The Latest Breaking News from SANA

The Arab League's welcoming back of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad into its ranks highlights how far behind Qatar has fallen in its bid to be a diplomatic voice that carries weight in the Middle East.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a pariah for more than a decade, is expected to steal the spotlight at Friday's Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia, where he will rub shoulders with regional leaders who once backed his war foes.

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers introduced a bill on Thursday intended to bar the American government from recognizing Bashar al-Assad as Syria's president and to enhance Washington's ability to impose sanctions - a warning to other countries normalizing relations with Assad.

Saudi Arabia will reopen its diplomatic mission in Syria, the Saudi foreign ministry said on Tuesday, nearly a decade after diplomatic ties were cut and two days after Syria was readmitted into the Arab League.

President Bashar al-Assad always saw time as an ally in Syria's civil war, alongside the Russian and Iranian firepower he turned on his foes, sources familiar with his thinking say.

The Arab League readmitted Syria on Sunday after more than a decade of suspension, consolidating a regional push to normalise ties with President Bashar al-Assad in a move criticised by Washington.

The presidents of Iran and Syria on Wednesday signed a long-term strategic cooperation agreement, including a memorandum of understanding on oil industry cooperation, the Syrian state news agency reported.

Israeli air strikes targeted the international airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo early Tuesday, killing one Syrian soldier and putting the airport out of commission, state media said.

The attack, which shut down the international airport, is believed to have killed at least one person and wounded more.

The European Union on Monday placed sanctions on people and groups linked to what it described as the Syrian government's "large-scale drug trafficking operations," and the EU also included one Russian company.

Syria's state media said Israel shelled targets in southern Syria early on Monday, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, causing unspecified material damage. There was no immediate comment from Israel. The report on the state SANA news agency said Israeli forces targeted the town of Talat Qars al-Nafl in Quneitra province…