Syria Announces 200 Percent Public Sector Wage, Pension Increase

FILE PHOTO: Bundles of Syrian currency notes are stacked up as an employee counts money at Syrian central bank, in Damascus,Syria, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Bundles of Syrian currency notes are stacked up as an employee counts money at Syrian central bank, in Damascus,Syria, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi/File Photo
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Syria Announces 200 Percent Public Sector Wage, Pension Increase

FILE PHOTO: Bundles of Syrian currency notes are stacked up as an employee counts money at Syrian central bank, in Damascus,Syria, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Bundles of Syrian currency notes are stacked up as an employee counts money at Syrian central bank, in Damascus,Syria, January 12, 2025. REUTERS/Firas Makdesi/File Photo

Syria announced on Sunday a 200 percent hike in public sector wages and pensions, as it seeks to address a grinding economic crisis after the recent easing of international sanctions.

Over a decade of civil war has taken a heavy toll on Syria's economy, with the United Nations reporting more than 90 percent of its people live in poverty.

In a decree published by state media, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued a "200 percent increase to salaries and wages... for all civilian and military workers in public ministries, departments and institutions.”

Under the decree, the minimum wage for government employees was raised to 750,000 Syrian pounds per month, or around $75, up from around $25, AFP reported.

A separate decree granted the same 200 percent increase to retirement pensions included under current social insurance legislation.

Last month, the United States and European Union announced they would lift economic sanctions in a bid to help the country's recovery.

Also in May, Syria's Finance Minister Mohammed Barnieh said Qatar would help it pay some public sector salaries.

The extendable arrangement was for $29 million a month for three months, and would cover "wages in the health, education and social affairs sectors and non-military" pensions, he had said.

Barnieh had said the grant would be managed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and covered around a fifth of current wages and salaries.

Syria has some 1.25 million public sector workers, according to official figures.



Palestinians Say Israeli Settlers Kill Man in Raid on Village

A damaged car in the Wadi Al-Lubban Al-Shamali area, south of Nablus, 06 April 2026. Israeli settlers burned a house, two tents, and three vehicles, and assaulted Palestinians in the town of Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya earlier in the day. (EPA)
A damaged car in the Wadi Al-Lubban Al-Shamali area, south of Nablus, 06 April 2026. Israeli settlers burned a house, two tents, and three vehicles, and assaulted Palestinians in the town of Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya earlier in the day. (EPA)
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Palestinians Say Israeli Settlers Kill Man in Raid on Village

A damaged car in the Wadi Al-Lubban Al-Shamali area, south of Nablus, 06 April 2026. Israeli settlers burned a house, two tents, and three vehicles, and assaulted Palestinians in the town of Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya earlier in the day. (EPA)
A damaged car in the Wadi Al-Lubban Al-Shamali area, south of Nablus, 06 April 2026. Israeli settlers burned a house, two tents, and three vehicles, and assaulted Palestinians in the town of Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya earlier in the day. (EPA)

The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli settlers shot dead a Palestinian man in the West Bank on Saturday, in the latest deadly attack on the occupied territory.

Ali Majed Hamadneh, 23, died after settlers opened fire during a raid on the village of Deir Jarir, northeast of Ramallah, the ministry said.

"He was brought to the Palestine Medical Complex in a critical condition" and later succumbed to his wounds, the ministry said on Telegram.

Palestinian official news agency Wafa also reported the incident.

"Armed colonists, under the protection of Israeli forces, attacked Deir Jarir from its western entrance and opened fire toward residents in the area," Wafa reported.

There was no immediate response from the Israeli police or military.

Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has risen sharply since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war.

There has also been a spike in deadly attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank since the start of the Iran war on February 28, Palestinian authorities and the United Nations have said.

Prior to Saturday's attack, at least six Palestinians were killed since then in settler attacks, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures.

Settler assaults on Palestinians have persisted for years, often to the indifference of mainstream Israeli society.

But the recent surge has prompted criticism from influential rabbis, settler leaders, and even Israel's military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, who called the attacks "morally and ethically unacceptable".


Iraqi Parliament Elects Nizar Amedi as Country’s New President

 The entrance of the Iraqi parliament building during a parliamentary session in Baghdad, Iraq, April 11, 2026. (Reuters)
The entrance of the Iraqi parliament building during a parliamentary session in Baghdad, Iraq, April 11, 2026. (Reuters)
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Iraqi Parliament Elects Nizar Amedi as Country’s New President

 The entrance of the Iraqi parliament building during a parliamentary session in Baghdad, Iraq, April 11, 2026. (Reuters)
The entrance of the Iraqi parliament building during a parliamentary session in Baghdad, Iraq, April 11, 2026. (Reuters)

The Iraqi parliament on Saturday elected Kurdish politician Nizar Amedi as the country's new president, a largely ceremonial role, following a parliamentary election last November.

Amedi, 58, is a former environment minister and has headed the political office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Baghdad since 2024.

Iraq is now ‌due to ‌choose a prime minister, ‌a closely-watched ⁠and sensitive pick.

US ⁠President Donald Trump threatened in January to withdraw Washington's support for Iraq, a major oil producer, if former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was designated to form a cabinet.

The pro-Iran Coordination Framework coalition that holds a parliamentary majority has ‌nominated Iran-backed Maliki, alarming Washington, which along ‌with Israel waged a six-week war with ‌Iran until a ceasefire was announced on Tuesday.

Senior US and Iranian officials were meeting in Islamabad on Saturday in ‌the highest-level talks between Washington and Tehran in half a century ⁠in ⁠an effort to end the war.

In Iraq, which has long trodden a tightrope between Iran and the US, its closest allies, the prime minister wields significant power.

Under Iraq's sectarian power-sharing system, the prime minister must be a Shiite, the parliamentary speaker a Sunni, and the president a Kurd.


Syria Says Busts Hezbollah-Linked Cell Planning Attack on ‘Religious Figure’

This handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on March 8, 2025, shows Syrian forces manning a checkpoint in the coastal city of Latakia. (SANA/AFP)
This handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on March 8, 2025, shows Syrian forces manning a checkpoint in the coastal city of Latakia. (SANA/AFP)
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Syria Says Busts Hezbollah-Linked Cell Planning Attack on ‘Religious Figure’

This handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on March 8, 2025, shows Syrian forces manning a checkpoint in the coastal city of Latakia. (SANA/AFP)
This handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on March 8, 2025, shows Syrian forces manning a checkpoint in the coastal city of Latakia. (SANA/AFP)

Syria's interior ministry said Saturday that five people had been arrested over a plot to attack an unidentified religious figure in Damascus, alleging the cell was linked to the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

In a statement, the ministry said security forces observed a woman as she attempted to "plant an explosive device in front of the house of a religious figure" near a church in Damascus's Bab Touma area.

Security forces intervened and dismantled the device, arresting all five members of the cell, the statement said.

"Preliminary investigations revealed the cell's link to Lebanon's Hezbollah, and that its members received specialized military training abroad," the statement added.

Since March 2, Hezbollah has been battling Israel after drawing Lebanon into the Middle East war with rocket fire at Israel in support of its backer Iran.

The group played a key role in Syria's civil war, fighting alongside the forces of now ousted leader Bashar al-Assad.

Under Assad, Syria was part of Iran's "axis of resistance" against Israel and enabled the transfer of weapons and money from Iran to Hezbollah.

Syria's new authorities have rejected Iranian influence and are hostile to the Lebanese group and its sponsor.

In February, Syria said it had dismantled a cell responsible for recent attacks targeting Damascus's Mazzeh district, saying the weapons came from Hezbollah, which denied any involvement.