Syria

(Reuters) --- At the entrance to Bab Tadmor, a neighbourhood of Homs that was once a rebel stronghold, an election billboard showing a smiling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hangs down the side of a bombed out building.

Homs, 160 kilometres (100 miles) north of Damascus, suffered severe damage during Syria's ten years of war. The city centre and several neighbourhoods were almost entirely destroyed after years of air strikes and barrel bombs, and still lie in ruin and deserted.

"We say yes to Bashar", the poster reads.

SHADDADI, Syria (AP) — The Iraqi government for the first time is expected to bring home about 100 Iraqi families from a sprawling camp in Syria next week, a move that U.S. officials see as a hopeful sign in a long-frustrated effort to repatriate thousands from the camp, known as a breeding ground for young insurgents.

DAMASCUS, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Syrians in a number of foreign countries began casting their ballots for the Syrian presidential elections Thursday ahead of next week's vote inside the country, state news agency SANA reported.

As scheduled, the Syrians abroad started voting for the presidential elections in the embassies and consulates of Syria in some Arab and other countries, while Syrians inside the home country are set to vote on May 26.

DAMASCUS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The head of the Higher Constitutional Court Jihad al-Laham announced Monday that the approved presidential candidates can start their election campaigns as of May 16.

Speaking to reporters, al-Laham said the campaigns will start on May 16 until May 24.

"The court reminds the accepted candidates that it's their right now to start their presidential campaigns starting from Sunday, May 16, 2021, until Monday, May 24, 2021," al-Laham said.

DAMASCUS, May 7 (NNN-SANA) – One civilian was killed and six others wounded, when Israeli missiles hit several military sites in Syria’s north-western coastal city of Latakia.

The attack, which took place before daybreak, prompted the Syrian air defences to respond, destroying some of the missiles, according to the report.

A child and his mother were wounded as one of the missiles hit a plastic factory, the report said.

DAMASCUS, May 5 (Xinhua) -- One civilian was killed and six others wounded when Israeli missiles hit several military sites in Syria's northwestern coastal city of Latakia on Wednesday, state news agency SANA reported.

The attack, which took place before daybreak, prompted the Syrian air defenses to respond, destroying some of the missiles, according to the report.

A child and his mother were wounded as one of the missiles hit a plastic factory, the report said.

The attack was the latest by Israeli military, targeting militias and military sites in Syria.

02 May 2021; MEMO: The UN on Thursday sent 65 truckloads of humanitarian aid to Syria's northwestern Idlib province, Anadolu Agency reported.

The trucks crossed into Idlib through the Cilvegozu border gate in Turkey's southern Hatay province, according to UN officials in the province.

People in need residing in Idlib and its surrounding areas will receive the relief materials.

IDLIB, Syria (AP) — A COVID-19 vaccine campaign kicked off in Syria’s last rebel-held enclave on Saturday, with a 45-year-old front-line nurse becoming the first to receive a U.N.-secured jab.

Nizar Fattouh, a nurse in Ibn Sina Hospital in Idlib city, received one of 53,800 AstraZeneca vaccines delivered to northwest Syria through Turkey on April 21.

The vaccines come amid a new surge of infections in the war-torn country. Syria’s supplies of oxygen are depleted and its hospitals were already overwhelmed from 10 years of conflict and deteriorating health care services.

DAMASCUS, Apr 30 (NNN-SANA) – The Syrian parliament completed yesterday, voting for candidates for the upcoming presidential elections.

A total of 51 people, including Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, submitted applications to parliament, over the past 10 days.

Remarkably, seven women submitted applications, marking the first time women in Syria running for the presidential elections.

Candidates qualified to entre the election need to win 35 votes from the parliament lawmakers.

25 Apr 2021; MEMO: Syria's oil ministry said firefighters on Saturday put out a fire on an oil tanker off the Baniyas refinery after a suspected attack by a drone coming from the direction of Lebanese waters, Reuters reports.

The identity of the vessel was unclear, with Iran's al-Alam TV saying it was one of three Iranian oil tankers that had recently arrived at the Syrian oil terminal, while the semi-official news agency Tasnim denied it was Iranian.