The American embassy in Syria has warned all U.S. citizens to leave the country due to "the increased possibility of attacks" during the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

As they spend their first Ramadan in their country in years, many Syrians who’ve recently returned from abroad to a homeland they were forced to flee have been celebrating the end of the Assad family’

Those kidnapped included a retired teacher, an engineering student and a mechanic, all of them Alawite - the minority sect of toppled leader Bashar al-Assad.

The one thing holding Syria together now is Ahmed al-Sharaa, who has taken on the near-impossible job of teaching his people to trust one another again. It is an unlikely role for a former jihadist. But he has projected himself as a model of renewal and reconciliation, a violent man who has transformed into a figure of peace and forgiveness.

The ousted Assad dictatorship kept lists of millions of wanted people. Now, Syrians are openly asking whether they “have a name” on any of those lists and are sharing the news proudly.

Syrian central bank governor Maysaa Sabreen has tendered her resignation less than three months after she was appointed to the post in a caretaker role, she told Reuters on Thursday.

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt has accused Israel of exploiting followers of his minority faith in Syria as part of a broader plan to divide the Middle East along sectarian lines. The Druze faith has followers in Israel,