US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Barrack will step down from his post following the expiration of his formal mandate, but he is set to maintain a central diplomatic role managing policy for Syria and Iraq.
Many Syrian returnees cannot access proper healthcare. Urgent action is required for Syria's health system to recover. The EU's support for Syria's health system, including 14 million euros ($16.25m) to rehabilitate Ar-Rastan Hospital in Homs, is a significant contribution that merits recognition. While the EU is demonstrating what strategic investment can achieve, the gap between the conditions returnees face and what they need for a healthy life remains a major barrier for the country's recovery.
Fadel Abdulghany, the founder of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, emphasized that the moment carries deep symbolic weight, as a judge once sentenced to death by the Assad regime has returned to apply the law to one of the regime's most documented violators. This reflects the promise of the rule of law, which is often unfulfilled in post-authoritarian transitions.
Fourteen years have passed since my husband went missing. I have long since lost hope that he will return. However, I am also unable to move on because his family intervened in court when I applied for a death certificate.
Official Fadi al-Qassem says all residents have left al-Hol camp, which long housed relatives of alleged ISIL (ISIS) members. Syrian authorities say they have fully evacuated and shut down a remote camp that once kept thousands of relatives of alleged members of the armed group ISIL (ISIS). The last residents were sent out in a convoy Sunday morning, according to Fadi al-Qassem, the Syrian government official overseeing the camp.
Reza abasi notes that there is a new forum called the "Kurd Hacker Forum" that focuses on databreaches in Iran, Syria, and Turkey. The domain was registered January 28, 2026. The forum, which is on the clear net, looks like it has the same format as the classic BreachForums, with the same types of sections and subsections. The threads in the forum are either in English or Kurdish languages.
Of these, 3,678 of them have already gone back to their home country. For German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, this is proof of the migration policy that he has been promoting: "Those who have no prospect of staying receive targeted support for their voluntary repatriation." This "targeted support" includes the cost of the flights and 1,000 (ca. $1200) per adult and 500 for minors.
Syrian government forces entered areas of northeastern Syria over the weekend, in a move to expand its territorial control over the country, driving away Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters who held the territory. IS fighters and their families were being held in prisoner camps overseen by the SDF, but as the Syrian army advance, the SDF said it had to abandon their post at northeastern al-Hol camp, holding mostly women and children, and al-Aqtan prison for IS fighters.
The Syrian government's takeover of key oil and gas fields from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the country's northeast has raised hopes for the revival of its dilapidated energy sector after years of war and international sanctions. Syrian officials announced on Sunday that the government forces had taken control of several oilfields, including al-Omar, Syria's largest, and the Conoco gas complex in the country's north and northeast.
A third round of retaliatory strikes by the U.S. in Syria resulted in the death of an Al-Qaeda-affiliated leader, who officials say had a direct tie to the Islamic State member responsible for last month's ambush that killed two U.S. soldiers and one American civilian interpreter in the country. U.S. Central Command announced that the strike in northwest Syria on Friday killed Bilal Hasan al-Jasim,
On Sunday, the Syrian government declared it had taken control over the areas Aleppo previously under the control of the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF. And the Kurdish forces announced they were pulling back. During the fighting, buildings were destroyed, at least two dozen people were killed and reports say that more than 140,000 people were displaced. But then on Tuesday this week, the Syrian government accused the Kurdish paramilitary of regrouping
Two meetings, held almost simultaneously towards the end of December, offered a stark illustration of the competing strategic visions now shaping the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. In Damascus, Turkiye's foreign, defence and intelligence chiefs met Syrian officials on December 22 as Ankara continued to prioritise the consolidation of state authority and stabilisation after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria.
