Damascus Governor Maher Marwan said road resurfacing campaigns across the capital will begin soon. He also revealed plans for a 2-km tunnel linking western and eastern Damascus, with negotiations underway with companies and an estimated cost of $35 million.

He added that relocating some government complexes to the city’s outskirts is being studied to ease traffic congestion.

Local sources reported that Israeli forces opened fire on a shepherd and his flock in Ruwayhinah village in central Quneitra countryside, killing more than 15 sheep. In a separate incident, Israeli forces reportedly detained a young man from the same village.

🔴 Several Syrian workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike on an orchard in the town of Abbassiyeh in the Tyre district, Lebanon.

Source: NNA

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Israeli strikes in Syria are creating a “major problem area” and pose a serious risk to Turkey’s security, with Syria remaining at the centre of regional tensions.

He also warned that Israel has so far been constrained by the Iran conflict but may act more freely once conditions allow.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The Paris criminal court on Monday convicted French cement company Lafarge and eight of its former executives of financing terrorism after determining that the firm had paid around 5.6 million euros to three jihadist groups, primarily ISIS, to keep its factory operating in Syria from 2013 to 2014.

The court ruled that these payments helped prepare terrorist attacks, including the January 2015 attacks in France. Former chief executive Bruno Lafont was given a six-year prison sentence, while the other former executives received terms ranging from 18 months to seven years.

Syria Continues Struggle to Trace Fate of Missing Thousands

Read article here:https://levant24.com/news/2026/04/syria-continues-struggle-to-trace-fate-of-missing-thousands/

Turkey's Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said the country has opened a 350-kilometer railway line along the Syrian border to train traffic after upgrading its infrastructure to make it more robust rather than merely resuming operations.

𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Central Bank Governor Abdulkader Husrieh speaking during a panel hosted by the Middle East Institute, moderated by the British analyst Charles Lister:

📌 From day one, we focused on rebuilding international engagement and opening channels with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for technical cooperation.

📌 We introduced a new currency to clearly define the monetary base and manage monetary policy on verified, real data.

📌 In a bold step, we required banks to fully provision around 1.7 billion US dollars in exposure to Lebanese banks and non-performing loans (Stage 3).

📌 This allowed us to move forward after six months into a second wave of banking and financial sector reforms.

📌 We also advanced modernization of the payment system through partnerships with Mastercard and Visa.

𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗚𝗮𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆-𝗟𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵

Syrian Finance Minister Mohammed Yisr Barnieh addressing mistrust between the government and the Syrian people:

📌 We are facing a huge trust gap, rooted in a long history where the Ministry of Finance was often perceived as acting in a way that harassed the business community rather than supported it.

📌 From my side, I chose not to wait, but to take the initiative in building trust gradually through engagement and consultation with all stakeholders around the table.

📌 Even when drafting the tax system, it was done in coordination with the Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Industry as a shared process.

📌 When colleagues raised concerns about transparency and advised against publishing, I insisted on full disclosure, including publishing the budget and all related information.

📌 Full transparency is our principle, and we will remain accountable for everything we do, because trust is built through openness and responsibility.