Syria

Dozens Of U.S. Diplomats Call For Military Pressure On Syria's Assad Regime

4:23pm June 17, 2016

by Camila Domonoske

About 50 State Department officials have signed an internal memo that reportedly calls for targeted military strikes to push Bashar Assad toward the negotiating table.

Syrian refugees at a makeshift camp on the Greek-Macedonian border, near the northern Greek village of Idomeni, on May 26. President Obama wants to bring 10,000 Syrian refugees to the U.S. this year. Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential n

Fact Check: Donald Trump And Syrian Refugees

5:10pm June 15, 2016

by Michele Kelemen

President Obama wants to bring 10,000 Syrian refugees to the U.S. this year. Donald Trump says there is a "tremendous flow" coming into the U.S. and he wants to suspend the program.

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Syrian civilians and soldiers gather at the scene of a double bombing attack on Saturday outside the Sayyida Zeinab shrine, which is revered by Shiites around the world, some 6 miles south of the center of Damascus, state media said.

World News

Two Deadly Blasts Near Holy Shrine Outside Damascus Kill At Least 12 People

8:54am June 11, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

At least 12 people were killed and 55 injured in twin bombings near a revered shrine, Syrian state media reports. The Sayyida Zeinab shrine is seen as a symbolic stronghold of the regime.

Syrian President Bashar Assad addresses parliament in Damascus on Tuesday, saying he will retake

World News

Bashar Assad's Defiance Points To A Syrian Peace Effort In Tatters

12:35pm June 09, 2016

by Michele Kelemen

The Syrian president says he'll take back "every inch" of his ravaged country. It's the latest sign that U.S. efforts to find a diplomatic resolution are failing.

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World News

Reporting On The War In Syria, Despite The Obstacles To Being There

2:33pm June 02, 2016

Anne Barnard of The New York Times and Thanassis Cambanis from The Century Foundation fell in love when they were reporting on the war in Iraq. Now based in Beirut, they continue to cover the region.

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Syrian government forces patrol Daraya, a suburb of the capital, Damascus, on Feb. 24.

World News

1st Aid Convoy Since 2012 Arrives In Besieged Damascus Suburb

4:10pm June 01, 2016

by Jason Slotkin

The international aid convoy reached Daraya less than a month after government forces turned away a previous delivery attempt.

Syria's Mohammed Faris was a national hero after he became the country's first cosmonaut in 1987, traveling to the Soviet Union's Mir Space Station. Now he's a refugee in Istanbul, Turkey. Faris, 65, is shown standing in front of a painting of himself as

World News

Once A National Hero, Syria's Lone Cosmonaut Is Now A Refugee In Turkey

3:55pm May 31, 2016

by Peter Kenyon

Mohammed Faris traveled to the Mir Space Station nearly three decades ago, becoming so famous that Syria's president was jealous of him. Now he's one of the many Syrians who has fled to Turkey.

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Armed men in uniform identified by Syrian Democratic forces as US special operations forces ride in the back of a pickup truck in the village of Fatisah in the northern Syrian province of Raqqa on May 25, 2016.

World News

Shoulder Patches Spark A Diplomatic Flap Between Turkey And The U.S.

11:57am May 28, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

The central issue: the Kurdish YPG militia, which the U.S. views as a key ally against the Islamic State in Syria, has been branded a terrorist organization by Turkey's government.

People gather their belongings Friday as they leave a refugee camp because of an Islamic State offensive near Azaz, Syria.

World News

Doctors Without Borders Evacuating Key Syrian Hospital Amid ISIS Offensive

1:27pm May 27, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

ISIS reportedly has seized villages near Syria's border with Turkey, trapping tens of thousands of civilians. The evacuated hospital outside Azaz is the aid group's largest medical facility in Syria.

Iraqi pro-government fighters hold position in al-Shahabi village, east of Fallujah, on Wednesday, as part of a major assault to retake the city from Islamic State.

World News

U.S.-Backed Forces Launch Two Major Offensives Against Islamic State

8:11pm May 25, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

The coalition has attacked IS positions in two areas of strategic importance: Fallujah, Iraq, and an area north of Raqqa, the group's de facto capital in Syria.