President Ahmed al-Shara of Syria will visit Washington this month for the first time since he came to power, another step in the transformation of the former rebel leader once wanted by the United States as a terrorist with a $10 million bounty on his head.

By Timour Azhari DAMASCUS (Reuters) -"I didn't know the salaries the government pays were this high!" Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa joked after more than 100 loyalists arrived at his former rebel base,

The U_S_'s special envoy for Syria has called Lebanon “a failed state,” highlighting frustration with Beirut’s “paralyzed government.”.

At America’s urging, Israel and Turkey have found an uneasy balance, each hoping the other will avoid its red lines. A Turkish base in Damascus would cross Israel’s, says Omer Ozkizilcik, an analyst at the Atlantic Council, a think-tank. An Israeli intervention in support of Syria’s Kurdish insurgents would cross Turkey’s.

Syrian President Ahmad Sharaa said his country has opened up to the world and attracted investments worth $28 billion since Bashar Assad was toppled in December.

More than 400,000 Syrians have been displaced in the year since the civil war ended, according to the United Nations, driven by a mix of sectarian violence, acts of revenge and property disputes.

Attacks by the militant group are up as it exploits a reduced American presence and the collapse of the Assad regime. “They have returned to our city.”

The head of the Syriac Catholic Church in central Syria has warned that Christianity is disappearing from the country Speaking in Rome, the archbishop said the Church is dying and called for urgent

The Druze minority in Syria's Idlib province is reeling from a targeted shooting that killed three community members

The recognition comes as the transitional president al-Sharaa welcomed the German foreign minister to Damascus. Kosovo has also been connecting with Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region.