World News

U.S. troops come under fire in Syria after strikes against Iran-backed militias

US troops came under rocket fire in Syria on Monday, but escaped injury, in apparent retaliation for weekend U.S. air strikes against Iran-aligned militia in Syria and Iraq. A U.S. military spokesman said U.S.…

Read More Here

U.S. carries out air strikes against Iran-backed militia in Iraq, Syria

The United States said on Sunday it carried out another round of air strikes against Iran-backed militia in Iraq andSyria, this time in response to drone attacks by the militia against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq. In a statement, the U.S. military said it…

Read More Here

Syrian refugee girls face ‘dangerous’ child marriage trend, says charity

Syrian refugee girls are increasingly at risk of child marriage due to a surge in pandemic-linked poverty, legal loopholes and long-term displacement in countries across the Middle East and North…

Read More Here

Syria’s Assad wins 4th term with 95% of vote

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad won a fourth term in office with 95.1% of the votes in an election that will extend his rule over a country ruined by war but…

Read More Here

UPDATED: Syrians go to the polls in election that Assad is set to win

Polling stations opened on Wednesday across Syria in a presidential election that is set to usher Bashar al-Assad into a fourth term in office. The government says the election shows…

Read More Here

Photo Stories – Syrians abroad begin voting in presidential election

Syrian citizens vote in the Syrian presidential elections at a polling station set up in the Syrian embassy in the town of Yarzeh, eastern Beirut, Lebanon, 20 May 2021. Hundreds…

Read More Here

UPDATED: Syria says Israeli raids target Mediterranean port region of Latakia

Syrian air defences downed several Israeli missiles during pre-dawn raids on the Mediterranean port city of Latakia, the Syrian army said on Wednesday, a rare attack on the ancestral home…

Read More Here

Syria approves Assad, two others to run in presidential election

Syria’s higher constitutional court on Monday approved President Bashar al-Assad’s application to run in a May 26 presidential election that he is all but certain to win. The court cleared…

Read More Here

Syria to hold presidential elections on May 26

Syria will hold its presidential election on May 26, the country's parliament said on Sunday. The door for nominations will be open as of Monday for 10 days. Syrians abroad…

Read More Here

Photo Story: Easter Sunday in Damascus

Boy scouts carry an Easter Bunny effigy during an Easter Sunday procession in Damascus, Syria, 04 April 2021. Easter Sunday is one of the highest religious holidays observed by Christians…

Read More Here

Syria to get COVID-19 vaccines from China, Russia, WHO within days – SANA

COVID-19 vaccines will arrive in Syria within days from China, Russia and the World Health Organisation, the prime minister said, according to state news agency SANA. The vaccines will be…

Read More Here

Photo Story – Palm Sunday in Syria

Christians celebrate Palm Sunday during a mass held at Lady of Damascus church in the mostly Christian-populated al-Qassaa neighborhood in Damascus, Syria, on 28 March 2021. Catholics mark Palm Sunday…

Read More Here

Syria says rationing fuel as shipments delayed by Suez canal blockage

Syria's oil ministry said on Saturday its fuel shipments would face delays due to a giant container ship that has been grounded, impeding traffic, in the Suez Canal since Tuesday.…

Read More Here

Russian jets hit civilian areas near Turkish border, witnesses and rebels say

AMMAN (Reuters) - Russian jets hit rebel training camps in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border on Sunday, as Syrian artillery killed seven civilians and injured 14 medics in an…

Read More Here

5 civilians killed as rockets hit hospital in Syria’s Aleppo

At least five civilians were killed after a shelling by Syrian government forces hit a hospital in western Aleppo on Sunday, a war monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human…

Read More Here

Syria shoots down Israeli missiles over Damascus – SANA

Syrian air defences shot down several Israeli missile strikes over the capital Damascus on Tuesday, state news agency reported. "At 22:35 (2035 GMT) this evening the Israeli enemy carried out…

Read More Here

Syria to get first deliveries of COVAX vaccines within weeks: WHO official

AMMAN (Reuters) - Syria will take delivery within weeks of its first COVID-19 vaccines from the global vaccine sharing platform COVAX, allowing it to kick off its national inoculation programme…

Read More Here

Pope Francis laments decade of Syria’s destructive civil war

Pope Francis on Sunday joined the Church in the Philippines in commemorating 500 years of Christianity in the Southeast Asian nation. He celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica with several…

Read More Here

Ten years of Syria conflict, from protest to war to economic decline

Ten years into Syria’s conflict, President Bashar al-Assad has survived the bloody insurgency which started out with peaceful protests in March 2011. He holds sway over many parts of the…

Read More Here

Syria’s President Assad and his wife test positive for COVID-19

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma have tested positive for COVID-19 after showing minor symptoms, the president’s office said in a statement on Monday. It said they were…

Read More Here

Missile strikes hit oil refineries in north Syria, killing one

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Missile strikes in northern Syria near the Turkish border killed one person and injured at least eleven others on Friday, Turkish state media and a source from…

Read More Here

UPDATED: Biden orders air strikes against Iranian-backed militia facilities in Syria

President Joe Biden on Thursday directed U.S. military air strikes in eastern Syria against facilities belonging to what the Pentagon said were Iran-backed militia, in a calibrated response to rocket…

Read More Here

Syrian army says air defences intercepted ‘Israeli aggression’ over Damascus

AMMAN (Reuters) - Syria's army said on Monday the country's air defences intercepted "Israeli aggression" over the capital, Damascus, in the latest stepped-up bombing of Iranian targets inside the country…

