"Syria denied a Reuters report on Thursday, November 6, claiming that the United States is preparing to establish a military presence at an air base in the Syrian capital, Damascus, to help enable a security agreement Washington is mediating between Syria and Israel." share.google/AT8rfNWOdcrg...

In post-regime Daraa, insecurity overshadows the state Insecurity and uncontrolled weapons continue to destabilize communities and claim lives in Syria’s southern Daraa province, @walid-alnofal.bsky.social reports for @syriadirect.bsky.social. syriadirect.org/in-post-regi...

🧵 The Trump administration’s abrupt termination of Syrians’ Temporary Protected Status has left thousands scrambling for solutions before a November 21 deadline to self-deport or become undocumented. 🔗 bit.ly/4ogHqCE

My condolences to the family of Syrian human rights attorney Khalil Ma’touq, killed under torture by the Assad regime. The news has long been expected but that does not diminish the sense of loss. I worked very briefly with Khalil in 2012, enough to sense his decency, humanity, and courage.

Syria’s Kidnapping Controversy The government’s recent investigation has both exposed the scale of fabricated kidnapping claims and at the same time underplayed the reality of kidnappings in the country, Gregory Waters writes. www.syriarevisited.com/p/syrias-kid...

Good question from @libdemdaisy.bsky.social on Syrians waiting for a settlement decision. They were paused last Dec, as were asylum claims. Asylum claims are being processed now but not those for ILR - the Home Office can't say how many are impacted questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-ques...

The Vanishing Act: How Assad’s top henchmen fled Syria, and justice A @nytimes.com investigation into what happened to 55 former high ranking officials of the Assad regime. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/w...

“In Syria, I worked in underground hospitals, resuscitated victims of barrel bombs… treated countless refugees fleeing war and mass atrocities… I believed I had seen the worst humanity could inflict. Until Gaza.” By @zsahloul.bsky.social for @newlinesmag.bsky.social newlinesmag.com/first-person...

Education on hold: How Syrian children in Lebanon are being shut out of the classroom Government restrictions have effectively barred tens of thousands of Syrian children from school in Lebanon, as NGOs step in to teach those left behind. @thenewarab.bsky.social www.newarab.com/analysis/how...

Fierce clashes broke out on Monday around the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods of Aleppo city, with exchanges of sniper fire and artillery between the Syrian army and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which control the two areas. — Enab Baladi english.enabbaladi.net/archives/202...

Asylum hotel provider makes £180m profit despite claims of inedible food and rationed loo paper Clearsprings Ready Homes is one of three companies with 10-year Home Office contracts to provide accommodation services for asylum seekers. — BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Just six women were elected to Syria’s new People’s Assembly. One, Lina Aizouki, was also the only Christian to win.  As the remaining third of seats are to be selected by the president, Sharaa is expected to appoint more women for balance. @thenewarab.bsky.social www.newarab.com/news/sharaa-...

Reports of SDF firing at adjacent neighbourhoods in Aleppo (I was there yesterday afternoon) Clashes in Aleppo:

"For the 1st time since the announcement of the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood agreement in Aleppo last April, the Syrian Min. of Interior has closed the entrances to the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, prohibiting entry—only exit is permitted. The reasons are unknown." #Aleppo

Rather than the Syrian population directly electing MPs, electoral colleges select two-thirds of them, while the remaining third will be hand-picked by the interim president himself. This naturally raises fears of state capture by Al-Sharaa. @thenewarab.bsky.social www.newarab.com/analysis/syr...

Syria’s People’s Assembly election: Today’s voting is restricted to members of electoral bodies selected by provincial subcommittees, with no public vote. Of 210 seats, 70% will be elected by electoral bodies and 30% appointed by the president. — Enab Baladi english.enabbaladi.net/archives/202...

Amid a wave of high-profile fundraising campaigns in Syria, a $2.1mn donation from the family of Assad crony Mohammed Hamsho was condemned as a brazen attempt to launder the family’s reputation, @haidhaid22.bsky.social writes. en.majalla.com/node/327649/...

Granting leave to people who will either end up getting it or who can’t be removed anyway would free up enough capacity to close the hotels in around 6 months. Granting leave to people from Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Sudan and Syria would do it www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/stay-informe...

This @politicshome.bsky.social article on how the Government can end the use of hotels in the asylum system misses the cheapest and quickest option - making quick grants of leave to reduce demand www.politics home.com/news/article/asylum-seeker-hotels-accommodation-military-sites

Netanyahu ordered drone attacks on Gaza-bound humanitarian aid boats off Tunisia, two US intelligence officials tell CBS News. www.cbsnews.com/news/netanya...

Manchester synagogue attacker was on bail for alleged rape Jihad al-Shamie was under investigation over alleged sexual attack earlier this year, @theguardian.com reports. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Statement from Syrian NGOs on yesterday’s attack, including Manchester-based Rethink Rebuild Society. www.rrsoc.org/node/1746 syrianbritish.org/statement-fr... Cc @sundersays.bsky.social @syrianotes.bsky.social

The family of Jihad Al-Shamie, the British Syrian named as the Manchester synagogue attacker, expressed “deep shock and sorrow,” condemning the “heinous act.” One of the attack victims killed was hit by police gunfire, as was one of the injured. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cx...

Damascus, Syria — Syrian-American Rabbi Henry Hamra has officially announced his candidacy for the Syrian People’s Assembly, representing the Damascus district. This marks the first Jewish candidacy since the 1967 decision that prohibited Syrian Jews from running for parliament.

