Syria

Ahmad al-Sharaa becomes first Syrian president at UN General Assembly in nearly 60 years

By Associated Press

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa has arrived in New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly.

850,000 Syrian refugees have returned home since Assad's fall, UN says

By Omar Sanadiki, Associated Press

Deputy High Commissioner of UNHCR Kelly T. Clements said that about 1.7 million people who were internally displaced during the 14-year-old conflict have returned to their communities.

Syrian highway from Damascus to Sweida reopens weeks after sectarian violence

By Omar Sanadiki, Associated Press

An aid convoy has entered the city of Sweida in southern Syria via the main highway from Damascus for the first since a major outbreak of sectarian violence.

Jordan, Syria, and U.S. officials discuss war-torn Syria's reconstruction after deadly clashes

By Associated Press

In addition to the security challenges that Syria still faces since the fall of Bashar Assad's government in December, the country faces major economic and social challenges.

U.S. congressman speaks with Syrian president about returning Kayla Mueller's remains

By Ghaith Alsayed, Bassem Mroue, Associated Press

A U.S. Congressman has made a brief visit to Syria where he discussed with the country’s interim president the return of the body of an American aid worker who was taken hostage and later confirmed dead in the war-torn country.

Fresh clashes break out in Syria as interim government struggles to ease factional tensions

By Kareem Chehayeb, Associated Press

New outbreaks of violence overnight into Sunday rocked Syria at two distinct flashpoints, straining a fragile ceasefire and calling into question the ability of the transitional government to exert its authority across the whole country.

Syria to hold parliamentary elections in September, first since fall of Assad regime

By Associated Press

The announcement of impending elections comes at a time when the country is increasingly divided in its views of the new authorities in Damascus after sectarian violence broke out in the southern province of Sweida earlier this month.

Top French court upholds some of Assad's legal protections, but permits future war crime warrants

By Sam McNeil, Jeffrey Schaeffer, Associated Press

France’s highest court on Friday upheld some of Syrian ex-leader Bashar Assad’s personal immunity as a head of state while green-lighting possible future war crime warrants, drawing criticism from human rights lawyers and Syrian activists.