Postcards: Syria’s dwindling Jewish community can visit one of the world’s oldest synagogues again

BASSEM MROUE, of Associated Press, reports from Damascus in Syria on the return of people to the Jobar Synagogue…
Syrian Christians attend Christmas Mass for first time since fall of Assad

Damascus, Syria Reuters Syrian Christians attended Christmas Eve services on Tuesday for the first time since the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad in early December, in an early test of the new Islamist rulers’ pledges to protect the rights of the country’s religious minorities. The service was held amid tight security due to concerns of […]
Freed Syrian prisoners return to their ‘death dormitory’

Damascus, Syria Reuters Basim Faiz Mawat stood in the Damascus cell that his fellow prisoners used to call the “death dormitory”, struggling to believe that the system that abused him for so long had been overthrown and his suffering had ended. “I came here today only to see that truly nothing lasts forever,” the 48-year-old […]
At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers

Damascus, Syria Reuters A hip bone in a blown-out building, part of a spine amid some debris, a few foot bones in a worn-out sock. The Tadamon district of Damascus is littered with bones, after what residents and rights groups described as years of killings there under the rule of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad. Tadamon became […]
Syria’s new authorities say they’ve secured the release of an American pilgrim imprisoned by Assad

Updated: 11:15am (AEDT) Damascus, Syria AP An American citizen who disappeared seven months ago into former Syrian President Bashar Assad’s notorious prison system was suddenly discovered Thursday outside Damascus after being released and handed over to rebel forces, Syria’s new authorities said. The political affairs office of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the rebel group that […]
Israeli airstrikes hit security complex, research centre in Damascus, sources say
Reuters Israel conducted three airstrikes in the Syrian capital on Sunday against a security complex and a government research centre which it has said in the past was used by Iran to develop missiles, two regional security sources told Reuters on Sunday. Sunday’s strikes, on the day rebels overthrew the government of Syrian President Bashar […]
Bewildered, elated prisoners pour out as Assad’s jails flung open

Reuters Bewildered and elated prisoners poured out of Syrian jails on Sunday, shouting with joy as they emerged from one of the world’s most notorious detention systems and walked to freedom following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government. All across Syria, families wept as they were reunited with children, siblings, spouses and parents who vanished […]
Syrian army quits Homs, cutting Assad off from coast

Amman, Jordan/Beirut, Lebanon Reuters Syrian Government forces abandoned the key city of Homs on Saturday after less than a day of fighting, leaving President Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule dangling by a thread with insurgents also advancing towards the capital Damascus. Since the rebels’ sweep into Aleppo a week ago, government defences have crumbled at dizzying […]
Lebanese ceasefire efforts inch ahead as Israel keeps up fierce bombardment

Beirut, Lebanon/Jerusalem Reuters Diplomacy aimed at securing a ceasefire in Lebanon showed tentative signs of progress on Thursday as Israel pounded its northern neighbour including heavy airstrikes on the stronghold of armed group Hezbollah near Beirut. Pressing its offensive against the Iran-backed group, Israel hit Beirut’s Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs, carrying out intense attacks there for […]
Essay: Shadow war no more – hostilities between Israel and Iran have strayed into direct warfare. Is there any going back?

In an article first published on The Conversation, JAVED ALI, an expert on national security and the Middle East, looks at the background to the escalating conflict in the Middle East…