This week's phone call between Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani and Syria’s President Ahmad Al Shara represented a new push in relations between the neighbouring countries, at a time of significant geopolitical shifts in the region.

Israel defended the moves as necessary security measures, but Syria accused it of trying to destabilize the country.

The United Nations and regional countries, including Iraq, on Thursday condemned the Israeli airstrikes in Syria, which Tel Aviv says serve as a warning.

Israel launched a number of aerial attacks on Syria late Wednesday night. The largest attack came in the southern Syrian city of Nawa, where 10 Syrians were killed. Israel also carried out attacks on a major airbase and a branch of the Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) in Damascus.

Three months after the overthrow of President Bashar Assad, Syria is at a crossroads, the top U.N. envoy for the country says. Geir Pedersen told the U.N.

Syria’s new transitional government has been sworn in nearly four months after the Assad family was removed from power and as the new authorities in Damascus work to bring back stability to the war-ton country.

When Syria's new leaders shut 60 Damascus bars, drinkers protested, and the government reversed itself. It's an example of the tussle between secular and Islamist values in the new Syria.