Syria

World News

Syria's embrace, Sudan's conflict and Saudi Arabia's rise define Arab League summit

3:37pm May 18, 2023

by Aya Batrawy

With Syria's president returning to the fold — despite U.S. resistance — and with Saudi Arabia's recent detente with Iran, this year's Arab League summit reflects a changing region.

Israeli police escort Jewish visitors marking the holiday of Passover to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount, in the Old City of Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan on Sunday, April 9, 2023.

World News

Israeli military retaliates after rockets fired from Syria

2:44am April 09, 2023

by The Associated Press

The Israeli military said its forces attacked targets in Syria after six rockets were launched from Syrian territory in two batches toward Israel in a rare attack from Israel's northeastern neighbor.

Ibrahim Muslimani, 30, speaks to a class about a piece of music blending different eras and languages at the Nefes Foundation for Arts and Culture, which he founded in 2016, in Gaziantep, Turkey, on Nov. 22, 2022.

A music school uniting Syrian and Turkish cultures survives the massive earthquake

6:01am March 25, 2023

by Fatma Tanis

A handful of students return to a school in Gaziantep, Turkey, that seeks to help revive old Syrian and Turkish music and integrate refugees.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during a press conference at the Pentagon last week.

U.S. and militias linked to Iran trade airstrikes in Syria, Pentagon says

5:31pm March 24, 2023

by Emily Olson

A group believed to be linked to Iran fired a drone that killed one U.S. contractor and injured six others, the Pentagon said. The U.S. retaliated, and also faced a second attack on Friday.

Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani (right) shakes hands with senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi, as Saudi national security adviser Musaad bin Mohammed al-Aiban looks on during an agreement signing ceremony between Iran and Saudi Arabia to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies in Beijing, Friday.

World News

Rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran restore ties, with China's help. Here's why it matters

4:40pm March 10, 2023

by Aya Batrawy

Saudi Arabia and Iran are restoring full diplomatic relations in a deal brokered by China, a move that could reduce tensions in the region and that asserts China's growing influence in the Gulf.

Small vendors sell vegetables and fruits on carts throughout Jableh. Some families here, though, say they often go without breakfast and rely on diets of mainly pita bread, olives, tomatoes and parsley.

World News

Photos show double blow of war and earthquakes in regime-held Syria

8:46am March 04, 2023

by Aya Batrawy

NPR gained rare access to parts of Syria after last month's devastating earthquakes, photographing what life is like for people who were already coping with a years-long civil war.

A woman tends to lentil soup at a municipal soup kitchen in Gaziantep, Turkey. On the first day after the quake, the kitchen's director says they distributed soup to more than 200,000 people.

Health & Safety

Lentil soup comes to the rescue in quake-ravaged Turkey

2:02pm February 21, 2023

by Jason Beaubien

It's a supersoup during this humanitarian crisis. Easy to make, it warms the displaced, fuels rescue crews and comforts residents traumatized by the disaster.

Queue Listen Now

People in Antakya, Turkey, react after a new earthquake struck on Monday.

World News

A new earthquake hits Turkey, as teams still respond to earlier catastrophic quake

5:03pm February 20, 2023

by Daniel Estrin

Turkish authorities say a magnitude 6.4 earthquake, followed by a magnitude 5.8 tremor, struck the Antakya region around 8 p.m. local time Monday. The quake was also felt in Syria.

Trucks in an aid convoy cross from Turkey into rebel-held northern Syria through the Bab al-Salama crossing on Feb. 14, after it reopened for U.N. relief.

World News

Aid groups help Turkey-Syria quake survivors amid global crises and donor fatigue

5:03am February 18, 2023

by Aya Batrawy

Appeals for aid to Syria were falling short even before this month. Aid groups are trying to marshal more aid pledges while attention is still on the quakes, but the road to recovery will be long.

Queue Listen Now

Residents remove their belongings from their destroyed house in Samandag, in southern Turkey, on Thursday. The number of people killed in the Feb. 6 earthquakes that devastated parts of southern Turkey and northern Syria continues to rise.

World News

11 days after the quake, a few more survivors are pulled from the rubble in Turkey

4:25pm February 17, 2023

by The Associated Press

Even as the death toll in Turkey and Syria has risen to more than 43,000, search teams in southern Turkey have rescued a few people who were trapped in the debris, including a 12-year-old boy.