(Al-Jazeera)- Key players in the war in Syria are due to meet on Monday in Astana to begin talks aimed at consolidating a nationwide ceasefire and potentially paving the way towards a political settlement. The talks, organised by Russia, Turkey and Iran, come weeks into a countrywide...

Swiss 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer advanced to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with a gruelling five-set victory over Japan's Kei Nishikori on Sunday. Federer will now play Andy Murray's conqueror Mischa Zverev after winning 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 in three hours...

The street looks as if it was hit by an earthquake and the bombed-out building in a former rebel-held northeastern neighborhood of Aleppo is deserted — except for the second-floor apartment where Abdul-Hamid Khatib and his family are staying. There is no electricity or running water....

ISIS detonated explosives in the largest hotel in western Mosul Friday, in an attempt to destroy it and prevent Iraqi forces from using it as a landing spot or base in their offensive to capture the city, witnesses said on Sunday. The Mosul Hotel, shaped as a step pyramid, appeared to be...