Kurdish forces said they drove Islamic State militants out of villages near the oil city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq on Wednesday, in an offensive backed by airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition. The assault consolidated their control over Kirkuk and brought the peshmerga, the...

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday accused Israel of sabotaging U.S. efforts to broker peace and said that Israeli security operations at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem could lead to a religious war. In an address to the United Nations General Assembly before a...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Tuesday that creating a "safe zone" for refugees in northern Syria could put them at risk of being massacred, starkly distancing her country from a Turkish proposal. France said on Monday it would discuss with its partners in the coming...

France challenged Russia to back its words with deeds over fighting Islamic State militants in Syria as major powers on Tuesday struggled to resolve differences between Moscow and the West over ending the civil war in the Middle Eastern country. After Russian President Vladimir...