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August 30, 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

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan (L), Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad (R) arrive for a regional meeting on Syria, in Amman on May 1, 2023. - Arab foreign ministers will gather in Jordan on May 1, to discuss Syria's long-running conflict and ending Damascus's diplomatic isolation in the region, the foreign ministry in Amman said. (Photo by Khalil MAZRAAWI / AFP) (Photo by KHALIL MAZRAAWI/afp/AFP v

Jordan hosts meeting to facilitate Syria’s return to Arab League

Diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iraq are meeting in Jordan as Syria’s political reintegration into the Arab world accelerates.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan meets Syrian President Bashar Al Assad in Damascus on April 18, 2023.

Syria's Arab League return still uncertain, even as Assad normalization continues

The Saudi-led tide of normalization with Syrian President Assad may end his regional isolation, but just on a diplomatic level for now.

A soldier mans a machine gun mounted on an army vehicle during a Turkish and Russian military patrol in the countryside of Rumaylan (Rmeilan), in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province bordering Turkey, on April 27, 2023. (Photo by Delil souleiman / AFP) (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Syrian refugees abused, shot at by Turkey's border guards: HRW report

Syrian refugees are under mounting pressure in Turkey as the president seeks to mend ties with the Syrian government.

Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar is seen standing at the start of the North Atlantic Council meeting of defence ministers during the second and final day of the NATO defence ministers' meeting at the NATO headquarters on October 13, 2022 in Brussels, Belgium. The North Atlantic Council (NAC) Defence Ministers are convening at the NATO headquarters in Brussels for a two-day summit as the war in Ukraine continues into its seventh month. (Photo by Omar Havana - Pool / Getty Images)

Turkey, Syria defense chiefs meet in Russia, discuss ‘normalization'

The Moscow meeting was described as “positive” by both sides since Syrian-Turkish rapprochement took off last year.

SANA/AFP via Getty Images

EU slaps Captagon sanctions on relatives of Syria's Assad

The European Union adopted new restrictive measures today against Syrian individuals and entities accused of trafficking narcotics and supporting the oppressive Syrian government.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) arrive for a joint press conference with their Iranian counterpart following their summit in Tehran on July 19, 2022. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP) (Photo by ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

Turkey, Syria send defense, intel chiefs to meet in Russia

The meeting will mark the second round of talks that began late last year.

Israeli fighters Lebanon

Israel shells Hezbollah targets in Syria in latest escalation

The shelling targeted Hezbollah positions in southern Syria, local outlets reported, but the Syrian government notably has not commented.

Kurdish Syrians protest the death of victims reportedly killed in a Turkish drone bombing the previous day, on Nov. 10, 2021 in the Syrian Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli.

Syria’s Kurds make their own pitch as Arab states court Assad

Syrian Kurds, whom Bashar al-Assad once labeled “traitors” and “collaborators,” now seek a new peace with the Syrian government.

Syria Saudi

Analysis

The tipping point of Arab normalization with Syria

If the once-pariah state is welcomed back into the Arab League, the repercussions will stretch across Russia, Turkey, Iran and beyond.

Gilles Kepel

By Gilles Kepel

Tunisian Foreign Minister Nabil Ammar (R) meets Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad (L) during an official visit in Tunis, Tunisia on April 17, 2023 (Tunisian Foreign Ministry)

Syria FM visits Tunisia in latest Arab embrace of Assad

Mekdad's three-day visit to Tunis marks the first by a Syrian official since the North African country cut ties with the Syrian regime in February 2012 over its brutal crackdown against peaceful protests.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud attends a meeting with his Russian counterpart in Moscow on March 9, 2023.

Saudi foreign minister arrives in Syria, meets Assad

The visit is Prince Faisal bin Farhan's first since the start of the civil war and follows the Syrian foreign minister's trip to Saudi Arabia last week.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Fresh Turkey strikes in Syria kill 10 Kurdish militants: Ankara

Turkish troops have killed 10 Kurdish militants in a cross-border escalation ongoing since the weekend, according to the Turkish Defense Ministry.