Controversial figures like Tony Blair and Jared Kushner have been appointed as top officials in US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” to oversee the post-war transition in Gaza. Israel has also raised objections, despite the US-led body’s critics’ concerns that it would silence Palestinian voices.
Published On 18 Jan 2026
After capturing Tabqa, the northern strategic city and its military airport on the Euphrates River, in a lightning offensive, the Syrian army is moving towards Raqqa, the stronghold of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), headed there.
Government forces captured the Euphrates Dam, also known as the Tabqa Dam, about 50km (31 miles) west of Raqqa city, after heavy fighting with SDF forces. In Raqqa governorate, which has been under the control of the SDF since 2015, government forces have amassed large amounts of military equipment.
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After talks to enlist the Kurdish fighters in Syria’s national army were unsuccessful, fighting broke out between the army and SDF forces in Aleppo on January 6. The SDF’s heavy weapons were to be laid down and handed over control of Aleppo’s regions to the national army by the end of the month’s conflict.
So what’s the latest situation on the ground? Will the Syrian army’s offensive increase the conflict in northern Syria?
About 40 kilometers (24 miles) west of Raqqa, the Syrian army seized control of Tabqa on Sunday. Additionally, it seized the Freedom Dam and the largest Euphrates Dam in the nation, which is adjacent to the strategic city, as well as the largest Baath Dam.
Government-allied groups said they have taken control of the Asayish headquarters, the security and police force in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, in the town of Markada while tribal fighters allied with the government have taken control of several major oil- and gasfields in the northeast, including Jafra and Conoco located in Deir Az Zor province bordering Iraq.
According to the Reuters news agency, Syrian forces seized the Rasafa and Sufyan oilfields in Raqqa, which could now be returned to production.
The SDF was accused of using drones in areas east of Deir Az Zor, another SDF stronghold in the northeast, by Syrian state media on Sunday.
Video clips and live footage published on social media and verified by Al Jazeera show celebrations in the cities of Hajin and al-Shuhayl in the eastern countryside of Deir Az Zor after news of the withdrawal of the SDF from the area. As fighting continues to rage, the Deir Az Zor governorate has ordered the closure of all public buildings for the safety of the residents.
After the recent rapid territorial gains, Syrian police spokesman Noureddine al-Baba informed Al Jazeera that police have secured all of the country’s captured areas.
On Saturday, the SDF withdrew from Deir Hafer and some surrounding villages in Aleppo governorate that are home to predominantly Arab populations, after which Syrian forces moved in, triggering celebrations. About 50 kilometers (30 miles) east of Aleppo city lies Deir Hafer.
According to Hussein al-Khalaf, a Deir Hafer resident, “it happened with the least amount of losses.” “There’s been enough blood in this country, Syria. Too much has been sacrificed and lost. It’s getting old for everyone.
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, affiliated with the SDF, on Saturday accused the Syrian government of violating a withdrawal agreement, saying it “attacked our forces on multiple fronts since yesterday morning”. Raqqa’s attacks, which are a source of thousands of ISIL (ISIS) detainees, may pose a security risk, according to the SDF.
Nearly four years after the armed uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, the US-backed SDF, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, was established. Al-Assad remained in power until he was ousted in December 2024 by Syrian opposition fighters led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is now interim president.
According to the Syrian Ministry of Information, Tom Barrack, the US envoy for Syria, will visit Damascus on Sunday for a meeting with Mazloum Abdi and al-Sharaa.
The rift between al-Sharaa’s government, which has pledged to reunify Syria after 14 years of war, and distrustful Kurdish authorities has grown as a result of the renewed fighting. On Friday al-Sharaa issued a decree declaring Kurdish a “national language” and granting the minority group official recognition.
Northern Syria’s largest oil- and gasfields are located in Raqqa, which has an Arab-majority governorate.
Kurdish anxieties have been sharpened by sectarian bloodshed last year when almost 1, 500 Alawites were killed by pro-government forces in western Syria and hundreds of Druze were killed in clashes in the south.
