off the coast of the Syrian port city of Tartus, July 25, 2022.

Suspected Israeli strikes in Syria hit military sites in Tartus, Hama

Several Syrian military sites were targeted in two rounds of airstrikes in Tartus and Hama, leaving at least two soldiers dead and causing material damage.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - MAY 25: Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon May 25, 2023 in Arlington, Virginia. Milley and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin briefed members of the press following an online session of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

US top general talks Syria, NATO with new Turkey counterpart

Gen. Mark Milley's first announced call with newly appointed Turkish armed forces chief Metin Gurak follows reports that the United States is exploring alternate routes for Ukraine's grain exports.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Interview

Syrian Kurdish commander Kobane acknowledges Arab grievances as tensions ease in Deir Ezzor

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Syrian Kurdish commander Mazlum Kobane discussed the recent clashes in Deir Ezzor between local tribes and Kurdish forces.

Mazlum Kobane

Mazlum Kobane

SDF commander in chief

Syrian Arab fighters on the Turkish-held outskirts of Manbij, in northwestern Syria, during fighting against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on September 4, 2023

Kurds, pro-Turk forces fight in north Syria after 90 killed

Agence France-Presse

Troops from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) special operations.

Turkey's Erdogan eggs on Syria's Arab tribes against US-backed Kurds

Recep Tayyip Erdogan says the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria "poses a threat to its national security."

A picture taken during a tour origanized by the Jordanian Army shows a drone flying over an observation post along the border with Syria, on February 17, 2022. - Drug trafficking from Syria into Jordan is becoming "organised" with smugglers stepping up operations and using sophisticated equipment including drones, Jordan's army said, warning of a shoot-to-kill policy. Since the beginning of this year, Jordan's army has killed 30 smugglers and foiled attempts to smuggle into the kingdom from Syria 16 million

Jordan downs drone carrying drugs from Syria in 9th incident this year

The incident is the ninth this year as Jordan battles increasing drug smuggling attempts from neighboring Syria.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad speaks during a press conference.

Syria’s Assad abolishes notorious military field courts

Thousands of civilians are believed to have been executed after being tried at these courts.

Fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) attend a joint military exercise with forces of the US-led "Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve" coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group in the countryside of the town of al-Malikiya (Derik in Kurdish) in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province on September 7, 2022.

Syria’s Kurds struggle to contain backlash after detaining allied Arab militia leader

Kurdish-led forces guarding Syria’s Islamic State prisons have been on high alert amid spreading clashes in Deir Ezzor province.

Tens of thousands of people rally in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on October 26, 2011, as an Arab delegation led by Qatar was headed for Syria for mediation between the Syrian government and its opponents. The demonstrators, waving Syrian flags and brandishing pictures of Assad and his brother Maher (L), swarmed to Omayyad square in the heart of Damascus. AFP PHOTO/LOUAI BESHARA (Photo credit should read LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Syria: clashes in Damascus countryside with Maher Assad brigade leave 5 dead

The residents of Zakia town had been raising anti-regime banners, and a man was killed by local militias affiliated with Maher al-Assad’s Fourth Division this week.

A man snaps a picture of a red rose raised by a protester.

Will Syria’s Assad resort to violence as Suwayda protests grow?

No longer neutral, Suwayda province's Druze minority now demand the ouster of Bashar al-Assad.