Latest Bashar Assad News

Middle East latest: WHO chief says he was at Yemen airport as Israeli bombs fell nearby

Dec. 26, 2024 18:11 PM EST

A wave of Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen's main airport Thursday just as the World Health Organization’s director-general said he was about to board a flight there. One of the U.N. plane’s crew was wounded, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X. The Israeli...

An uneasy calm settles over Syrian city of Homs after outbreak of sectarian violence

Dec. 26, 2024 16:41 PM EST

HOMS, Syria (AP) — Syria's new security forces checked IDs and searched cars in the central city of Homs on Thursday, a day after protests by members of the Alawite minority erupted in gunfire and stirred fears that the country's fragile peace could break down. A tense calm...

A Syrian family recounts the horrors of the 2013 chemical attack near Damascus

Dec. 26, 2024 01:27 AM EST

ZAMALKA, Syria (AP) — A Syrian family that survived a 2013 chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds of people near the country’s capital, Damascus, says the ordeal they experienced haunts them to this day. The Aug. 21, 2013 attack targeted several Damascus suburbs, including...

Israel's plan to double the number of settlers in the Golan Heights is met with conflicting emotions

Dec. 26, 2024 00:07 AM EST

EIN ZIVAN, Golan Heights (AP) — A dry mountain wind whipped through a cluster of Israeli flags at the entrance of a kibbutz in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, where the tranquility belies the tumultuous events unfolding nearby. Earlier this month, Syrian President Bashar Assad...

Clashes between Islamists now in power in Syria and Assad's supporters kill 6 fighters

Dec. 25, 2024 18:30 PM EST

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Clashes between Islamists who took over Syria and supporters of ousted President Bashar Assad's government killed six Islamic fighters on Wednesday and wounded others, according to a British-based war monitor. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the...

A baby froze to death overnight in Gaza as Israel and Hamas trade accusations of ceasefire delays

Dec. 25, 2024 17:45 PM EST

JERUSALEM (AP) — A baby girl froze to death overnight in Gaza, while Israel and Hamas accused each other of complicating ceasefire efforts that could wind down the 14-month war. The 3-week old baby was the third to die from the cold in Gaza's tent camps in recent days, doctors...

Fate of Trump's Cabinet picks unclear as Republicans prepare to take power in Senate

Dec. 25, 2024 07:28 AM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The fate of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet is still unclear after Republican senators spent much of December carefully dodging questions about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ’s views on vaccines, accusations of sexual misconduct against Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard's 2017...

Kurdish-led forces push back Turkish-backed Syrian rebels in a tense offensive

Dec. 24, 2024 17:59 PM EST

QAMISHLI, Syria (AP) — Kurdish-led fighters in Syria, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, said Tuesday they have launched a counter-offensive against the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army to take back areas near Syria’s northern border with Turkey. The Kurdish-led SDF is...

Middle East latest: Israeli raid and airstrikes in West Bank kill at least 8 Palestinians

Dec. 24, 2024 16:18 PM EST

At least eight people were killed by Israeli military operations in the northern West Bank around the city of Tulkarem on Tuesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, including three people it said were killed by Israeli airstrikes. The Israeli military said it opened fire after...

UN investigative team says Syria's new authorities 'very receptive' to probe of Assad war crimes

Dec. 24, 2024 01:06 AM EST

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. organization assisting in investigating the most serious crimes in Syria said Monday the country’s new authorities were “very receptive” to its request for cooperation during a just-concluded visit to Damascus, and it is preparing to deploy. The...