A U.S.-backed assault on Raqqa, Islamic State's de facto capital in Syria, is unlikely to pierce the city itself before President Barack Obama leaves office in January, denying him the chance to claim the end of the group's "caliphate" as part of his legacy. Although a U.S.-backed alliance of...

(New York Times)- A joint Kurdish-Arab militia has begun a new phase in the operation to dislodge the Islamic State from its stronghold in Raqqa, Syria, moving to isolate the city and largely cut off the resupply of arms, supplies and fighters, a United States military spokesman in Baghdad...

(The Daily Star)- The Palestinian Constitutional Court, a body set up months ago by President Mahmoud Abbas, ruled on Sunday that he can revoke the parliamentary immunity of lawmakers, a move that effectively allows him to sideline rivals. A verdict issued on Sunday which was swiftly...

Washington is in "close contact" with Ankara over the assault launched by American-backed Kurdish-Arab forces on the Islamic State group's bastion Raqa in Syria, a senior US official said Sunday. "We are in close close contact with our Turkish allies and that is why the chairman of joint...