(Al-Monitor)- In northern Syria, a group of Western volunteers is trying to bring combat medics into the fight against the Islamic State (IS). In September, when northern Syria was still hot enough for sand flies to bite, John Harding sat at a makeshift table of plywood and concrete...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that the year 2016 was "difficult" but congratulated his country on its accomplishments and on believing in itself. The past year "was difficult, but the difficulties we came across united us," Putin said in his traditional New Year's greeting,...

Rafael Nadal ended an injury-plagued 2016 on a high by lifting the Mubadala World Tennis Championship title for a fourth time Saturday. The 30-year-old Spaniard defeated 11th-ranked Belgian David Goffin 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) in their first meeting after world number one Andy Murray earlier ousted...

A group of Egyptian lawyers on Saturday filed a lawsuit against President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and five top officials over a controversial agreement to transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. The move came days after the government approved the agreement to transfer the sovereignty of...