Syria government
FILE - In this Jan. 23, 2016, file photo, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, left, poses for photographers with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, prior to their meeting at Yildiz Mabeyn Palace in Istanbul. Biden and Turkish counterpart Erdogan have known each other for years, but their meeting Monday, June 14, 2021, will be their first as heads of state. And it comes at a particularly tense moment for relations between their two countries. (Kayhan Ozer/Presidential Press Service, Pool via AP, File)
Erdogan and Biden meet at a tense moment for Turkish-US ties

By Suzan Fraser Jun. 13, 2021 10:56 AM EDT

FILE - In this April 19, 2020 file photo, shows a large refugee camp on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey, near the town of Atma, in Idlib province, Syria. Millions of Syrians risk losing access to lifesaving aid, including food and COVID-19 vaccines if Russia gets its way at the Security Council by blocking the use of the last remaining cross-border aid corridor into northwestern Syria, an international rights group said Thursday, June 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed, File)
Watchdog warns of aid disaster in Syria; shelling kills 11

By Sarah El Deeb Jun. 10, 2021 12:43 PM EDT

US envoy heads to Turkey seeking to ensure aid to Syrians

By Edith M. Lederer Jun. 01, 2021 07:56 PM EDT
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.S ambassador to the United Nations headed to Turkey late Tuesday seeking to ensure that humanitarian aid can be delivered to Syria...

Syrian President Bashar Assad supporters hold up national flags and pictures of Assad as they celebrate at Omayyad Square, in Damascus, Syria, Thursday, May 27, 2021. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Syria's Assad wins a fourth term in a predictable landslide

May. 27, 2021 04:58 PM EDT

Syrian students dance as attend to votes at a polling station during the Presidential elections in the Syrian capital Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, May 26, 2021. Syrians headed to polling stations early Wednesday to vote in the second presidential elections since the deadly conflict began in the Arab country. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Syrians vote in election certain to give Assad new mandate

By Albert Aji May. 26, 2021 02:12 AM EDT

A gift to Damascus: 150,000 COVID-19 Chinese vaccines

By Albert Aji Apr. 24, 2021 09:41 AM EDT
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The Syrian government received the first batch of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines on Saturday, a gift of 150,000 jabs to Damascus, Syrian and...

FILE - In this Dec. 21, 2020, file photo, people wear face masks while walking up stairs at the Golden Gate Overlook in the Presidio in front of traffic driving on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. California, for decades a symbol of boundless growth and opportunity that attracted people from across the U.S. and abroad, has stagnated. Census data expected later this month will reveal what demographers and observers have long known: That California is now growing at a record slow rate and behind rival political states like Texas and Florida. That could cause the state to lose a U.S. House seat for the first time in its history. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
The Latest: Washington state resumes J&J inoculations

By The Associated Press Apr. 24, 2021 01:37 AM EDT

Faeza Satouf looks at a photo of her graduation day on her phone during an interview in Nivaa, Denmark, Wednesday, April 21, 2021. The 25-year-old Syrian refugee had fled the civil war with her family in an all-too-familiar journey across the sea to Europe, where they finally arrived in Denmark and were granted asylum in 2015. Yet six later years, she has been told she has to go back — alone, and soon. (AP Photo/David Keyton)
Denmark tells some Syrians to leave, separating families

By David Keyton Apr. 23, 2021 02:19 AM EDT

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows Syria's Health Minister Hassan Ghabbash, during a press conference where he announced receiving the first batch of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines, in Damascus, Syria Thursday, April 22, 2021. Ghabbash said that the Syrian government received a batch of 203,000 COVID-19 vaccines Thursday, in a move aimed at speeding up a sluggish inoculation process in the war-torn country. (SANA via AP)
Syria receives batch of UN vaccines to speed up virus fight

By Albert Aji Apr. 22, 2021 05:54 AM EDT

Syria to close schools and universities over virus surge

By Bassem Mroue Apr. 03, 2021 10:54 AM EDT
BEIRUT (AP) — Primary schools around Syria will close down indefinitely next week amid a severe increase of coronavirus cases in the war-torn country, while...