Arab civilians gathered in the streets to celebrate the victory of the Syrian army in these areas.
This demonstrated the SDF’s social and demographic fragility. Now the question is, will the SDF see this reality and agree to demands by Damascus to integrate into the Syrian state”, Omer Ozkizilcik from the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs said.
Syrian affairs analyst Omar Abu Layla claimed that the Damascus authorities “didn’t listen to him” despite making numerous attempts to negotiate with the SDF.
Abu Layla claimed that the central government had made numerous offers to the SDF, but that the organization “wasted time,” assuming Damascus’s authorities were weak, and that almost a year had passed since a March agreement that would have allowed the SDF’s forces to be integrated into the regular army.
“What]we] are witnessing now in the region is the end of the SDF”, he argued.
Abdi and al-Sharaa reached an agreement on March 10.
The agreement emphasised the unity of Syria and stipulated that “all civil and military institutions in northeastern Syria” be merged “into the administration of the Syrian state, including border crossings, the airport and oil and gas fields”.
Additionally, the agreement stated that the Kurdish people have guaranteed constitutional rights and are a part of Syria.
After the SDF and Syrian army’s agreement was broken, intense fighting broke out in Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighbourhoods last month. A US-brokered ceasefire took effect on January 10.
The Kurdish nationalist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been fighting the Turkish state for decades, has ties to the SDF’s secular Kurdish leadership. The PKK is still listed by Turkiye, the European Union, and the US as a “terrorist” group despite the announcement it made in May to lay down its weapons and disband.
Despite this, the US backed the SDF because it was an effective partner against ISIL, which the SDF and a US-led coalition defeated in northeastern Syria by 2019.
Washington has urged Syria’s army to halt its incursion into Kurdish-held territory.
Admiral Brad Cooper, who is in charge of US Central Command, which oversees the US military’s Middle East operations, wrote in a statement published on X that the Syrian army should “cease any offensive actions in areas” between Aleppo city and Tabqa.
West of Tabqa, Aleppo is roughly 160 kilometers (100 miles).
Cooper argued that working together with US and coalition forces is necessary to pursue ISIS and apply relentless military pressure to Syrian partners. “A Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors is essential to peace and stability across the region”.
Former US diplomat and professor William Laurence said: “The US will have to work very hard to resolve the political impasse between Syria’s government and the SDF.
Trump wants the “quick fix,” and he wants Tom Barrack to “kind of wave a magic wand and get what he wants. But that’s not really how things work”, Laurence told Al Jazeera.
Trust-building is essential to sustainable solutions, and we haven’t had much of it.
After fierce clashes earlier this month, al-Sharaa issued a decree on Friday formally recognising Kurdish as a “national language” and restoring citizenship to all Kurdish Syrians.
After fighting broke out in Aleppo on January 6, at least 22 people were killed and 173 were hurt.
The decree recognizes Kurdish Syrians’ identity as a component of Syria’s national fabric among other rights. It designates Kurdish as a national language alongside Arabic and allows schools to teach it.
Additionally, it repeals measures that date back to a 1962 census in Hasakah province, which granted citizenship to all affected residents, including those who had previously been declared stateless, after the census.
The decree declares that the Kurdish New Year’s holiday, Newroz, is paid for the country. It bans ethnic or linguistic discrimination, requires state institutions to adopt inclusive national messaging and sets penalties for incitement to ethnic strife.
The Kurdish government in Syria’s north and northeast responded to the decree, saying that while it was “a first step, it does not fulfill the aspirations and hopes of the Syrian people.”
A decree formally recognizing Kurdish as a national language and granting citizenship to all Syrian Kurds has been signed by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Published On 18 Jan 2026
Giorgia Meloni, the country’s prime minister, criticized US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose tariffs on European nations because they oppose a US invasion of Greenland. She describes it as a “mistake” caused by miscommunication.
Published On 18 Jan 2026
*Names changed to protect their identities.
