Donald Trump has insisted that the US military presence in Syria is “only for the oil”, contradicting his own officials who have insisted that the remaining forces were there to fight Isis. Trump made his remarks while hosting Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, just over a month after the Turkish...

The U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday added more than a dozen companies and individuals to its trade blacklist for allegedly providing material support to chemical and biological weapons activity in Syria and diverting U.S. items to Iran without authorization. The action from the...

President Michel Aoun said on Wednesday economic conditions in Lebanon were deteriorating further as a result of the situation in the country but the start of oil and gas exploration would help to gradually improve things. His comments were posted on the Lebanese presidency’s Twitter...

President Donald Trump on Wednesday lauded the U.S. relationship with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan as the leaders started a meeting to overcome mounting differences between the two NATO allies ranging from Syria policy to Turkey’s purchase of a Russian missile defense system. Trump’s...

The UN on Wednesday dispatched 39 trucks of humanitarian aid to the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib.  The trucks passed through the Cilvegozu border gate in southern Turkey, with aid to be distributed to residents in urban areas of the war-torn province as well as the surrounding...

Seven Yemeni soldiers were killed in a missile attack Wednesday in the central province of Marib held by the Saudi-led coalition, a medic and military official said. The strike on a Marib military base came after six people, among them four civilians, were killed in an attack last week on...

Exchanges of fire triggered by Israel's targeted killing of a top militant in Gaza raged for a second day Wednesday and showed little sign of easing as the Palestinian death toll surged to 23. Fresh rocket barrages were fired at Israel, which responded with strikes on what it said were...

Tunisia’s new parliament Wednesday elected Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, as its speaker after the rival Heart of Tunisia party backed him, opening the way for a possible coalition government between them. Ennahda came first in last month's election, but...

Preliminary results from Afghanistan's presidential election have been delayed for a second time, election officials announced Wednesday, a postponement likely to fuel more political uncertainty and fraud allegations. The September 28 poll has already been marred by a record-low turnout and...

Iraqi officials must ramp up their response to mass demonstrations demanding an overhaul of the political system, the United Nations' representative in Baghdad told AFP in an exclusive interview Wednesday. Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, who heads the UN's Iraq mission (UNAMI), said the...

The Turkish interior minister says Turkey has captured an "important" figure within the Islamic State group in Syria. Suleyman Soylu said on Wednesday that the suspect is still being interrogated but did not name the figure or provide further details. Turkey has said it captured and...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- At least 14 fighters loyal to Bashar al-Assad, including 7 Hezbollah militants, were killed by Turkish-backed rebels in coastal latakia province, field sources told Zaman al-Wasl  Wednesday . The National Liberation Front has thwarted the fourth incursion attempt...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Many Syrian refugees who left Istanbul following the security campaign that targeted those violating the conditions of residence in the city, were asked by Eqtsad news site if living in the Turkis city was better than their current place of residence. Fadi Al-Serafi who...

Turkey’s military incursion in Syria has given President Tayyip Erdogan a bump in opinion polls and exposed potential cracks in an informal political alliance that claimed surprise victories over his ruling party in local elections this year. The operation in northeast Syria came after...

A Hungarian court on Wednesday began the trial of a Syrian man accused of terrorism and crimes against humanity as a military leader of Islamic State near the city of Homs in 2015, saying he participated in the murders of dozens of people. The 27 year-old, identified as F. Hassan, was...

 The battle to be best of the rest behind the Mercedes drivers heats up in Brazil this weekend with Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel chasing Formula One’s bronze medal position. Even if Mercedes have clinched both titles, with Lewis Hamilton securing his sixth in...

rotesters barricaded main roads across Lebanon on Wednesday after President Michel Aoun enraged demonstrators by urging them to end their revolt against corruption and cronyism in the political establishment. His remarks in a television interview late on Tuesday ignited demonstrations...

The president of Iraqi Kurdistan travelled to Baghdad on Wednesday for talks with senior officials just hours ahead of a special parliament session to discuss weeks of deadly anti-government demonstrations. The head of the United Nations' mission in Iraq (UNAMI) was expected to attend the...

Saudi authorities have distanced themselves from an official video that sparked controversy after it branded feminism, homosexuality and atheism as extremist ideas. Saudi Arabia's state security agency posted the animated video on Twitter last weekend at a time when de facto ruler Crown...

Two Western hostages of the Taliban, who are expected to be freed in a prisoner swap for three militants, will be released only when the insurgents "reach their destination", a spokesman for the Islamist group said Wednesday. The fate of the American and Australian hostages -- both...