Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi will hold joint talks on Jan. 13 in the run up to the so-called Geneva 2 conference on Syria, Russian Interfax news agency reported on Friday. "On Jan. 13 there will be a meeting...

Iraqis fleeing from Falluja question whether the masked gunmen who overran their city 10 days ago are really al Qaeda-linked militants as the government says, but fear their presence will draw a ferocious response from the army regardless. At a motel in Iraq's Kurdish north, Falluja...

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will both attend the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos this month, the organisers told Reuters on Friday. Asked about their attendance, a spokeswoman for the forum said: "Yes, it's...

Jihadists have made advances on rebel fighters in the battle for Raqa, in northern Syria, but are on the back foot in parts of Aleppo and Idlib, activists said Friday. "In Idlib and Aleppo provinces, the (rebel) Free Syrian Army is advancing, but in Raqa the Islamic State of Iraq and...