By Jonathan Spyer ( Foreign Policy )- On my last night in Damascus, some younger members of the Information Ministry-sponsored delegation in which I was taking part decided to have a drink. It was late April, and the bars and restaurants were doing good business in the cool and breezy...

 (Zaman Al Wasl)- The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces took Friday three villages from the Islamic State east of Raqaa city after heavy clashes with  the radical group, activists said. Two villages left east of al-Balikh River under ISIS control. Its fall means all eastern...

Syria's warring sides entered a final day of U.N.-backed talks on Friday with little sign of progress towards ending the conflict and with negotiations overshadowed by swelling tensions on the ground. The sixth round of talks in Geneva was the latest effort to bring a political solution to...

( The Guardian )- US jets have attacked a convoy of Iranian-backed militiamen in south-eastern Syria in the first clash between the American military and forces loyal to Tehran since the US military returned to the region almost three years ago. The airstrikes occurred near the Syrian town...