4 h. ago Syrians celebrate a year after Bashar Assad’s fall, in photos

As celebrations kicked off marking the first anniversary on Monday of the ousting of former President Bashar Assad’s regime, Syrians are still struggling to heal after the dynasty’s repressive 50-year rule and a 14-year civil war that killed an estimated half-million people, displaced millions more and left the country battered and divided.

Culture

6 h. ago A year after fall of Assad, a divided Syria struggles to escape cycle of violence

While country’s return to global stage has filled many Syrians with pride, domestically old grievances threaten efforts to rebuild the stateLying in bed recovering after his latest surgery, Ayman Ali retells the story of Syria’s revolution through his wounds. His right eye, lost in an attack on a rebel observation post he was manning in 2012, is covered by yellow medical tape. Propped against the wall is a cane he uses to walk, after a rocket attack in 2014 left him with a limp.For 14 years, Ali dreamed of freedom and of justice. A year after the ousting of Bashar al-Assad, he has his freedom but not his justice. The man he was dreaming of holding accountable – a member of his extended family who was a part of an Assad militia – had already fled the country by the time Ali returned to his home in Damascus. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago US raid allegedly killed Syrian undercover agent instead of Islamic State group official

A U.S. operation in Syria last month mistakenly killed a man who had been working undercover against the Islamic State group, according to his family, a war monitor and officials

Events

3 d. ago UN Security Council delegation visits Syria for first time since 1945

A United Nations Security Council delegation has visited Syria for the first time since the council's founding in 1945

Events

5 d. ago EU updates asylum guidance for Syrians a year after Assad's fall

The European Union's asylum agency says it is updating its guidance for applications by Syrian nationals one year after the fall of Bashar Assad

Events

2 w. ago The Fall of Icarus: Photographer captures an 'absolutely preposterous' snap of a SKYDIVER appearing to fall from the sun

The stunning image, titled 'The Fall of Icarus', was created by astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy, who specialises in taking photos of the sun.

Culture

3 w. ago Rocket attack in Syria's capital wounds 1 person and causes damage

State media in Syria have reported that rockets fired at a home in Damascus have wounded one person and caused damage

Events

3 w. ago ‘We were forced to burn bodies’: will survivors of the Tadamon massacres see justice?

The Damascus suburb became Assad’s killing field. But some of the perpetrators are still around – and even working with the new governmentAbu Mohammed still remembers the smell. It usually came at dawn, as the mosques sounded the first call to prayer. By the time he sat down for breakfast, it would fill the air around his home in Tadamon, a working-class district in the south-east of Damascus. The smell was hard to define. Whenever he noticed it, Abu Mohammed felt on edge. He had his suspicions about what it might be, but like so many Syrians who lived under the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad, he knew to keep such thoughts to himself.Abu Mohammed, a retired engineer who asked to be identified only by his nickname, first noticed the smell in the winter of 2012, nearly two years after the start of the uprising against Assad. At the time, he was living in a modest flat in the heart of Tadamon with his wife and their five children. The house stood just off a busy road named Daboul Stre...

Events

3 w. ago Theft of Roman statues from Syria’s main museum believed to be work of an individual

Investigators believe the theft of ancient Roman-era statues from Syria's national museum was likely the work of an individual, not an organized gang

Politics

3 w. ago US declares partial suspension of sanctions on Syria after historic meeting

Ahmed al-Sharaa and Donald Trump hold first White House summit between a US and Syrian leader since 1946The US has announced a partial suspension of sanctions on Syria after a historic meeting in Washington DC between its new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and Donald Trump.Monday’s meeting was the first summit between a US and Syrian leader at the White House since 1946. The meeting is part of a remarkable turnaround in US-Syrian relations after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, who had prosecuted a deadly civil war in the country from 2011 until his forces collapsed in December 2024. Continue reading...

Politics