Lancaster, United Kingdom – Maya* and Daniel* sit in a spare room at Global Link, an NGO helping migrants. Neither has heard from family or friends in Iran since the internet was shut down on January 8 during nationwide antigovernment protests.
Both came to the UK separately: Maya, a graduate student from near the capital, Tehran, six years ago and Daniel, a support worker from Sine in northwestern Iran, three years back. Both have family still in Iran.
Maya has yet to hear from her elderly parents on the outskirts of Karasht near Tehran. How Daniel’s father, who is sick with cancer, is coping remains unknown.
There is still no confirmed death toll for the latest round of unrest to have engulfed Iran since the national currency, the rial, crashed on December 28, leading traders of Tehran’s bazaar to take to the streets to voice their anger in a protest that spread across the country and evolved into a serious challenge to the government.
Speaking on Saturday, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei acknowledged that “several thousand” people had been killed in the unrest, which he accused the United States and Israel of fuelling. The government has recognised the protesters ‘ hardships, pledging to address mounting economic grievances, but also said the demonstrations that saw government buildings attacked were later hijacked by “terrorists” and elements trained and armed by outside powers.
“I have a lot of stress”, Daniel said, his measured voice showing some degree of the tension that he and Maya have been living through. Before the communications shutdown, Daniel, who at university had been detained for his pro-democracy activism, learned that a number of his friends had been arrested.
Both Maya and Daniel lived through previous bouts of unrest but believe the demonstrations of recent weeks may mark a sea change in Iran’s direction. “I believe it’s not like before … because the economy’s collapsed”, Maya said.
She went on to describe those she calls the “losers” of Iranian society – the people, she said, “who can’t provide a meal for their family. They are tired, you know, fed up of being ashamed in front of their own family, to not be able to provide for them. And if they don’t die in the street, they will die from starving maybe the next year or next six months”.
The inflation rate in Iran is among the highest in the world. Even before the recent collapse of the rial, inflation was about 40 percent as the cost of chronic economic mismanagement and years of crippling Western sanctions conspired to hollow out what was left of Iran’s economy.
Maya spoke of those she used to pass in the metro on her way into Tehran, hawking whatever they could to feed themselves and their families. She recalled one older lady, shaking in humiliation at where she had found herself before overhearing her daughter reassure her. “And I realised that was the first time that lady, that middle-aged lady with a teenage girl, has had to do that, and she was ashamed”, Maya said.
Both speak to friends and family members in the United States and Canada. Daniel has one friend in Erbil, the capital of northern Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region, who has been able to talk to people in Iran for a few minutes every morning.
They have both heard unverified rumours, including militias patrolling the streets of Iran’s towns and authorities charging family members $3, 000 – the price, they allege, of a bullet – before allowing them to recover relatives ‘ bodies.
They have also heard of the the desire of Reza Pahlavi – the son of Iran’s last shah who was toppled by the Islamic revolution of 1979 – to return to Iran before dismissing the royal claimant as simply past rubbish that the country had already thrown away.
“Day and night are connected for us”, Maya said, describing how time loses all meaning in the absence of news from home.
Mornings no longer feel like the start of a new day so much as the continuation of the past night, she said. “It’s a continuous morning because you’re waiting for your parents, or you’re waiting for news because I don’t know what will happen”, she added.
Maya described the uncertainty as a permanent presence, like a looming deadline, that refuses to shift despite the temporary distractions of friends or socialising. “You might have the best ever meal, but you don’t enjoy it fully because in the back of your head, you’re worried about things”.
Daniel leaned forward, his voice breaking, “I stop everything, you know. … Every time I am on the phone and try to ring to Iran, and I try. … Life is up to me, and my job is going very, very badly. … Every time I’m unconscious that, yeah, when I sleep, I have a very, very bad dream, and yeah, everything is very bad”.
Neither Maya nor Daniel knows how things will pan out. Even if the government falls, the economic conditions would remain desperate. There are also too many factions, both domestic and international, interested in gaining power.
