Education minister says government assisted in evacuation of thousands of students from opposition-held areas in order to ensure students could attend exams, state media reports
Property brokers are helping Shiite families from other regions of Syria and Lebanon establish a greater presence in areas of the capital, Iqtissad writes
Brigadier general and captain among dozens of government forces from the coastal city killed in fighting last month, opposition website reports
Official claims regular patrols are being carried out to address the issue of stray animals and rodent infestations, after reports a dog had bitten 18 people in the capital, loyalist newspaper writes
Local authorities in the Damascus countryside have begun a project to purify water after farmers began using sewage to irrigate crops, Souriatna explains
Infighting between Islamist rebel groups in the countryside of Damascus drags on as Assad forces capitalize on the weakening of opposition fronts to make further gains, opposition outlet Enab Baladi writes
Imad Khamis salutes Syrian workers and armed forces during Workers’ Day celebrations in the capital and its countryside, government media reports
The revival of community bakeries has helped create an affordable alternative as food prices soar in the Damascus countryside, offering otherwise unemployed young men a means of income in the rebel-held districts, Iqtissad writes
Human rights monitoring groups publish joint report as a response to the use of toxic weapons in Khan Sheikhoun earlier this month, in which teams documented evidence of sarin gas exposure and the deaths of at least 103 people
Head of the Sham Higher Institute tells audience in Damascus that Syria is confronting a global aggression whose key tool is to distort religious discourse without understanding, loyalist outlet Al-Watan reports
Loyalist newspaper Al-Watan quotes judicial source as saying crime in the capital and its environs is down, despite small-scale robberies in a number of districts including some cases involving women perpetrators
Opposition website reports that rebels remain in control of a number of surrounding villages despite pulling out of Halfaya following heavy clashes throughout the northern countryside for the past week
The Fatih district has become a de facto home to thousands of Syrians looking to start a new life in the Turkish city, with the suburb offering many sights, flavors and sounds that visitors can often find in different parts of Syria, opposition website Zaman al-Wasl writes
Human rights watchdog calls for the release of Palestinian detainees, including women with children, from regime prisons, as group releases report claiming 461 prisoners have been executed or killed under torture since 2011, opposition website writes
Syria’s deputy foreign minister shifts guilt for attack following flood of global condemnation, claiming Damascus had alerted monitoring bodies of plans by terror groups to transport chemical weapons into Syria as recently as weeks ago, government media outlet reports
Communities of displaced families from all over Syria are welcomed to Idleb, where the fusion of life, foods and traditions from all provinces has merged to create a stable microcosm of Syrian life, Sada al-Sham writes
Residents injured in different attacks after militants shell the capital’s central districts, including the landmark Umayyad Square and Mezze 86 district, with shells earlier falling in the Al-Qeimariyeh district of the Old City, government media reports
Dozens of regime forces are killed and wounded in a botched campaign to storm the industrial district in the capital’s northeast, while the WHO warns ‘time is running out’ as health situation deteriorates in the Eastern Ghouta, opposition media outlet reports
SANA correspondent says government forces successfully thwarted offensive by jihadist rebels in the western Qalamoun, while reports emerge of militants being killed in army operations in Hama, Homs and Deir-ez-Zor
Rebel commander claims opposition has succeeded in wearing down ISIS forces in Syria’s western desert areas and mountain ranges, following a number of campaigns involving key FSA and armed Islamist groups, a Lebanese newspaper reports
