Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest 2026: Joey Chestnut Reclaims the Spotlight on America’s Biggest Eating Stage

 

• A Syrian military source has told Al Jazeera that the army has commenced concentrated artillery strikes targeting Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) positions inside the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh districts in Aleppo.
• State news agency SANA has reported that the SDF targeted the al-Midan neighbourhood in Aleppo with artillery and mortar shells.
• Health officials say five civilians have been killed and 33 injured by SDF attacks in Aleppo city.
• The SDF media office says Syrian government forces have continued, for the third day in a row, to bombard residential neighbourhoods in the Ashrafieh district with artillery and tanks.
• 20 Updates
  
• 4m ago

   (15:15 GMT)

  Thousands take shelter amid ‘lots of bombing’

  Georgette Lulu is among about 100 people taking shelter at the St Ephrem Syriac Orthodox Church in Aleppo city amid ongoing clashes in Aleppo.

  “There was a lot of bombing and loud noises and a shell landed next to our house,” she said. “I’ve been through these circumstances a lot, so I don’t get frightened, but my niece was really afraid, so we had to come to the church.”

  Hassan Nader, a representative of the Ministry of Social Affairs in Aleppo, said about 4,000 people were staying in shelters in the city while tens of thousands had gone to other areas of the province.
• 19m ago

   (15:00 GMT)

  WATCH: Al Jazeera reporter takes cover as shots ring out in Aleppo

  Fighting between Syrian government troops and the SDF continues in Aleppo.

  Watch the moment that our correspondent, Resul Serdar, was reporting live as shots rang out nearby:

• 30m ago

   (14:50 GMT)

  EU urges ‘restraint’ after clashes in Aleppo

  The EU has voiced “great concern” over the fighting in Aleppo, spokesperson Anouar el-Anouni said.

  “We call on all sides to exercise restraint, protect civilians and seek a peaceful and diplomatic solution,” he added.

  EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa are set for a visit to Damascus for talks with the country’s leadership.

• 40m ago

   (14:40 GMT)
  

  What is the Syrian Democratic Forces?

  • The SDF is a Kurdish-led alliance founded in 2015, nearly four years after a rebellion erupted against former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
  • The SDF is supported by the US and controls key areas of eastern Syria, including oilfields.
  • Led by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units and Arab fighters, the SDF dismantled the final stronghold of ISIL (ISIS) in Raqqa, a city in eastern Syria, in 2017.
  • Almost 900 US soldiers are stationed in their territory to help prevent a resurgence of ISIL.
  • Turkiye considers the SDF a “terrorist organisation” because of its association with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a decades-long conflict on its soil, although a peace process is now under way.
  • The Syrian government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa inked a deal in March with the SDF, which would have seen its forces merge with the Syrian army by the end of 2025, but there have been disagreements over how it should happen.

  SDF fighters stand guard in Raqqa, Syria [File: Baderkhan Ahmad/AP]
• 52m ago

   (14:30 GMT)
  

  WATCH: Why Syria’s stalled SDF integration could reshape the country’s future

  
  
• 
  
  
  1h ago

   (14:20 GMT)

  

  Until Kurds feel their rights are protected, they will have ‘reservations about integrating’

  The Kurdish perspective on the latest events is that it is a “tragic return to conflict”, Meghan Bodette, the director of research at the Kurdish Peace Institute, has told Al Jazeera.

  She said it marks a “political failure in Syria” to move past the concept of a highly centralised Arab Sunni Muslim-dominated state and to move towards a more ethnically and religiously pluralist and decentralised mode of governance and security.

  “Until the Kurds feel as though their rights and existence will be protected in the new state, they have many reservations about integrating and fear of the presence of government forces in their regions,” she said.

  “Those disagreements have led to the non-implementation of political agreements that have been made, and unfortunately have devolved into conflict.”

• 
  

• 1h ago

   (14:10 GMT)

  Civilians worried fighting will be ‘bloody’

  

  By Ayman Oghanna

  Reporting from Damascus, Syria

  The government and the SDF are blaming each other for starting the violence and escalating it.

  The government has declared certain areas a controlled military zone, saying civilians had to leave and should avoid SDF positions, which it regards as legitimate targets.

  But speaking to civilians in Damascus and across the country, many say they want a peaceful solution.

  Syrians are exhausted after 14 years of war, which has killed an estimated 600,000 people, left around 100,000 missing and displaced some 14 million others, both internally and abroad.

  Despite widespread hopes for peace, there is still a degree of resentment between some of the sides involved. People here are worried that it will be bloody and are looking for a peaceful solution.

• 1h ago

   (14:00 GMT)
  

  Clashes in Idlib raise fears of regional escalation and snowballing conflict

  Speaking to Al Jazeera from Idlib, academic and researcher Kamal Abdo said the clashes were taking place in densely populated neighbourhoods, necessitating the use of precision weaponry and forces trained in urban warfare to minimise civilian casualties.

  Abdo also highlighted the grave risk of regional escalation, noting that Israel’s FM Gideon Saar had already intervened by claiming Kurds were facing persecution, prompting immediate counter-statements from Turkiye.

