Cafes sell steaming coffee in stylish cups, civil servants dutifully go to work, and children are sitting their exams.

BBC: Conflict hits Damascus daily life

On a Wednesday in February, Mr. Tourre dutifully fulfilled his teaching-assistant role, staying after a professor's lecture to work one-on-one with a student, hunched over notebooks and gesticulating energetically.

WSJ: From 'Fabulous Fab' to Grad Student