Can money ease Syria's humanitarian crisis?

A donor conference takes place in London where world leaders pledge $10bn to help the Syrians.



Hundreds of thousands of Syrians are being intentionally denied food, water and medicine.

According to the UN, almost 500,000 people are living under siege.

They are beseiged by forces aligned with the regime in Damascus, or by other groups. They are among the 4.6 million civilians living in "hard-to-reach" locations, according to a UN estimate.

Political leaders from across the world gathered in London for a donor conference to help the victims of Syria's war and pledged $10bn to help the Syrians.

Some of the money will go assist Syrians who have fled to neighbouring countries and to Europe.

But will money allocated to help those in need inside the country be able reach them there?

Will Syria peace talks make any difference? (Video)

A date has been set for talks to start in Geneva, but serious doubts remain over what can be achieved.

As the war in Syria comes close to entering its sixth year, diplomats and delegates are gearing up for talks in Geneva on Friday.

The negotiations have already been delayed because of disagreements over who should attend.

The United Nations envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, says he has sent invitations to delegates and that the list is as "inclusive as possible", but it is still unclear who has been invited.

Talks to end the war were last held in Geneva in 2012 and again in 2014.

Syrian starvation: Is there any hope left?

UN World Food Programme says 40,000 Syrians are facing starvation with at least 23 already succumbing to hunger.



As the war in Syria enters its fifth year - with no signs of the fighting coming to an end - millions are struggling to survive.

This week a series of strong storms blanketed much of the country in snow. Syrians living in towns and villages - besieged by government forces and their allies - are facing starvation.

The blockade of the town of Madaya near the Lebanese border, in particular, has become a focal issue for Syrian opposition leaders.

They told the United Nations envoy this week they won't take part in talks with the government until the siege there and in other areas is lifted.

Who is buying ISIL's oil?

Turkey has been forced to deny Russian allegations that it buys oil from the armed group, and says Assad is a customer.

On the face of it, it looks like any state-run oil industry.

Engineers, managers and traders, all help extract, refine and distribute oil, which makes its way across Syria and Iraq as well as overseas.

But this is no state-run company. This is the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's (ISIL) lifeline - a business that provides the armed group with more revenue than any other source.

Oil helps to fund its war in Syria and Iraq, as well as to provide electricity to the 10 million people living under ISIL control.

But despite the oil trade being targeted by the US-led coalition against ISIL, the business continues to thrive.

And many people are increasingly asking why.

The Red States Are Afraid Of The Monster Under Their Beds

Bravo, Tucker FitzGerald. Bravo.

On the Bride's Side (Video)

The Italians, the refugees and the fake wedding party - the innovative plot to help Syrians reach Sweden.
Escaping Syria's conflict has provoked thousands to flee, and hundreds of thousands of refugees are seeking asylum in Europe.
When a poet and journalist meet five Palestinians and Syrians in Milan who entered Europe via the Italian island of Lampedusa after fleeing the war in Syria, they decide to help them complete their journey to Sweden - and hopefully avoid getting themselves arrested as traffickers - by faking a wedding party. With a Palestinian friend dressed up as the bride and a dozen or so Italian and Syrian friends as wedding 'guests', they race across the face of Europe on a four-day journey of 3,000 kilometres.

The Syrian conflict: Russia vs the West?

Key players involved in finding a solution to Syria's crisis discuss Russian air strikes and Assad's future in Syria


After four-and-a-half years of deadly conflict and many failed Western-backed efforts to remove the Assad regime from power, millions of people are fleeing the violence in Syria.


And just as world leaders were assembling at the United Nations last week, the battleground in the Middle East shifted - suddenly and deliberately.

In a dramatic move, Russia increased its military presence in the country and then launched a fierce bombing campaign against groups opposed to the Syrian regime. On top of it, there is speculation of a ground assault.

Syria's Electronic Armies

People & Power investigates the sinister impact of a secret cyber war on the Syrian civil war.


Over the last four years as the Syrian uprising has grown into a full-blown civil war, a sinister parallel conflict has been fought out in cyberspace, with combatants wielding bytes and software rather than guns as they have battled for supremacy on Syria's internet frontline.

But the consequences of this secret cyber war have been real and deadly - particularly for opponents of the Assad regime who have been targeted for arrest and torture as a consequence of personal information gleaned from their email traffic.

In some cases even the military plans of crucial rebel offensives had been hacked. But the opposition has been busy too, leaking President Bashar al-Assad's embarrassing personal correspondence and eavesdropping on government troop deployments amid much else.

As a consequence Syria's civil war has become fertile ground for 'hacktivists' from both sides - egged on and in some cases assisted by governments and agencies from outside the region.

ISIL's evolving socio-political strategy

Is the group becoming more sophisticated as it tries to exploit fault lines in Syria and Iraq?




It is a year since the group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) staked its black flag over Iraq's second city of Mosul, home to some two million people.

The group is now estimated to control an area larger than the United Kingdom in a self-declared caliphate straddling Iraq and Syria.

While ISIL's goals appear clear, the fight against them has become ever more complex, and is being waged on vastly different battlegrounds.

As ISIL seeks more territory and influence, is it offering an alternative sense of order and security amid the chaos and instability?