More than 3,300 fleeing Iraqis sought help from the government on day nine of its offensive to retake Mosul, the most for a single day so far, a minister said Wednesday. The number is far short of the hundreds of thousands that aid agencies have been bracing for but the offensive is still in...

(The Guardian)- Spain is facing criticism for reportedly preparing to allow the refuelling of Russian warships en route to bolstering the bombing campaign against the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo. Warships led by the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov are expected to take on fuel and...

(BBC)- A Finnish-Syrian man feted by the global media for smuggling toys into Syria has rejected fraud allegations. On Friday, Finnish police said they had launched a preliminary investigation into his use of donated money. Finnish media have published claims he withheld money, had links...

(UN Watch)- Human rights groups have criticized UN chief Ban Ki-moon after he honored the Syrian regime’s envoy for 10 years of service, along with other ambassadors. Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based non-governmental group UN Watch asked, “How can the UN...