Assad

Analysis: Kurdish-Led Peace Conference Is Best Hope for Syria

By Joris Leverink
While the war in Syria continues to draw in more outside forces, the work towards finding a political solution to this five-year old conflict carries on. In the past week, no less than three separate conferences were organized by different clusters of opposition groups. Conferences were held in three places: Damascus, Dêrîk – a city in the Kurdish-controlled northern part of Syria – and Riyadh, the Saudi capital, respectively.

U.N. Secretary-General Calls for International Unity on Yemen and Syria

By Valentina Ieri
"Political negotiations, not military intervention, are the solution" said United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, on the rapidly deteriorating conflict situation in Yemen and recent developments in Syria at the Yarmouk refugee camp.

Children in Aleppo Forced Underground to Go to School

By Shelly Kittleson
Winter has not yet hit this nearly besieged city, but children are already attending classes in winter coats and stocking hats.

Malnutrition Hits Syrians Hard as UN Authorises Cross-Border Access

By Shelly Kittleson
Gaunt, haggard Syrian children begging and selling gum have become a fixture in streets of the Lebanese capital; having fled the ongoing conflict, they continue to be stalked by its effects.

Neighbours Turn Foes in Bekaa

By Mona Alami
Hezbollah clashes with Syrian rebels on the outskirts of Ersal seem to be widening the divide between residents of the Eastern Bekaa town – increasingly dominated by Syrian rebels, including the radical Nusra Front – and other regions as well as the Lebanese state. 

Syria’s Chemicals Haunt the Mediterranean

By Apostolis Fotiadis
Scientists and local communities are expressing serious concern about the ongoing destruction of Syria’s chemical arsenal on board a vessel in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea.

Syrian Kurds Have Their Own TV Against All Odds

By Karlos Zurutuza
Rudi Mohamed Amid gives his script one quick, last glance before he goes live. "Roj bas, Kurdistan (Good morning, Kurdistan)," he greets his audience, with the assuredness of a veteran journalist. However, hardly anyone at Ronahi, Syrian Kurds' first and only television channel, had any media experience before the war.

Syrians Flock to Vote in Lebanon… But Not in The West

By Eva Bartlett
Roughly three kilometres north of Beirut's Syrian embassy in Baabda, Syrians crammed in one of an endless stream of buses, exited and continued on foot. The masses opted to walk the remaining few kilometres rather than sit in a traffic jam generated by the tens of thousands flocking to vote.

New Poll Finds Shifts in U.S. Public Opinion Towards Middle East

By Sarah McHaney
The attacks on U.S. embassies in Libya and Egypt last month shocked and scared Americans, but the majority of Americans nevertheless recognise that the violence was the work of extremist minorities and not the majority of the population, according to a new poll.

Assad and Opposition Both Losing

By Zak Brophy
Two floors have been ripped from the top of an apartment block in Aleppo in northern Syria. A lone man stands amidst the rubble four stories up after a missile from one of his own government’s fighter jets smashed into the building that morning. With his arms crossed, the solitary figure surveys the destruction around him.

Long Wait to Defect From Assad’s Forces

By Karlos Zurutuza
"Of course I want to defect but I cannot give up my salary. How could I possibly feed my 11 children?" The war is putting every Syrian on the brink, including this policeman on the side of President Bashar Al Assad.


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