In this photo released on the official Facebook page of the Syrian Presidency, Syrian President Bashar Assad heads a cabinet meeting, in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Assad and his wife have recovered from COVID-19 and returned to their regular duties on Tuesday, three weeks after they had tested positive for the coronavirus, the president's office said. (Syrian Presidency Facebook page via AP)
Syria says Assad, his wife have recovered from coronavirus

By Bassem Mroue Mar. 30, 2021 03:37 AM EDT

A woman flashes a victory sign as she receives the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine during a nationwide vaccination campaign, at the Saint George Hospital, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021. Lebanon launched its inoculation campaign after receiving the first batch of the vaccine — 28,500 doses from Brussels with more expected to arrive in the coming weeks. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Syria to send Lebanon emergency oxygen supply for hospitals

Mar. 24, 2021 01:35 PM EDT

FILE - In this July, 13, 2010 file photo, Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, and his wife Asma Assad, listen to explanations as they visit a technology plant in Tunis, Tunisia. Assad’s office said Wednesday, March 17, 2021, the country's first couple are on their way to recovery nine days after they tested positive for coronavirus. The presidency said that Assad and his wife have had mild symptoms of the illness and are continuing their work as usual from home and will return to normal life once they test negative to COVID-19 (AP Photo/Hassene Dridi, File)
Syria president's office: Assad, wife recovering from virus

Mar. 17, 2021 07:43 AM EDT

FILE - In this April 16, 2018 file photo, Syrian authorities distribute bread, vegetables and pasta to residents in the town of Douma, near Damascus, Syria. As Syria marks the 10th anniversary Monday, March 15, 2021, of the start of its uprising-turned-civil war, President Bashar Assad may still be in power, propped up by Russia and Iran. But millions of people are being pushed deeper into poverty, and a majority of households can hardly scrape together enough to secure their next meal. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
'Republic of Queues': 10 years on, Syria is a hungry nation

By Zeina Karam Mar. 15, 2021 06:55 AM EDT

FILE - This April 13, 2016 file photo released on the official Facebook page of Syrian Presidency, shows Syrian President Bashar Assad casting his ballot in the parliamentary elections, as his wife Asma, left, stands next to him, in Damascus, Syria. The office of Syrian President Bashar Assad said Monday, March 8, 2021 that Assad and his wife have tested positive for the coronavirus and are both doing well. In a statement, Assad’s office said the first couple did PCR tests after they felt minor symptoms consistent with the COVID-19 illness. (Syrian Presidency via AP, File)
Syrian president, wife test positive for coronavirus

Mar. 08, 2021 07:21 AM EST

Syrian presidency says President Bashar Assad and his wife have tested positive for coronavirus; both are doing good

Mar. 08, 2021 07:17 AM EST
DAMASCUS, SYria (AP) — Syrian presidency says President Bashar Assad and his wife have tested positive for coronavirus; both are doing good. ...

FILE - In this July 15, 2018 file photo, a calendar is drawn by a prisoner on a wall of an underground cell in the abandoned Tawbeh Prison, where over the years the Army of Islam detained hundreds of people, in Douma, near Damascus, Syria. The U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria said in a report released Monday, March, 1, 2021, that tens of thousands of civilians were arbitrarily detained in enforced disappearances during the country's 10-year conflict. The commission’s report said the Syrian government and other parties in the conflict committed crimes in the context of detention. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)
UN: Arbitrary detentions in Syria conflict may be war crimes

By Jamey Keaten And Bassem Mroue Mar. 01, 2021 11:01 AM EST

Syria govt says it has virus vaccine; doesn't say from where

Feb. 25, 2021 09:58 AM EST
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria's health minister on Thursday said his government procured coronavirus vaccines from a friendly country which he declined to name,...

Reports: Israel buys vaccines for Syria in prisoner deal

By Ilan Ben Zion Feb. 21, 2021 05:41 AM EST
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel paid Russia $1.2 million to provide the Syrian government with coronavirus vaccines as part of a deal that secured the release of an...

Akjemal Magtymova, the World Health Organization's representative in Syria, speaks during an interview at her office in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. Magtymova said the arrival of vaccines to war ravaged Syria will depend on availability, manufacturing capacity and implementation and may initially cover only three percent of the population in the first phase. She said Syria is eligible to receive the vaccine for free through the global COVAX effort aimed at helping lower-income countries obtain the shots. (AP Photo)
Slow COVID-19 vaccine rollout expected in war- ravaged Syria

By Albert Aji Feb. 02, 2021 02:02 PM EST