The terrorist group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (or ISIS) no longer makes headlines like the wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East do. Ten years ago, however, it was a different story. Then, amid the chaos that reigned after the...
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Syrian voters will elect their members of parliament on July 15 – or at least some of them will. That’s because polls are only open to those voters who live in territory under the control of President Bashar Assad, which is most of Syria – but...
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Residents of the upscale Mazzeh neighborhood in the Syrian capital of Damascus were stunned when an airstrike recently reduced the Iranian consulate to rubble. Thirteen people, including two generals and five others in Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, perished in the attack. Israeli forces who have been...
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Swiss prosecutors this week indicted the uncle of Syrian President Bashar Assad, Rifaat Assad, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over his alleged role in a massacre in western Syria in the early 1980s, Voice of America reported. On Tuesday, Switzerland’s attorney general...
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The United Nations’ top court held a hearing this week about widespread torture and human rights abuses in Syria, the first time an international tribunal has addressed the brutal methods perpetrated by the Syrian government to crush dissent, the New York Times reported. The hearing comes...
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Hundreds of Syrians protested in the country’s southern regions this week, the latest expression of defiance against the autocratic government of President Bashar Assad amid a worsening economic crisis, Al-Monitor reported. Protesters marched in the southern city of Suwayda and the surrounding areas to demonstrate against...
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The Netherlands and Canada filed a complaint against Syria at the International Court of Justice this week, alleging that the Syrian government has tortured thousands of civilians since the start of the civil war more than a decade ago, Sky News reported. The complaint accused the...
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The Arab League recently welcomed Syria back into the fold after suspending the country’s membership 12 years ago, when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad launched his crackdown on rebels wanting to bring an end to his tyrannical rule. Around half a million people have died and...
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The Arab League readmitted Syria after a nearly 12-year absence this week, a move many observers suggested could rehabilitate the international image of Syrian President Bashir al-Assad, CNN reported. The league suspended Syria’s membership in 2011 after Assad launched a brutal crackdown against anti-government protests that...
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Hundreds of people protested across northwestern Syria this week to denounce rapprochement efforts by some Arab nations with the government of President Bashar Assad, whose country became diplomatically isolated since the start of the Syrian civil war more than a decade ago, Al Jazeera reported...
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Two brothers rationed protein drinks to survive under the rubble of a collapsed building in the city of Kahramanmaras in Turkey, wrote the New York Times. In the northern Syrian city of Afrin, hospital staff named a new-born baby girl Aya, Arabic for “a sign from...
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Foreign relief and rescue workers have poured into Turkey and Syria this week following the devastating earthquakes and aftershocks that have killed over 21,000 people, even as locals are furious over the lack of help, the Washington Post reported. Around 70 countries and 14 international organizations...
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Rescuers continued into Tuesday morning combing structures reduced to rubble in their search for survivors from Monday’s massive earthquake that killed more than 5,000 people in Turkey and Syria, in one of the largest quakes to hit the area in hundreds of years, the Guardian...
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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s troops were responsible for the 2018 chemical weapons attack in the Syrian town of Douma that killed 43 civilians, according to an extensive investigation by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the Washington Post reported. The global chemical weapons...
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Protesters stormed a government building in a southern Syrian city this week in a rare anti-government demonstration over rising prices and economic hardships that have impacted the war-torn country, Al Jazeera reported. On Sunday, more than 200 people rallied in front of the governor’s office in...
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Recently, some British tourists in Aleppo marveled at how rebel snipers a few years ago fired on Syrian government troops from the very same positions where archers nearly a millennia ago defended the ancient Citadel of Aleppo from Christian Crusaders. European tourists are returning to Syria. These...
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Turkey is preparing to return one million Syrian refugees to northern Syria amid increasing economic woes and criticism from the opposition ahead of the presidential elections next year, the Middle East Eye reported. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced this week that the government is building 100,000...
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Syrian President Bashar Assad visited the United Arab Emirates over the weekend in the first trip to an Arab country since the start of Syria’s civil war a decade ago, Bloomberg reported. Assad met with de facto UAE ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and...
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