The United States is working to avoid the "total destruction" of Syria, and plans a meeting in the coming days with Russian, Saudi and Turkish leaders to seek an end to the conflict, Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday. Washington considers that it bears the responsibility "to try and...

Celebratory tracer fire from a wedding lights up the night sky over Marib, a city that is heavily armed even by the standards of Yemen, where the ready availability of weapons helped start civil war and is now preventing anyone coming out on top. Yemenis often say there are...

AT CHECKPOINTS across the country, Iraq’s many and various security forces cheer Russia’s arrival as an answer to their failure to turn the tide after 16 months battling the jihadists of Islamic State (IS) in north-western Iraq. “The US and its coalition did nothing,” says a...

Scores of Russians took to the streets in capital Moscow on Saturday to protest the government's intervention in Syria. Nearly 200 people took part in the protest in the Suvorov Square, chanting slogans against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The group...