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Syria

Syria

The latest news, analysis and opinion on Syria. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.

Capital

Damascus

Head of State

President Bashar al-Assad

Head of Government

Prime Minister Hussein Arnous

Hong Kong nurse Walter Leung attends to a patient in Gaza. Photo: Walter Leung

Hong Kong healthcare and hospitals

Hong Kong nurse honoured with top medal for 15 years of life-saving work

Walter Leung’s volunteer work with the Red Cross in disaster situations has earned him the Florence Nightingale Medal, the highest international distinction for nurses.

31 May 2025 - 7:21PM

Trump attacks ‘scum’ opponents, judges on day honouring US war dead

27 May 2025 - 1:42PM

Syrian government to aid search for missing Americans, US envoy says

25 May 2025 - 4:28PM

Syrian government, Kurdish officials visit notorious prison camp

Kurdish-run camps in Syria’s northeast hold tens of thousands of people, many with alleged or perceived links to Isis.

25 May 2025 - 3:47PM

Residents of the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp, which holds relatives of suspected Isis fighters. Photo: AFP

Opinion | With his ‘historic’ tour, Trump puts US power back in the Middle East

In reasserting the US in the centre of the Middle East’s strategic calculus, Trump also weakens the leverage and influence of Russia and China.

23 May 2025 - 5:30AM

Opinion | How Trump’s Middle East tour revealed Gulf states’ priorities

While the Gulf states seek benefits from Washington and Beijing, Chinese leaders must deliver more tangible support to secure recent gains.

22 May 2025 - 8:51AM

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Syria on the brink? US warns of potential new civil war within weeks

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Syria’s transitional government facing potential collapse, more war, and ‘country splitting up’.

21 May 2025 - 2:34PM

A member of Syria’s security forces near Damascus. Despite the fall of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, instability persists. Photo: AFP

Hong Kong society

Letters | Even as HIV rates fall, Hong Kong can’t afford to get complacent

Readers discuss international best practice for HIV prevention, JD.com going head to head with Meituan in delivery services, and civilian deaths in the Gaza war.

18 May 2025 - 11:30AM

Trump caps Gulf tour with America-first policy for peace in Middle East

Trump’s vision sits well with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, two Gulf nations closest to Washington, but its feasibility remains to be determined, analysts say.

16 May 2025 - 9:00PMvideocam

Trump wraps up his Middle East tour with deals galore

The US president made scoring business deals a centrepiece of the first major foreign trip of his second term.

16 May 2025 - 5:17PM

President Donald Trump during a visit to Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar on Wednesday. The US base installation is the centre of American involvement in the Middle East. Photo: AP

Trump says ‘getting close’ to deal to avoid Iran military action

Iran has held four rounds of talks with the Trump administration, which has sought to avert threatened military action by Israel.

15 May 2025 - 9:54PMvideocam

A newspaper with a cover photo of US President Donald Trump and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, in Tehran. Photo: via Reuters

Trump move to end Syria sanctions catches his own administration by surprise

The very officials who’d be responsible for implementing the policy change were not warned before the US president made his announcement.

15 May 2025 - 7:18AMvideocam

Trump meets Syria’s rebel leader Sharaa, urges him to establish Israel ties

Sharaa was for years the leader of al-Qaeda’s official wing in the Syrian conflict. The US removed a US$10 million bounty on him in December.

14 May 2025 - 7:43PMvideocam

Syrian conflict

Syria’s rebel leader Sharaa’s path from global jihad to Trump meeting

The meeting in Saudi Arabia is a milestone for a man who joined al-Qaeda in Iraq around the time of the 2003 US-led invasion.

14 May 2025 - 5:56PMvideocam

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the Elysee Palace in Paris on May 7, 2025. Photo: Reuters

Pope Leo offers to mediate between world leaders to end wars

Ending conflicts has been a dominant theme in Pope Leo’s addresses since he became pope last week.

14 May 2025 - 5:03PMvideocam

The new Pope Leo, who became head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics last week, also called on Christians living in the Middle East not to abandon their homes, in a speech to members of the Eastern Catholic Churches. Photo: AP

‘I like him too much’: Trump showers praise on Saudi Arabia’s crown prince

The US president’s rapport with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is far warmer than his White House predecessor’s.

14 May 2025 - 9:44AM

Trump says he will remove Syria sanctions in surprise boost to war-torn nation

The US president is expected to meet interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda commander who spent years in a US prison in Iraq.

14 May 2025 - 4:07AMvideocam

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‘Cease at once’: UN envoy urges Israel to stop attacks on Syria

‘I strongly condemn Israel’s continued and escalating violations of Syria’s sovereignty, including air strikes in Damascus and other cities,’ said Geir Pedersen.

3 May 2025 - 9:58PM

Smoke is seen after an Israeli airstrike on Damascus, Syria, on Saturday. Photo: Xinhua

China-Middle East relations

Will Syria challenges stand in the way of China’s Middle East ambitions?

Analysts say Beijing, once a backer of ousted Syrian ruler Assad, has ‘lots to learn’ if it wants to become a mediator in region.

3 May 2025 - 10:00AMvideocam

Israeli military attacks target near Syria’s presidential palace

The strike came after days of clashes between pro-Syrian government gunmen and fighters who belong to the Druze minority.

2 May 2025 - 8:15PM

Israel strikes Syria, saying it hit group that attacked Druze

Israel says it carried out a ‘warning operation’ to protect minority group amid sectarian violence.

1 May 2025 - 3:05PM

An Israeli fighter jet flies over an area near the Syrian capital Damascus on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

China-Middle East relations

Syria’s foreign minister wants to ‘strengthen relations’ with China

At UN meeting, Asaad al-Shaibani said Syria willing to build ‘strategic partnership’ with China, a key backer of ousted ruler Assad.

29 Apr 2025 - 4:33AM

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Monday. Photo: AFP

Israel warns Syrian leader of ‘heavy price’ after strikes and ground raids

Israel calls latest strikes on Syria’s military sites and infrastructure a ‘warning for the future’.

3 Apr 2025 - 5:35PM

Video | Syria vows accountability after deadly clashes

11 Mar 2025 - 3:16PM

Syria’s government signs breakthrough deal with US-backed SDF

Deal aims to integrate Kurdish-led SDF-controlled entities into Syrian state institutions.

11 Mar 2025 - 3:19PMvideocam

People celebrate after the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian SDF signed a deal agreeing to integrate into Syria’s new state institutions. Photo: Reuters

Syria vows accountability after reports of mass killings spark global condemnation

Syria’s interim leader Sharaa says he will hold perpetrators responsible after a flurry of violence leaves almost 1,000 civilians dead.

10 Mar 2025 - 2:38PM

Syrian security forces at a checkpoint in Latakia, Syria, on Saturday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Dozens killed in clashes between Syrian forces and Assad loyalists, monitor says

Fighting in Syria’s coastal region was the most violent since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December.

7 Mar 2025 - 8:27PM

They’re not the Taliban. Syria’s Islamists encourage artists

When new rulers with jihadi roots took power in Damascus, artists, singers and dancers held their breath. They can relax, the regime says.

1 Mar 2025 - 1:15PMvideocam

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