Last week, Stephen Doughty HC MP announced the UK is reviewing Syria sanctions. Which sanctions block Syrian recovery? UK regulations block relationships between UK financial institutions and Syrian financial institutions. UK sanctions ban export of electricity production technology…

… UK sanctions block trade in military and dual-use items, but there are also sanctions blocking trade in non-military areas that can hobble economic recovery: on oil and petroleum products, goods and tech relating to oil and gas, aviation fuel, Syrian bank notes, luxury goods…

… And transport sanctions block Syrian Arab Airlines from landing in the UK, as well as any air cargo aircraft owned, chartered, or operated by a person connected with Syria. Details: gov.uk/government/pub…

Transitional justice is very concted to social and economic recovery. Removing the sanctions and supporting civil society is the greatest guarantee for the success of the political transition My message in the meeting with the Syrian and French Foreign Minister الخارجية الفرنسية 🇫🇷 🇪🇺

If Barack Obama had stopped #Russia & #Iran, rather than sucking up to them both, #Syria would still be standing rather than wrecked; with no #refugees dispersed from it in #Europe; no #far_right; no #Brexit, no #Putin invasion of #Ukraine or mass murder of its people. #Obama

SNHR report “summary executions” of at least 125 civilians by govt forces In Baniyas, some 50 civilians were killed, most from medical families in the predominantly Alawite Qusour neighbourhood, “systematically executed in their homes.” Syrian Network The New Arab newarab.com/news/least-125…

Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has promised that sectarian violence will not be tolerated. This wave of violence has prompted groups like SNHR to call for an independent investigation and the prosecution of those found to be carrying them out. newarab.com/news/least-125…

Syrian Network for Human Rights director, Fadel Abdul Ghany, says one of the reasons for violations is inadequate training of the new security personnel, who typically undergo only brief courses in matters such as the rights of civilians and human rights. newarab.com/news/least-125…

Russia has calculated that sustaining its military bases in Syria comes with a significant cost. To create grounds for their continued presence, it has employed a strategy of "military soft power." Recently, during discussions with the Syrian leadership, Russia faced demands

REVEALED: Russia's use of non-existing journalists/experts in francophone Africa as part of an influence campaign. In 'Africa's Ghost Reporters', we reveal a campaign that has impacted over a dozen francophone countries, with more than 200 articles published in local media. 🧵

The slow torture of sanctions While the US and EU have been slow to lift sectoral sanctions on Syria, the UK has been even slower. We talk to Eyad Hamid of SLDP and Vittorio Maresca of Karam Shaar Advisory Limited. syrianotes.org/2025/03/the-sl…

Syria’s health system is on the brink Eleanor Nott on how sanctions are impacting healthcare. syrianotes.org/2025/03/health…

A critical moment for Syrian media Camilla Bruun Randrup of IMS on the challenges for independent news media Syria Notes syrianotes.org/2025/05/a-crit…

A freedom with rules After the unspoken red lines of the Assad era, journalism in today’s Syria needs some clear rules, Yara Bader of Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression argues. Syria Notes syrianotes.org/2025/05/a-free…

Rumours and lies We talk to Ahmad Primo of Verify Syria تَأكّدْ EN — an organisation dedicated to fact-checking stories from Syria. Syria Notes syrianotes.org/2025/05/rumour…

Enab Baladi newspaper was born in the revolution’s first year. “We used to distribute pamphlets on what citizenship is, what democracy is,” Kholoud remembers. “We gathered the same group of activists around the idea, what about having our own newspaper?” syrianotes.org/2025/05/the-gr…

Syria Notes no. 30 In this issue, our first of this new era, we take an in-depth look at two topics central to the country’s future: economic sanctions, and challenges faced by independent news media. @syrianotes syrianotes.org/2025/05/freedo…

Find details on everything we’ve ever published on a single page. syrianotes.org/2018/05/syria-…

Ukrainian civil society transformed the nation in 2014 and held it together in 2022. Now it faces another test, under horrific wartime conditions...

Heard that Google Gemini was pretty good, so I asked it a question about a local news story from 15 years ago and instead of finding the existing article on Google it fabricated a new one, even offering a fake URL to the fake news page and it insisted the website was real.