Middle East

Future looks bleak for this Syrian family with 16 kids stuck at Turkish border

Editorial Bureau June 16, 2020

IDLIB (SYRIA) – Providing for 16 children, including four sets of twins, is becoming a strenuous task for Ahmad Yassin al-Ali and his wife Fawza Umri. This Syrian family was forced to flee their home nearly a decade ago and they are now crammed into a tent at the Turkish border. Ali,

Middle East

Syria’s opposing parties agree to Geneva talks

Jim Stein May 19, 2020

GENEVA (Middle East) – Opposing sides in the Syrian civil war have agreed to reconvene in Geneva for negotiations on the constitution, United Nations Special Envoy Geir Pedersen said on Tuesday, saying that it could provide the arena for bridging “deep, deep mistrust”. After nine years of conflict in Syria, Pedersen referred to “relative calm”

Middle East

First Syria torture trial commences in Germany on Thursday

Editorial Bureau April 23, 2020

BERLIN (Middle East) – The first trial of suspected members of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s security services for crimes against humanity, including torture and sexual assault, starts in Germany on Thursday. Campaigners have hailed the process as a first step towards justice for thousands of Syrians who say they were tortured in government facilities

Middle East

Makeshift ventilators in construction in Syria rebel stronghold to fight virus

Editorial Bureau April 23, 2020

IDLIB, Syria (Middle East) – A team of volunteers in Syria have cobbled together prototypes of a ventilator and a testing machine – homemade equipment to fight the new coronavirus if it hits the last rebel stronghold, where hospitals lie in ruins after nine years of war. The group of 12, mainly technicians and engineers, […]

Middle East

Shi’ite pilgrims from Iran returning from Syria test positive for coronavirus

Editorial Bureau March 30, 2020

BAGHDAD (Middle East) – Some Shi’ite pilgrims returning to Iraq from Syria have tested positive for coronavirus, raising concern that such pilgrim travel could be a source for a larger spread of the disease around the country, a senior Iraqi official and health officials said on Sunday. So far, Iraq has recorded 547 coronavirus cases […]

Middle East

Syria braces for coronavirus spread after years of war

Editorial Bureau March 24, 2020

BEIRUT Middle East) – The spread of coronavirus to Syria brings the prospect of a deadly outbreak to a population devastated by nine years of war, with ravaged hospitals and tightly-packed camps likely to accelerate infection, doctors and aid workers said on Monday. The Syrian government announced on Sunday its first case after unconfirmed reports […]

Middle East

Syria confirms first case of coronavirus as fears of spread grow

Editorial Bureau March 23, 2020

AMMAN- War-ravaged Syria on Sunday confirmed its first case of the coronavirus after weeks of rejecting opposition allegations that the disease had already reached a country with a wrecked health system and thousands of Iranian-backed militias and Shi’ite pilgrims. Health Minister Nizar al-Yaziji told state media “necessary measures” had been taken

Middle East

In Syria’s northwest, medics fear the worst if coronavirus hits crowded camps

Editorial Bureau March 12, 2020

AZAZ, Syria- In Syria’s northwest, where people uprooted by war are crammed into camps, medics fear the coronavirus would spread widely if it reaches a country with its healthcare system in ruins. Doctors and aid workers say they have recorded no cases so far. But they warned that camps would not cope in the event […]

Middle East

Russia-Turkey ceasefire broadly holds despite clashes in Syria’s Idlib

Editorial Bureau March 7, 2020

AMMAN/ISTANBUL- Deadly clashes erupted in parts of northwest Syria on Friday but a ceasefire deal between Russia and Turkey aimed at ending months of intense conflict was largely holding elsewhere in the country’s last rebel-held enclave. A war monitor and rebel sources said the fighting broke out in the Jabal al-Zawiya region in the south […]

Middle East

Uneasy calm in Syria’s Idlib as Russia-Turkey ceasefire takes effect

Editorial Bureau March 6, 2020

AMMAN/ISTANBUL – Syria’s war-battered Idlib region was quiet but tense on Friday as a ceasefire deal between Moscow and Ankara took effect, with residents and opposition forces describing a lull in air raids that have pounded the last rebel-held enclave in Syria. Russia and Turkey made the agreement on Thursday evening, after six hours of […]