After Assad's in absentia death sentence, attention has shifted to some 3,500 former regime figures still at large, a verdict many Syrians describe as bittersweet. Damascus's Golan protest at the UN and its unsettled hold on Sweida remain open.
Syria is governed by a transitional administration under President Al Shara following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's rule. Its authority is contested in parts of the country, among them the Druze-majority southern province of Sweida, while millions of Syrians displaced during the war weigh whether to return.
The National reports that some 3,500 former regime figures remain at large after the in absentia death sentence against Bashar al-Assad, a verdict many Syrians describe as bittersweet. The same paper reports plans for a Damascus investment conference with Lebanon, while Syrian artefacts returned from France went on display at a summer festival in the capital.
Syria has sent letters to the UN secretary-general and the Security Council objecting to Colombia's recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights. At home, death sentences issued in absentia against ousted leader Bashar al-Assad and eight others have opened a debate over what transitional justice can deliver.
Many residents of Syria's Druze-majority Sweida province say it is only a matter of time before the central government moves to assert control there, the New York Times reports. The National reports separately that President Al Shara and the UN refugee chief discussed the safe return of Syrians.