After 14 years of a devastating civil war, Syria is in the process of reinventing itself. One big question is how the country will be governed now that the more than 50 years of rule by the Assad family has come to an end. For clues on what the future might hold, our correspondent goes to the city that was run by a rebel group during the war. That group led the toppling of the Assad regime and now controls the interim government.

A building in a residential neighborhood in Beirut was struck by Israel, killing a senior commander with the militant group Hezbollah and ten other fighters, according to the Israeli military. It was the deadliest attack in Beirut in nearly two decades and it comes in the same week Hezbollah militants were targeted by Israel with thousands of exploding pagers and radios. We go to the scene of the strike in Beirut.

The death toll is rising. At least 1,300 Israelis and more than 2,600 Palestinians in Gaza are dead as the war continues into a second week.

The surprise attack on Israel has brought the militant group back into the spotlight. A Hamas official tells NPR the attack was meant in part to lead to the release of Palestinians in Israeli jails.

A massive military display by Hezbollah on Sunday was the largest in at least a decade for the Iranian-backed militia, and comes at a moment of heightened tension with Israel.

Search-and-rescue efforts are underway after more than 1,000 are reported dead from a powerful earthquake that hit southern Turkey and northern Syria early Monday. The death toll is expected to rise.

Some of the tens of thousands of seeds stored at a facility in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley may hold keys to helping the planet's food supply adapt to climate change. Many seeds were saved from Syria's war.

Lebanon's banks froze accounts three years ago amid an economic collapse. Now, under increasingly desperate circumstances, people are resorting to extreme measures to access their savings accounts.