Current events are like a fever, Maya said.
Top seeds Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka have entered the second round of the Australian Open despite some early scares as the main draw of the first tennis Grand Slam of 2026 got under way in Melbourne.
Alcaraz was pushed in the second round by home qualifier Adam Walton despite a straight-sets win for the world number one on Sunday.
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The Spaniard won 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 in two hours and five minutes to launch his quest for his maiden Australian Open title, which would help him complete a career Grand Slam.
The reigning French and US Open champion hit eight aces and 38 winners to set up a second-round clash with Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann.
But he also made 36 unforced errors, more than his 81st-ranked opponent.
He has not made it past the quarterfinals in four trips to Australia, losing at that stage last year to Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev the year before.
Should he snap his Australia drought, Alcaraz would become the youngest man to bank a career Grand Slam, surpassing retired compatriot Rafael Nadal, who secured all four majors by the age of 24.
He would also be the youngest man in the Open era to win seven Grand Slams since Bjorn Borg, aged 23.
Meanwhile, an error-strewn Sabalenka made a stodgy start to her title charge in a 6-4, 6-1 win over French wildcard Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah.
The world number one, who is chasing a third Melbourne crown in four years, faces Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia or Chinese qualifier Bai Zhuoxuan next.
“I did not start my best, but she was playing great, it was a tricky start”, said Sabalenka, who lost last year’s final.
The 27-year-old Belarusian, fresh from winning the season-opening Brisbane International, made a sloppy start in losing the first three points of the match when serving.
In front of the watching Roger Federer, Sabalenka clawed back to deuce but then misfired again to fall a game down in front of a shocked Rod Laver Arena.
Sabalenka, who is favourite to add a fifth Grand Slam title to her career haul, pulled back level, but if she expected the spirited world number 118 to melt away, it did not immediately happen.
The reigning US Open champion offered an apology to her underdog opponent at 4-4 when she unleashed a forehand into the 20-year-old’s head.
Sabalenka’s error count was rising, but she finally broke Rajaonah’s resistance to claim the first set, then eased home in the second.
“I was super-happy I found my level”, said Sabalenka, who was guilty of 13 unforced errors in the first set.
“It is always tricky playing someone young, someone you don’t know, and a lefty]left-hander]”.
Earlier, Zverev, last year’s runner-up to Jannik Sinner, shrugged off a sluggish start to beat Gabriel Diallo 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 in the afternoon match to enter the second round for the 10th straight year.
“Definitely, when I saw the draw, wasn’t too happy to be honest”, he said of the tricky challenge presented by 41-ranked Diallo. “He’s very young, very talented. Unbelievably aggressive.
” First set wasn’t my best tennis, I would say. It got a lot better after that for me. “
Seventh-seeded Jasmine Paolini beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-1, 6-2, and number 12 Elina Svitolina and Maria Sakkari also advanced in straight sets.
Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova withdrew because of a shoulder injury before her scheduled first-round match, giving a place in the main draw to Taylor Townsend, the lucky loser from qualifying, to take on Hailey Baptiste, who won , 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-3.
Frances Tiafoe overpowered Jason Kubler 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-2, and Michael Zheng fended off Sebastian Korda 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (0), 6-3 in an all-American first-round match on Kia Arena.
Zheng will next face number 32 Corentin Moutet, who was booed after his underarm serve on match point in a 6-4, 7-6 (1), 6-3 win over Tristan Schoolkate.
Number 20 Flavio Cobolli became the first of the seeded men’s players to exit the tournament in a 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-1 loss to British qualifier Arthur Fery.
In another eagerly-awaited match, former champion Venus Williams was unable to progress after being handed a wildcard by the tournament organisers.
Olga Danilovic beat Williams 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4 after the Serbian fought back from 4-0 down in the deciding set to knock the American veteran out.
Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion who returned to tennis last season after a 16-month break, became the oldest woman ever to compete in the singles main draw on her return to the tournament after five years.
