Undeterred by a blessing from Pope Francis, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte launched an angry rebuke Thursday of priests and bishops critical of his drugs war, accusing them of homosexuality, corruption and of abusing children. Duterte was furious over concerns by the Catholic Church of...

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he believed Russian-backed peace talks in Kazakhstan aimed to produce local "reconciliation" agreements with rebel groups whereby they would give up their weapons and receive a government pardon. Assad said in an interview with a Japanese TV station that...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- The Democratic Union Party with the help of American forces seems to intend to build a new military base in the northern province of Hasaka, after evacuating the training camp of Tal-Baidar. Activist Mahmoud al-Ahmad reported that the Democratic Union Party (PYD) are intending...

(Financial Times)- When the Syrian government and rebels meet in Kazakhstan next week, the chances of the warring parties agreeing on a political solution to end their near six-year conflict will be slim. But for Moscow, the main sponsor of the talks, one crucial thing has already been...