As the Syrian regime and its allies prepared to ramp up their attack on Aleppo in November, one of the rebel groups defending the opposition-held part of the city took up arms against another, seizing its stores of ammunition, fuel and food. The incident near an Aleppo frontline underlined the...

(Independent)- Nearly half of Russians fear Moscow's intervention in Syrian conflict could lead to World War III, a poll has found.  Moscow, a key ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has been conducting bombing raids in Syria since September 2015. Forty-eight per cent of...

(Independent) Moonscape. Desert. Blitz. The past 100 years of war have turned all our words into clichés. I rage at every reference to the Second World War – because it’s over, because Hitler is dead, because we won and because we shouldn’t dig up old graves to frighten future generations. But...

(Middle East Eye)- It is often said that a symbiotic relationship exists between terrorism and the media. Where terrorism needs the commercial media to communicate its message to either its target or broader audience, commercial media come to depend on the ratings boost often gained by reporting...

(Foreign Affairs)- On January 25, 2011, tens of thousands of Egyptians took to the streets, demanding an end to the nearly 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak. Eighteen days later, Mubarak stepped down. In Tahrir Square, the crowds cried, “Lift your head high, you’re an Egyptian.” “We can...

As civilians in the Syrian city of Aleppo are battered by air strikes, ground offensives and shelling, what has happened to the world's responsibility to protect populations under threat? The Geneva Conventions and the United Nations Security Council were established after World War Two to...

Hillary Clinton bested Donald Trump in three debates. She leads in many preference polls of the most competitive states. Barring a significant shift in the next two weeks, she is in a strong position to become the first woman elected U.S. president. But Clinton will end the campaign still...

(Sputnik News)- Washington needs to develop a clear strategy in Syria and answer the question of what its national interests in the Syrian war are, US-based journalist Antoun Issa notes, throwing into question the "necessity" of the US' direct military involvement in Syria. The next US...

(Bloomberg)- Even a war as pitiless as Syria’s can have a low point. The battle for Aleppo has produced carnage, civilian suffering and, according to some, war crimes on a scale rarely surpassed in the five-year conflict. Backed by Russian airstrikes and militias supported by Iran, forces...

(FT)- Rebel-held eastern Aleppo looks as though it will either fall or be razed to the ground in the face of relentless Russian bombardment from the air and under siege from Iran-backed militia on the ground. President Vladimir Putin will then have got his way: saving the regime of Bashar...

The Syrian refugee suspected of planning to bomb a Berlin airport was radicalised only after arriving in Germany, Der Spiegel magazine reported on Friday, citing the suspect's brother who still lives in Syria. Jaber Albakr committed suicide in prison in Leipzig on Wednesday after two fellow...

Analysis of satellite imagery of a deadly attack on an aid convoy in Syria last month showed that it was an air strike, a U.N. expert said on Wednesday. Some 20 people were killed in the attack on the U.N. and Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy at Urem Al-Kubra near the northern city of Aleppo...

( The Hill )- Lawmakers are pressing for a U.S. military option to help end the Syrian civil war, a so-called "Plan B," as the Obama administration's last-ditch diplomatic effort with Russia flounders. Frustration on Capitol Hill is mounting after a temporary ceasefire negotiated Sept. 9...

Fighting in Syria's besieged eastern Aleppo has killed 338 people since Sept. 23, including 106 children, and 846 have been wounded, including 261 children, the World Health Organization said on Friday. "We are asking for four things: stop the killing, stop attacks on health care, let the...

Writing by Ethar Abdulhaq (Zaman Al Wasl)- The German journalist Jurgen Todenhofer broadcasted a video recording which he described as the most difficult interview he has ever conducted in Syria. The interview took place 10 days ago with a commander from al-Nusra Front, as he called, who spoke...

Gary Johnson, the U.S. presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party and former governor of New Mexico, joined news channel MSNBC's live "Morning Joe" show to answer journalists’ questions. One of the panel’s questions, Mike Barnicle's, "What would you do, if you were elected, about Aleppo?"...

 Russia's politically-sensitive and ultimately fruitless decision to launch bombing missions on Syria from Iranian soil has exposed the limits to its air power, leaving Moscow in need of a new strategy to advance its aims. People familiar with Russia's military said Moscow opted...

By Abdullah Ghadawi (Zaman Al Wasl)- On the day the regime airplanes bombed three locations for the Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG) in al-Hasakah on Thursday of last week, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was promising the supporters of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) with...

In breaking a Syrian government siege on opposition-held areas of Aleppo, insurgents have set back President Bashar al-Assad's hopes of using Russian air power to reclaim a vital city and speed the end of the five-year conflict. The sudden advance by fighters from western Syria into a military...

Writing by Abdullah al-Ghadawi (Zaman al-Wasl)- Last Friday, the Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Sergey Lavrov discussed possibility of implementing Security Council resolution 2254 in relation to Syria and putting a plan to counter “extremist” groups. Russian American committees...