  The analyst said he feared the localised conflict in Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh could have a “snowball effect”, potentially taking over the entire region if observing regional powers decided to intervene.

  Abdo argues the Syrian government had “no luxury of choice” and was forced into the military option after the SDF failed to implement previous agreements signed earlier.

• 1h ago

   (13:54 GMT)
  

  Death toll rises in Aleppo fighting

  At least 15 people have been killed in the fighting taking place in Aleppo neighbourhoods.

  The Aleppo Health Directorate has said seven civilians have been killed and 52 injured by SDF attacks.

• 1h ago

   (13:50 GMT)
  

  Can Syria be unified?

  

  ByMarwan Kabalan

  In recent days, leaked recordings and documents have provided the rough outline of a conspiracy to launch an insurgency in the Alawite-dominated coastal region of Syria.

  Behind the plan are a number of high-level officials of the former regime of Bashar al-Assad living in exile.

  The leaks reveal the recruitment of fighters within the Alawite community, the movement and storage of weapons, and the transfer of payments to their families.

  Concerns are now growing that minority-dominated regions may be carved out, undermining the establishment of a strong Syrian state or even violating the territorial integrity of the country. Such a development, however, is not inevitable.

  Read more of this opinion piece here.

• 1h ago

   (13:40 GMT)

  More than 100,000 civilians flee Aleppo neighbourhoods

  The director of the media department in Aleppo has told Al Jazeera that more than 100,000 civilians have left the Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhoods due to the ongoing fighting.

• 
       Civilians carry their bags and belongings as they flee clashes between the Syrian army and the             SDF in Aleppo, Syria, on January 8, 2026 [Mahmoud Hassano/Reuters]
  
  2h ago

   (13:30 GMT)

  Turkiye says it will help Syria’s government if asked

  Turkiye’s military is ready to “support” Syria in its battle with SDF fighters if Damascus asks for help, a defence ministry official has said.

  “Turkiye supports Syria’s fight against terrorist organisations,” the official, who has not been named, told reporters, saying Ankara was “closely monitoring” developments in the north.

  “Should Syria request assistance, Turkiye will provide the necessary support,” he said, echoing a longstanding offer by Ankara to extend military support to its allies in Damascus’s new government.

• 2h ago

   (13:20 GMT)

  Fierce fighting erupts in Aleppo neighbourhoods

  

  ByResul Serdar Atas

  Reporting from Aleppo, Syria

  Heavy shelling is under way as government forces begin striking the areas they had earlier declared as targets.

  These may be the most fierce clashes seen so far. For the first time, large numbers of troops are moving into the central parts of the Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhoods.

  Government officials are telling us that roughly two-thirds of civilians have left the areas where the fighting is taking place.

  However, they estimate that more than 100,000 people remain trapped. The SDF is also releasing videos of the heavy clashes. In some of the footage that has emerged, civilians can be seen wounded on the streets.

  Government sources say there are no direct negotiations between the SDF and the Syrian government.

  They say, however, that Turkish and US delegations are attempting to mediate between the two sides to de-escalate the situation.

• 2h ago

   (13:10 GMT)

  Photos: Civilians fleeing Aleppo amid intensified fighting

• 
  2h ago

   (13:00 GMT)
  

  University, hospital targeted as fighting intensifies

  We’re getting reports from state media that the SDF has targeted student housing at the University of Aleppo with artillery shells.

  The report added that a doctor at al-Razi Hospital was injured when the medical facility was targeted.

  2h ago

   (12:45 GMT)

  WATCH: Fighting between Syrian army, SDF intensifies as thousands flee Aleppo

• 
  
  
  2h ago

   (12:42 GMT)

  

  SDF says it downed two drones

  The SDF media office is reporting that two drones have been downed, with “violent clashes” taking place in the city of Aleppo.

3h ago

 (12:35 GMT)

Ambulance targeted by SDF forces in Aleppo neighbourhood: Report

SANA news agency, quoting the Syrian Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management, is reporting that the SDF fighters targeted a Syrian Civil Defence ambulance with sniper fire.

The ambulance was near one of the evacuation and crossing points for civilians and the attack resulted in minor injuries to a female param3h ago

 (12:32 GMT)

A recap of recent developments

• Clashes have renewed in the northern city of Aleppo between the Syrian army and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) for a third day.
• A Syrian military source has told Al Jazeera the Syrian army has begun artillery bombardment of SDF positions in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh districts.
• Our colleagues on the ground report that ambulance teams have been forced to withdraw from Zouhour Street due to heavy mortar fire and sniper activity targeting the area, as civilians continue to flee.
• The SDF says its forces are engaged in heavy clashes with the Syrian army near the Syriac Quarter (Hayy al-Seryan).
• At least five civilians have been killed and 44 injured from SDF shelling of the city’s neighbourhoods, according to state media.
• The SDF has said that at least eight civilians were killed in the Kurdish-majority neighbourhoods.
• Read More....