Germany’s new chancellor Friedrich Merz plans to tighten immigration by suspending family reunification for Syrians with subsidiary protection, amid far-right pressure and support for Syria’s reconstruction.

Syria’s closure of the Polisario Front office signals a major diplomatic shift supporting Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara and weakening separatist influence regionally.

The integration of the SDF into the Syrian state remains stalled due to its insistence on political decentralization, a demand rejected by Damascus as a threat to national unity and stability.

Although the regime of Bashar al-Assad, which oversaw drug production and smuggling, has fallen, remnants of his networks are still active and continue to pose a threat to Syria’s neighbors, especially Jordan.

Syria’s agriculture, crippled by conflict, drought, and climate change, struggles with food security and recovery, as the new government seeks to modernize irrigation and cut water-heavy crops amid ongoing challenges.