By Mariam Elba (The Intercept)- It shouldn't be surprising that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has become an idol among white nationalists in the United States. During the white nationalist “Unite the Right” rally several weeks ago in Charlottesville, Virginia, Baked...

(VOA)- As convoys of the Lebanese army on Wednesday returned from a recent operation against Islamic State militants in the border region with Syria, cheering civilians showered them with rose petals and danced around them with Lebanese flags. It was a moment for Lebanon to celebrate...

(The New York Times)- From the end of the Cold War until 2010, Syria, led first by President Hafez al-Assad and then by his son Bashar, had a uniquely flexible geopolitical position in the Arab world: Syria was an avowed enemy of Israel but directly negotiated with it. Syria claimed to be the...

By Tim Ramadan ( The Guardian )- Around three months have passed since the Syrian Democratic Forces launched a military operation to wrest back control of Raqqa from Islamic State. These forces are backed directly by the US-led international coalition, and they have so far succeeded in...