Syrian state-run media reported that the U.S.-led coalition fighting Daesh (ISIS) struck army positions in eastern Syria early on Thursday, but the U.S. military denied knowledge of it. Daesh lost most of its territory in Syria last year, but retained some remote desert areas and...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Around 35,000 of those bussed out of the onetime rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus have resettled in Afrin region by Turkey as the original residents, mostly Kurds, see return as a distant dream. A Turkish-led assault this year displaced over 137,000...

Turkey has means to curtail the currency fluctuations in the short term, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday. "The exchange rate fluctuations are due to global factors and are not related to Turkey alone," Erdogan said in a meeting with former lawmakers during an iftar...

Israel is pressing the Trump administration to recognize its sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, an Israeli cabinet minister said Wednesday, predicting U.S. assent could come within months. Interviewed by Reuters, Intelligence Minister Israel Katz described endorsement of...

A Palestinian child on Wednesday succumbed to injuries he sustained last week in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.  “Odai Abu Khalil, 15, was shot and injured by Israeli soldiers last Friday near the Beit El settlement north of...

A spokesman for Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s Sairoon movement -- which came in first in May 12 parliamentary polls -- has said that his party will not let Iraq turn into a launchpad for attacking other countries of the region. In televised comments on Wednesday, Sairoon spokesman Ziya...

Saudi Arabia is looking to the entertainment sector with a view to diversifying its economy away from petroleum, which has recently suffered from a decrease in international prices. Since Mohammad bin Salman was made crown prince last summer, the kingdom has stepped up its search for...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Four regime troops killed by Daesh (ISIS) in surprise attack hit their bastions in eastern Deir Ezzor province Wednesday, local activist told Zaman al-Wasl. Nine more troops were wounded when Daesh stormed regime checkpoints near the town of Albulail east of Deir Ezzor,...

Palestine has submitted its instrument of accession to Chemical Weapons Convention to European Union, the international watchdog said on Wednesday. In a statement, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said Palestine “deposited on 17 May 2018 its instrument of...

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday criticized recent remarks by his U.S. counterpart Mike Pompeo as “illusion”. In televised statements, Zarif said Pompeo’s remarks were far from logic and not even worth being answered, according to the official IRNA news agency....

 (Zaman Al Wasl- Agencies)- Syrian regime forces who seized the southern neighborhoods of Damascus from ISIS on Monday have been looting properties, activists say. Footage circulated by activists showed civilians’ houses had been raided and looted by the regime army and allied...

An Israeli court Wednesday suspended an expulsion order for Human Rights Watch's country director until a decision is taken on a HRW legal challenge against it, the rights watchdog said. The injunction granted by the district court in Jerusalem came only a day ahead of the deadline for...

The International Monetary Fund has called on Saudi Arabia to keep public spending under control, even as a partial recovery of oil prices helps the economy emerge from recession. The lender called on the world's top oil exporter to continue "bold structural changes" but to "resist the...

Invited foreign journalists began a long journey up North Korea's east coast Wednesday to witness the slated destruction of the reclusive regime's nuclear test site, a high profile gesture on the road to a summit with the US that Donald Trump now says might not happen. In a surprise...

Turkey's currency, the lira, has fallen to a record low against the dollar amid concerns about an outflow of investor capital and the country's ability to manage the situation. The lira dropped to over 4.80 per dollar on Wednesday, down some 5 percent since Tuesday. The Turkish...

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has cancelled a planned trip to Israel, an official at his office said on Wednesday, adding that the reason was domestic policy matters to be tended to in the coming days. Philippe had been planning to visit at the end of May.

An Arab-led military coalition destroyed two Houthi boats threatening an oil tanker in the Red Sea on Wednesday, state media reported. United Arab Emirates (UAE) coalition forces destroyed two boats deployed by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement "which were threatening a commercial...

Fresh from saying "sorry" to European lawmakers, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg holds talks with Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday where he will face renewed pressure over his company's tax policies. Zuckerberg apologised to the European Parliament on Tuesday for the "harm" caused by a huge...

A Palestinian was injured early Wednesday by Israeli army gunfire in clashes in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus. The violence broke out when Israeli forces raided a number of houses in Nablus’ old town, according to an Anadolu Agency correspondent in the area. According to...

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said on Wednesday that the withdrawal of Iranian forces from Syria was "not up for discussion", Lebanon's al-Mayadeen TV reported. "Whether Iranian forces or Hezbollah withdraw or stay in Syria is not up for discussion because it's the (business)...