Damascus

The dictator's choice of voting location sent "a message telling the opposition that we are celebrating through your demise," one Syrian analyst tells NPR.

Two former members of President Assad's intelligence agency were arrested in Germany for allegedly participating in the abuse of captive dissidents. A third Syrian national was apprehended in Paris.

The army said it captured two ISIS strongholds. And after a series of surrenders in rebel-held areas, Assad's government is regaining power in the country.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said a team of nine inspectors arrived in Damascus on Saturday but hasn't been allowed to go to the site of the alleged chemical attack.

Eastern Ghouta, a rebel-held area home to more than 350,000 people, has suffered a barrage of attacks for days, and civilian deaths are continuing. Now Russia is calling for a "humanitarian corridor."

A second suicide bombing occurred at a restaurant in the city's Rabweh district. The attacks, on the sixth anniversary of the Syrian uprising, are the latest to target the country's capital.

There are no tourists, and Damascenes have thinner wallets these days. But commerce still flows in the ancient Hamidiyeh bazaar in the Syrian capital, where the war feels very distant.

Rebels agreed to hand over control of the city to the government in exchange for safe passage. This ends the years-long standoff in one of Syria's most desperate places.

There are conflicting stories about how many people were kidnapped from a cement factory near Damascus. A rights group says 170 people were taken, but state media puts that number at more than 300.