syria

Israeli Strike Hits Near Syrian City of Homs

Israeli air strikes hit areas of the central and western Syrian cities of Homs and Latakia late Monday, state news agency SANA reported. Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that "the Israeli strike near Homs targeted a military unit south of the city." Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in ...

EU Asylum Applications Down 23% in 1st Half of 2025

Asylum applications to the European Union fell by 23 percent in the first six months of 2025, driven by a massive drop in Syrians seeking protection, the EU's asylum agency said Monday. Data from the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) showed Syrians lodged around 25,000 requests in the 27-nation bloc plus Switzerland and Norway (EU+), down ...

Saudi Launches Damascus Area Reconstruction Project

Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday humanitarian projects for Syria, including the removal of wartime rubble around Damascus, weeks after inking investment deals worth billions to help rebuild the country's infrastructure. The oil-rich Gulf kingdom has been a major backer of the new Syrian government, which came to power after an Islamist-led ...

The Guardianship Syndrome

Lebanon’s modern history has been shaped by successive forms of foreign tutelage, beginning with the proclamation of Greater Lebanon 105 years ago. Over the course of half a century, the country experienced various mandates and occupations: 23 years under the French Mandate, 30 years under Syrian domination, alongside repeated Israeli invasions ...

Drone Strike Near Syria's Aleppo Airport Kills Two: Security Official

A Syrian security official said a drone strike near Aleppo airport on Thursday killed two people, with state media reporting the attack but without saying who may be behind it. An AFP correspondent saw a vaporized car near the airport in Syria's north, with shrapnel scattered around it. Official news agency SANA reported that "a drone targeted a ...

Lebanese Officials Inspect Northern Borders Ahead of Displaced Syrians’ Return

Lebanon’s top defense and security officials conducted an inspection of Arida and Abboudieh border crossings in northern Lebanon on Tuesday to review the organizational, administrative, and security measures in place for the departure of displaced Syrians returning to their country. Defense Minister Michel Menassa, accompanied by Interior ...

Traces of Uranium Detected at Syrian Site Hit by Israel in 2007

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog detected uranium particles at a remote site in Syria that was bombed by Israel in 2007, reviving questions about whether the destroyed facility once housed a secret nuclear reactor. According to a confidential report shared with member states, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found a ...

France Issues Arrest Warrant for Syria's Assad over 2012 Journalist Killings

French judicial authorities have issued arrest warrants for ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and six other top former officials over the bombardment of a rebel-held city in 2012 that killed two journalists, lawyers said Tuesday. Marie Colvin, 56, an American working for The Sunday Times of Britain, and French photographer Remi Ochlik, 28, ...

UN says Over 200,000 Syrian Refugees Return from Lebanon

Since the beginning of 2025, nearly 200,000 Syrian refugees have left Lebanon to return to their homeland, Kelly T. Clements, Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees at the UNHCR, told AFP on Monday. Most of these returns have been carried out individually, though some have been organized by the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs in coordination ...

Lebanon and Syria to Form Committees to Address Prisoners, Missing Persons, and Border Issues

Lebanon and Syria are set to establish two joint committees to tackle three major issues affecting relations between the two countries, judicial and security officials said, according to the Associated Press. The committees will focus on the fate of nearly 2,000 Syrian prisoners currently held in Lebanese prisons, locating Lebanese citizens who ...

Alawite Families Forced to Flee Neighborhood Near Damascus

Dozens of Syrian families from the Alawite minority were forced to leave their neighborhood near Damascus following threats from armed men, residents told AFP on Saturday. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), an armed group entered the Soumariya district, west of Damascus, on Thursday and pushed Alawite residents out of ...

Perhaps What Is Meant Is the Collapse of Deadlines…

Tom Barrack has made more than one misstep – mistakes that some might even consider political sins. The issue is not simply what he told journalists at Baabda Palace, but the deeper political and strategic implications of his words. At a time when the government is moving toward the point of no return on Barrack’s proposal, and after failing ...