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The 29-year-old had last been seen in Budapest, Hungary. He said he was detained earlier this year after crossing into Syria on foot from Lebanon and held in prison until the fall of the Assad regime.

The American identified himself Travis Timmerman. He says he was held for seven months in Sednaya -- a notorious prison in which thousands of people were arbitrarily detained under the Syrian regime.

Germany hosts almost a million Syrians who fled war and dictatorship.

The road to Damascus tells the story of a new Syria emerging from 54 years of authoritarian rule by one family, the Assads. Today's Syria is no longer theirs.

Syrians living inside and outside their country are trying to figure out what comes next after the Assad regime fell. We hear from Syrians along the road from Lebanon to Damascus.

In the aftermath of the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria, how are the insurgents planning to resurrect the state?

The U.S. still has troops in Syria, where they've been for a decade. Yet during the same period, the U.S. Embassy has been shuttered, complicating the work of U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers.

It's been less than a week since a coalition of opposition fighters overthrew the Syrian regime. Opposition leaders and government workers are rolling back decades of repression and corruption.

NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Steven Heydemann, Middle East Studies director at Smith College, about how Syria might avoid replicating Arab countries that are worse off after overthrowing dictators.

FIFA's selection of Saudi Arabia to host the World Cup was celebrated in the kingdom but criticized by human rights groups, who fear residents, visitors and migrant workers will be at risk of abuse.