Syria

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With Hormuz Choked, Syria Offers an Alternative

WaPo reports that a new Syria-backed pipeline aims to reroute Gulf oil to the Mediterranean

(Newser) - Syria is trying to turn a war-scarred crossroads into the Middle East's newest energy detour. Gerry Shih reports for the Washington Post from a desert highway now jammed with some 5,000 tanker trucks a day, hauling Iraqi oil to the Syrian port of Baniyas as exporters look for...

It's a 'New Era of US-Syrian Relations'

Nation's removal from US state sponsors of terrorism list should help it rebuild

(Newser) - Syria has just shed a label it has worn for nearly half a century. The US on Monday dropped Damascus from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, a move Syrian officials called the final major hurdle to attracting foreign investment after years of war and sanctions, per Reuters . The...

Syria's 'Courageous Decision' Leads to Nuclear Discovery

IAEA finds 'few tons' at site country disclosed

(Newser) - Inspectors have turned up several tons of undeclared nuclear material in Syria, and the UN's atomic chief praised the country's "courageous decision" to report the site, reports the AFP . IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Syria's new authorities voluntarily disclosed the Assad-era site in July,...

US 'Deeply Concerned' After Israeli Strikes on Syrian Base

Envoy calls attack on Abu Duhur facility an 'unnecessary escalation,' urges diplomacy

(Newser) - Washington is publicly pushing back on Israel over its latest assault in Syria. On Tuesday, Tom Barrack, the US special envoy for Syria and Iraq and US ambassador to Turkey, labeled Israeli airstrikes on the Abu Duhur air base in Idlib province an "unnecessary escalation" that he said does...

Syria Sentences Assad to Death
Syria
Sentences
Assad
to Death
Aug 11, 2026 5:36 AM CDT

Syria Sentences Assad to Death

It's in absentia: Former ruler is living in Russia after being toppled in 2024

(Newser) - Bashar al-Assad has been handed a death sentence by a Syrian court that no longer answers to him. The Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus convicted the former president in absentia of crimes against humanity and war crimes tied to the country's nearly 14-year conflict, including the killing of children,...

Syria Says It Has Deal With Russia on Control of Bases

Civilian management is to expand as military sites shift to joint training

(Newser) - Syria said Sunday that it finally has a deal on what comes next for Russia's most important bases in the country. After roughly a year and a half of talks, Syria's foreign ministry announced the two nations settled on a memorandum of understanding on the future of Russia'...

In Damascus, UN Chief Asks World to Support Syrians

Nation can't rebuild on its own, Antonio Guterres says

(Newser) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to the international community on Saturday to support the people of Syria and criticized Israel's actions in the country's south as he began his first visit to the Arab nation of his tenure. Guterres' visit is also the first by a UN secretary-general...

As Macron Visits Syria, Explosions Rock Damascus

18 wounded in blasts near hotel where French president is reportedly staying

(Newser) - Explosions rocked Damascus on Tuesday as France's president met with his Syrian counterpart in a landmark visit, wounding at least 18 people, Syria's Interior Ministry said. Emmanuel Macron was inside the presidential palace when the explosions happened, and Macron's office said he was safe and that the...

SCOTUS Took the 'Temporary' in 'TPS' Legally to Heart

Trump may now end temporary protected status after ruling that could affect 1.3M immigrants

(Newser) - A new Supreme Court ruling has the potential to upend the lives of hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the US. The court on Thursday said the Trump administration can end temporary protected status, or TPS, for Haitians and Syrians, clearing the way for the government to start deportations of...

For First Time in Decade, Displaced-People Stat Dips

UN agency warns that 118M individuals forcibly displaced globally is still an 'alarmingly high' figure

(Newser) - The UN's Refugee Agency said forced displacement of people due to conflict or persecution fell in 2025 for the first time in a decade. In its annual report released Thursday, however, the agency warned that 118 million people who had to flee their homes or nations is still alarmingly...

