The United Nations Security Council on Saturday adopted a resolution endorsing a ceasefire in the Syrian civil war brokered by Russia and Turkey. Russia and Turkey announced the ceasefire this week, the third truce this year seeking to end the nearly six years of war in Syria....

(Al-Monitor)- In northern Syria, a group of Western volunteers is trying to bring combat medics into the fight against the Islamic State (IS). In September, when northern Syria was still hot enough for sand flies to bite, John Harding sat at a makeshift table of plywood and concrete...

Two elite Iraqi units linked up in Mosul on Saturday and will form a joint front to advance westward against the Islamic State group, officers said. The Rapid Response Division reached the northern edge of Al-Intisar neighbourhood, while the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) advanced to the...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that the year 2016 was "difficult" but congratulated his country on its accomplishments and on believing in itself. The past year "was difficult, but the difficulties we came across united us," Putin said in his traditional New Year's greeting,...