Sarah and Ysra Mardini pull bathing caps over their long, black hair and slide into the water, disappearing among the throng of swimmers with powerful, practiced strokes. Two months ago the sisters were swimming for their lives, after jumping off an inflatable boat that began taking on...

Afghan refugees are going to fight for Iran in Syria on the offer of being paid a monthly salary and being granted permanent residency   (Middle East Eye)- Iran has recruited thousands of Afghan refugees living in the Islamic Republic to go and fight a religious war in Syria to...

 At least 23 Syrian civilians were killed Saturday in suspected Russian air strikes on a rebel-held town outside Damascus, a monitor said. Elsewhere, the Islamic State group freed 37 Syrian Christians who were among more than 200 people kidnapped in February, an NGO said. The strikes on...

Chemical weapons experts have determined that mustard gas was used in a Syrian town where Islamic State insurgents were battling another rebel group, according to a report by an international watchdog seen by Reuters. A confidential Oct. 29 report by the Organisation for the Prohibition...