Motorcycles and scooters are a lifeline for many Syrians in Lebanon, but most cannot legally register them. As police crack down, they face fines, extortion and—as seen in the recent killing of a young man at a checkpoint in Beirut—violence.
This investigation highlights how cancer patients across northern Syria are paying the price for the country’s faltering healthcare system. Cancer medications are scarce, northern Syria lacks specialized health facilities, and border crossing closures and difficulties of internal travel stand in the way of timely treatment.
France’s international arrest warrant for Bashar al-Assad for complicity in crimes against humanity marks a historic first. What does it mean in practice, and what are its implications for seemingly unstoppable regional normalization?
Syria’s fronts with Israel remain relatively quiet, while intensified Israeli strikes and mobilization by Iran-linked forces in the country leave the door open to increased escalation.
In al-Hajar al-Aswad, south of Damascus, buildings are steadily being demolished—regardless of whether they are structurally sound—with the rubble sold for profit under the eyes of regime forces. Some fear demolitions could be a precursor to expropriations under redevelopment plans.
The use of private generators for electricity has been widespread for years in Syria, but expanded around Damascus in recent months amid signs of regime authorities moving to increasingly codify and regularize the informal trade.
Recent economic moves by Damascus impacted the cost of most basic goods and services, sparking a wave of protests in the country’s south and anger all the way to the coast.
For more than two years, Syria’s passport system has been in a crisis that is disrupting travel plans and opening the door for corruption and exploitation by passport brokers.
In the Bab Srijeh neighborhood of Old Damascus, residents say municipal permits to restore decaying buildings are elusive, but contractors with government connections hold the key.
Sudan hosted around 100,000 Syrians before war broke out in April. Northeastern Syria’s Autonomous Administration has repatriated hundreds of them, but tensions with Damascus stalled the process.