A surge in violence across western Hama and Homs in the past week points to underlying problems: a lack of checkpoints in Syria’s countryside and a lack of inter-communal dispute resolution mechanisms, Gregory Waters writes. www.syriarevisited.com/p/violence-s...

Salamiya, a Hama province city home to most of Syria’s Ismaili minority, has been a post-Assad “success story.” Community leaders and analysts emphasize the importance of dialogue and inclusive governance in ensuring communal harmony.  @syriadirect.bsky.social syriadirect.org/how-syrias-i...

Syrian military delegation visits Moscow, as both sides seek to improve ties following Russia’s long support for the former Assad regime. The visit comes ahead of an expected trip by Ahmed al-Sharaa to Moscow later this month. @thenewarab.bsky.social www.newarab.com/news/syria-c...

Manchester synagogue terror attack: two killed and suspect shot dead Police named the attacker as Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, a British citizen of Syrian descent. Officials said he entered the UK as a young child, and was granted citizenship in 2006. @theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

this man had travelled through Libya and this did not raise any alarm bells for them about potential trafficking. The problem is the system, not the law: freemovement.org.uk/the-reality-...

It seemed pretty clear from yesterday's hearing that the reason for the trafficking claim being raised later on was that the claimant was only able to access good lawyers after getting removal directions, after the Home Office and two lots of lawyers on the detained duty advice scheme heard that

The government appealed this decision and I'm at the ongoing Court of Appeal hearing for it The judges are grilling the home secretary's barrister on the reasons for departing from the Home Office's own statutory guidance on trafficking decisions and noted they changed it the next day

March atrocities demand senior level accountability @hrw.org The Syrian government inquiry lacks transparency on the role of top officials, Human Rights Watch reports. Failing to hold commanders and officials accountable leaves the door open to further atrocities. www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

After surviving the Syrian war, an underground newspaper makes a triumphant return Enab Baladi’s founders went from clandestine print runs to exile, and now to a fresh start in Damascus. Aubin Eymard for @newlinesmag.bsky.social. newlinesmag.com/reportage/af...

On the 18th September the UK government attempted to remove an unaccompanied child from Afghanistan to France under its sordid ‘one in one out’ scheme. His removal was stopped as he was boarding the plane.

Alaa Abd el-Fattah, Egypt’s most prominent political prisoner, pardoned after a lengthy imprisonment and repeated hunger strikes that prompted international pleas for his release. @reuters.com www.reuters.com/world/africa...

Al-Sharaa calls for Syrians to unite in landmark UNGA visit, amid controversial Israel deal @thenewarab.bsky.social www.newarab.com/news/un-al-s...

What now for refugee family reunion applications? @freemovement.bsky.social on changes in UK. freemovement.org.uk/what-now-for...

A last-minute Syria-Israel agreement driven by US urgency will remain susceptible to collapse under the weight of Netanyahu’s “peace through force” doctrine, @haidhaid22.bsky.social writes. en.majalla.com/node/327415/... Image: Israeli aims in southern Syria mapped by @thestudyofwar.bsky.social

Human Rights Watch new release on Israel's actions in Syria, calling them “not legitimate acts of military necessity, but pages out of the playbook used in the occupied Palestinian territory & other parts of the region, stripping residents of basic rights & freedoms.” www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

A legal source with knowledge of the case says that claims are last minute “because the Home Office isn’t identifying those from a known slavery route,” and asylum seekers “only get advice late due to the government’s own rushed detention and removal policies.” www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Israel forcibly displaces villagers in occupied southern Syria Homes razed, Syrians detained and unlawfully transferred to Israel Forced displacement is a war crime @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...

The missing piece in Syria’s reconstruction: Community engagement For reconstruction to be sustainable, officials and investors must place Syrians at the centre of the rebuilding process, @haidhaid22.bsky.social writes for @thenewarab.bsky.social. www.newarab.com/analysis/mis...

Israel’s strategy in south Syria — ETANA etanasyria.org/study-israel...

Suwayda ceasefire holds, political talks stall amid mutual distrust — ETANA etanasyria.org/brief-suwayd...

Joint position paper regarding the temporary electoral system for the Syrian parliament Reforming the electoral system is a prerequisite for a parliament capable of supporting political transition. @sjac-info.bsky.social et al. syriaaccountability.org/joint-positi...

Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, UN Commission finds Israeli authorities and security forces committed four of the five genocidal acts defined by 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, UN Commission of Inquiry finds. www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...

Syria’s parliamentary elections: A turning point or another top-down exercise? Formation of new legislative body will test whether Syria’s government is ready to embrace pluralism and institutional reform, @haidhaid22.bsky.social writes for @chathamhouse.org. www.chathamhouse.org/2025/09/syri...

How a western charity helped the Syrian regime abduct children Hundreds of children were kidnapped by the Syrian state. A charity, SOS International, helped disappear them. Their complicity was kept secret until the regime fell. @theobserveruk.bsky.social observer.co.uk/news/interna...

When Assad’s security state collapsed, locked doors opened, spilling decades of secrets. Among them: 100s of stolen children, hidden in orphanages & used to blackmail parents. We’ve done the deepest dive yet into this cruel system. Here’s what we found 🧵 www.lighthousereports.com/investigatio...

Enab Baladi investigates expropriated properties in al-Sumariyah and discusses the legal basis of the dispute with researchers, lawyers, and stakeholders, including representatives of Muadamiyat al-Sham’s owners and al-Sumariyah residents. english.enabbaladi.net/archives/202...