Syria cease-fire takes effect

A marksman looks out over a destroyed Syrian city — (Image credit: Getty Images)

A cease-fire negotiated by Russia, Iran, and Turkey took effect in Syria at midnight Friday, hours after the Syrian government and opposition groups signed onto the agreement on Thursday. The truce does not cover the Islamic State and the al Qaeda affiliate in Syria. The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deal appeared to be holding in its first hours, despite scattered clashes. The Syrian National Coalition said rebel factions would respect the cease-fire but retaliate if the government and its allies resumed shelling and airstrikes in rebel areas.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.