President Bashar al-Assad met with the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and the Emir of Dubai, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, his first visit to an Arab state since the outbreak of war in Syria on 15 March 2011

An offensive by Syrian armed groups that started in Idlib province in the north of the country prompted other groups and individual civilians to rebel against Bashar al Assad's dictatorship, toppling it in just 11 days

The city of Palmyra was bombed by Israel, most likely to hit positions of pro-Iranian militias in the area, reported the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an independent international organisation, among other sources

Over 500 testimonies collected by dozens of journalists, filmmakers and human rights activists in Syria and Iraq are now part of an online archive called the Daesh Prison Museum

Hezbollah is continuing to reduce its presence in Syria by bringing back to Lebanon its fighters who had supported the Syrian regime