Eyad al-Gharib, a former security officer, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison in a case that rights groups have hailed as a landmark.

Category: Assad, Bashar al-
Having Won Syria’s War, al-Assad Is Mired in Economic Woes
After a decade of war, the biggest threat now to President Bashar al-Assad is an economic crisis. But at a recent meeting, he had no concrete solutions to his country’s extreme distress.
Israel Secretly Agrees to Fund Vaccines for Syria as Part of Prisoner Swap
To secure the release of an Israeli civilian held in Syria, Israel agreed to finance a supply of Russian-made Covid-19 vaccines for Damascus, an official said.
Turkish Forces in Syria Protect 5 Million People
Three years ago, Turkey’s intervention in Syria was widely criticized. But today Turkish forces are all that protect five million vulnerable people.
A Decade After the Arab Spring, Autocrats Still Rule the Mideast
The popular uprisings of 2011 mostly failed, but they gave the region a taste for democracy that continues to whet an appetite for change.