Syria Sees Profit in Offering Alternatives to Strait of Hormuz

War-torn country seeks to rebuild infrastructure as trade corridor

(Newser) - Syria is trying to turn a regional crisis into an economic reset. With the Strait of Hormuz shut during the latest Middle East war, oil and goods from Iraq and Gulf states are being rerouted overland to Syrian Mediterranean ports, Raja Abdulrahim reports for the New York Times from Damascus....

French Court Convicts Concrete Company of Financing ISIS

Court orders multi-million-dollar fines, prison terms for former executives over actions in Syria

(Newser) - France's top anti-terror court has delivered a landmark ruling against cement giant Lafarge, finding the company guilty of bankrolling armed groups in Syria to keep a lucrative plant running. Judges in Paris said Lafarge and eight former executives, including ex-CEO Bruno Lafont, paid at least $6.36 million to...

US: Abducted Reporter Was Warned of Threats

American Shelly Kittleson was snatched off the streets of Baghdad on Tuesday, remains missing

(Newser) - A US journalist who was kidnapped in Baghdad had tried to cross from Syria into Iraq three weeks earlier and was initially turned back, an Iraqi official said Wednesday. US and Iraqi officials said Shelly Kittleson had also been warned of threats against her in the days before her abduction,...

Unequal Alcohol Limits Lead to Syrian Protest

Sales are still legal in 3 mostly Christian neighborhoods in Damascus

(Newser) - Crowds of Syrians rallied Sunday to protest authorities' efforts to limit the sale and consumption of alcohol in Damascus, reflecting rising anxiety in the cosmopolitan capital that Syria's new Islamist government may threaten long-held secular freedoms. Hundreds of residents from a range of religious sects poured into a grassy...

Resigned Counterterror Official Knows Well the Cost of War

Joe Kent invokes late wife Shannon Kent, killed in a suicide bombing in Syria

(Newser) - Joe Kent's departure from the National Counterterrorism Center this week came with a pointed critique of US policy on Iran—and a deeply personal reminder of the cost of war. In his resignation letter, Kent invoked his first wife, Navy linguist Shannon Kent, who was killed in a...

A Top Counterterror Official Quits Over Iran War

Joe Kent says that 'Iran posed no imminent threat,' and that US caved to Israeli pressure

(Newser) - One of Washington's most senior counterterrorism officials is walking away from the Trump administration—and blaming the war with Iran and Israel's sway over US policy on his way out, reports the New York Times . Joe Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation Tuesday in...

US to Withdraw All Troops From Syria Within 2 Months
US Is Pulling
All Troops From Syria
Feb 19, 2026 12:00 AM CST

US Is Pulling All Troops From Syria

Withdrawal raises fears of Islamic State resurgence and Kurdish vulnerability

(Newser) - America's fairly quiet presence in one Middle East country is about to end. US officials tell the Wall Street Journal all of the roughly 1,000 American troops still in Syria are being pulled out over the next two months, winding down a decade-long mission against the Islamic State....

As Families Flee Syrian Camps, Australia Offers 'No Sympathy'

Anthony Albanese says 'We're providing absolutely no support' to citizens seeking to return home

(Newser) - Australia's leader has a blunt message for its ISIS-linked citizens stuck in Syrian camps: You're on your own. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday the country will not help repatriate dozens of women and children who recently tried—and failed—to leave the Al-Roj detention camp and reach...

Aleppo Endured the War. Rebuilding Is a Different Matter

Guardian looks at how residents are largely on their own in the process

(Newser) - With Bashar al-Assad out of power, residents of Aleppo who were forced to flee during the nation's long civil war are returning from abroad or refugee camps. But as the Guardian reports, a major problem greets them: An estimated two-thirds of the city lies in rubble, and it could...

Kurdish-Led Force Joins Syria Military Under Ceasefire

Deal reached after government territorial advances

(Newser) - Syria and a Kurdish-led militia agreed to an immediate cease-fire on Sunday, a deal that includes absorbing the force into the government's military. The 14-point agreement was struck after major territorial advances by Syrian forces into regions held Syrian Democratic Forces that hurt the SDF's bargaining position, the...

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