Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam whose members make up one of Syria's biggest religious minorities. Alawites controlled power in the predominantly Sunni Muslim country for the 50 years of the Assad family's rule,

Amid the end of the nearly 14 years of civil war in Syria, Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is set to rekindle a new war in northern Syria against America’s main ally, the Syrian Kurds.

It is at night that the past comes back to haunt Don McCullin, 90 next year, one of Britain’s greatest living photographers. Inside his head are the ghosts of two decades of war, and what he calls a lifetime of shame after growing up among the violent,

Syria’s leadership isn’t the only aspect of the country to be changing as a result of this month’s toppling of longtime dictator, Bashar al-Assad. The blurring of its borders is also underway — from Israel to the southwest and Turkey to the north.

As those in the lucrative Captagon network move aside, how will the new leaders stop any criminals waiting in the wings to replace them?

Following the fall of Assad's regime, tensions across the Middle East have continued to remain high prompting concerns from countries in the area.

Will he walk the walk and not just talk the talk? And if he doesn’t win in the elections, will he peacefully stand aside for whoever does win?” one analyst said.

The Pentagon announced the US currently has “approximately 2,000” troops in Syria, more than double the previously disclosed number of 900, a Defense Department spokesperson said at a press briefing on Thursday.

A Pentagon spokesman said the increase was unrelated to the fall of President Bashar al-Assad to rebel forces in early December.

Years of strife ruined the energy sector, battered the currency and strangled growth. The West must ease financial controls to help the economy, experts say.