Read More Here

UPDATED: Syria reports Israeli military activity over Hama

Syrian air defences confronted early on Friday "an Israeli aggression" in the region of Hama that killed four people from the same family, state media said. Israel has carried out…

Read More Here

Syria says extinguishes huge fire near Homs refinery

Syrian civil defence teams extinguished a huge fire that swept a number of oil tankers loading crude oil from an installation near the country’s main Homs refinery after a blast…

Read More Here

Hundreds of Syrians flee Lebanon camp after tents torched

BEIRUT, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Syrian refugees fled their makeshift camp in north Lebanon after their tents were torched when fighting broke out between local youths and camp…

Read More Here

Photo Story: Christmas preparations in Syria

Syrian Christians gather in front of the Christmas tree at Sayyedet Dimasheq Church in Damascus, Syria, where a mass has been held to light the Christmas tree as part of…

Read More Here

Veteran Syrian diplomat Mekdad named foreign minister

Syria’s President Bashar al Assad named veteran diplomat Faisal Mekdad as foreign minister on Sunday to replace Walid Moalem, who died last week, state media reported. Mekdad, 66, had been…

Read More Here

Iran vows to defeat any Israeli attempt to harm its Syrian role

Iran on Sunday vowed to defeat any Israeli attempt to harm its role in Syria, saying the era of "hit and run" attacks by Israel there was over, days after…

Read More Here

Syria mourns the death of its veteran top diplomat

Syria's long-time foreign minister Walid al-Moalem, an unyielding defender of Syrian President Bashar al Assad's bloody crackdown on peaceful protesters that sparked a decade old conflict, died on Monday, the…

Read More Here

Syria’s Assad says Russian bases in his country keep balance of power in region

Syrian President Bashar al Assad said the continued presence of Russia’s major naval and air bases in his country help counter the influence of Western powers in the region as…

Read More Here

Syria accuses U.S. using sanctions to suffocate Syrians ‘like George Floyd’

Syria's foreign minister accused U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Saturday of attempting to suffocate Syrians with sanctions "just like George Floyd and others were cruelly suffocated in the United…

Read More Here

Main Syrian opposition called on major powers to help on reaching ceasefire

The main Syrian opposition called on major powers on Saturday to help clinch a nationwide ceasefire in coming months to pave the way for a political transition after nearly a…

Read More Here

Fire from explosion on gas pipeline in Syria extinguished

An explosion on the Arab Gas Pipeline that caused a power blackout in Syria on Monday was the result of a "terrorist" attack, state media cited the energy minister as…

Read More Here

Explosion at Arab gas pipeline leads to total blackout in Syria

An explosion on the Arab Gas Pipeline has caused a power blackout in Syria and initial indications point to an attack, the energy minister told state-run television on Monday. The…

Read More Here

Tensions on Israel-Syrian border in the Golan Heights

Four Syrian militants had been reportedly killed in the early morning of Monday by Israeli soldiers. According to an Israeli military spokesperson, Israeli soldiers thwarted an attempt to place improvised…

Read More Here

Syrian tycoon says front companies used to dodge sanctions

Syrian businessman Rami Makhlouf revealed he had set up a web of offshore front companies to help President Bashar al Assad evade Western sanctions, in a social media post blasting…

Read More Here

Israeli helicopters target 3 outposts in Syria, causing two injuries

Israeli helicopters targeted three outposts in the Quneitra area of southwest Syria with anti-tank guided missiles, causing two injuries and some fires, the Syrian state news agency reported on Friday, quoting a military…

Read More Here

Assad’s Baath Party comes first in Syria election

Bashar Assad's Baath party came first in the parliamentary elections, results announced Tuesday by the regime's electoral commission showed. The party took 177 seats out of 250 in Sunday's polls,…

Read More Here

Five die in car bomb in Syria

A car bomb attack in northwestern Syria's Azaz region killed five people and wounded 85 others, a local hospital in Syria and Turkish state media said on Sunday. The incident…

Read More Here

ElectionWatch : Syria goes to the polls

Syrians go to the polls Sunday to elect a new parliament as the Damascus government grapples with international sanctions and a crumbling economy after retaking large parts of the war-torn…

Read More Here

On fifth attempt, U.N. Security Council renews Syria aid via Turkey

The United Nations Security Council on Saturday approved aid deliveries to Syria through one border crossing from Turkey, a day after its authorization for the six-year-long humanitarian operation ended, leaving…

Read More Here

UN says that Syrian, Russian air strikes in Idlib amount to war crimes

Syrian and Russian planes have carried out deadly aerial strikes on schools, hospitals and markets in Idlib province that amount to war crimes, U.N. investigators said on Tuesday in a…

Read More Here

Russia quits U.N. system aimed at protecting hospitals, aid in Syria

Russia said on Thursday it has quit a voluntary United Nations arrangement that aimed to protect hospitals and humanitarian aid deliveries in Syria from being hit by the warring…

Read More Here

Syrian army says Israel hits several bases across country

The Syrian army responded to Israeli strikes on southern, central and eastern Syria in which two soldiers were killed, the army said on Tuesday in what military defectors and intelligence…

Read More Here

EU adopts €55 million package for Syrian refugees and local communities in Jordan and Lebanon to mitigate coronavirus pandemic

As part of the EU's global response to the coronavirus outbreak, the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis has mobilised an additional €55 million for refugees…

Read More Here