Books recounting torture in Syrian prisons or texts on radical Islamic theology now sit openly in Damascus bookstores, no longer traded in secret after iron-fisted ruler Bashar al-Assad's ouster. Mustafa al-Kani,

With Vice President J.D. Vance visiting Damascus on Monday, WDBJ7 checked in with people living in the town to learn more about the community’s ongoing recovery after the town was devastated by Hurricane Helene in late September.

Vice President JD Vance will return to Washington County on Monday to review progress in the town of Damascus after the devastating September flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Helene. "The American people should expect more of their government," Vance said in an interview broadcast Sunday on the CBS program "Face the Nation."

It is becoming apparent that negotiations between the new leadership in Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) face significant obstacles due to disagreements over military structure and administrative demands.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud will visit Damascus on Friday and meet with top officials in the new Syrian administration, a Syrian official said on Thursday.

Vice President JD Vance and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin spoke with reporters after a roundtable on Helene recovery on Monday afternoon.

Officials say that Turkish Airlines will resume its flights to Damascus, Syria, next week after a halt of more than a decade.

A train station in Damascus was once the pride of the Syrian capital, an essential link between Europe and the Arabian Peninsula during the Ottoman Empire and then a national transit hub.

Vice President JD Vance returned to Damascus Monday afternoon and said the town’s progress in recovering from last September’s Hurricane Helene damage is being hindered by slow federal bureaucracy.

Bloomfield Hills internal medicine physician Amjad Rass was excited to reunite with family in Syria last month for the first time since the country fell into a civil war more than a decade ago.

In his first official trip since becoming Vice President, JD Vance was in our region to tour the leftover damage from Hurricane Helene.