Australians turned in 51,000 illegal firearms, ranging from 19th-century weapons to a rocket launcher, during a three-month amnesty that ended on Friday, and which Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said had helped avert Las Vegas-style mass shootings. The cache, representing about a fifth...

(Reuters) - The body of Kurdish leader and ex-Iraqi president Jalal Talabani arrived on Friday in Sulaimaniya, his home city in northern Iraq, from Germany where he died on Tuesday at age 83, live footage on Iraqi state TV showed. The Iraqi Airways plane transporting Talabani’s coffin...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- At least 14 fleeing people have been killed late on Thursday in renewed Russian airstrikes on eastern Deir Ezzor province, topping death toll of strikes on displaced people to 62 in 48 hours, local media group said. Furat Post news site said the strikes had targeted...

(The  Independent)- The Russian air force arrived in Syria two years ago this week to save President Bashar al-Assad and his army. They succeeded. The Syrian army held out, albeit at the cost of (then) 56,000 of its soldiers.  “We’re not going to have another Afghanistan...

(Reuters) - The dollar touched a fresh seven-week high versus a basket of currencies on Friday, supported by hopes for progress on U.S. tax reforms, with traders looking to U.S. jobs data for near-term catalysts. Congressional Republicans moved to hasten an overhaul of the U.S. tax code...

(Reuters) - After discussing Iran and North Korea with U.S. military leaders on Thursday, President Donald Trump posed for a photo with them before dinner and declared the moment “the calm before the storm.” “You guys know what this represents?” Trump said after journalists gathered in...

Syria is in the throes of its worst fighting since the battle for eastern Aleppo last year, with heavy air strikes causing hundreds of civilian casualties, aid agencies said on Thursday. Hospitals, schools and people fleeing violence have been “targeted by direct air strikes” that may...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian regime's artillery and mortar rounds have pounded opposition-held areas in southern Daraa city despite of the 2-month-old Cessation of Hostilities agreement, local activists said on Friday. Omar al-Masalmeh, Daraa-based activist, said the Old City of Daraa has...

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that Turkey would soon close its border with northern Iraq and shut its air space in response to last week's Kurdish independence referendum. Erdogan, who held talks in Tehran on Wednesday with Iranian leaders, also said Turkey would decide...

A Pakistani government spokesman says a suicide bomber has struck a Shiite shrine a remote village in the country's southwest, killing at least 12 people and wounding 30. Anwarul Haq Kakar, the spokesman for the provincial governor, says the attack took place on Thursday in Jhal Magsi....

Saudi Arabia has told the International Monetary Fund that it is reconsidering the speed at which it imposes austerity steps to avoid slowing the economy too much and boosting unemployment, the IMF said Thursday. "The authorities indicated that they were considering the appropriate pace...

 Omar al-Soma buried a late penalty as war-torn Syria drew 1-1 with Australia to put their two-legged World Cup play-off on a knife-edge on Thursday. Australia were within sight of victory after Robbie Kruse's first-half goal, but when Mathew Leckie nudged Soma on 84 minutes the...

 (Zaman Al Wasl)- At least 30 regime troops killed in US airstrikes on their convoy after the regime made an incursion into the 55km "de-confliction zone" surrounding the US base near al-Tanaf border crossing with Iraq, rebel commander said on Thursday. Saeed Saif, spokesman for...

Syrian opposition groups are resisting Jordanian pressure to hand control of a border crossing back to the Syrian government, a step that would be a major boost for President Bashar al-Assad and undermine rebel groups in southwestern Syria. Talks over reopening the Nasib crossing have...

(Zaman Al Wasl)-The representative of the National Coalition in the Gulf Cooperation Council said Syria's opposition figures had failed to gain the trust of the Syrian people who see them not convincing  Idlib Shishakly told Zaman al-Wasl the some of mainstream opposition...

LONDON (Reuters) - Global stocks came off record highs and the euro held near a seven-week low on Thursday as investors prepared to parse minutes from the European Central Bank’s last meeting for clues to its exit from ultra-easy monetary policy. Political tensions emanating from Spain,...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi forces have captured the town of Hawija and the surrounding area from Islamic State, though some fighting still raged in a pocket to the north and east of the town where the militants were surrounded, the military said on Thursday. With the capture of Hawija,...

(Reuters) - A gauge of global stocks and Wall Street rallied to fresh highs on Wednesday on encouraging growth worldwide, while the dollar fell even as data revealed an accelerating U.S. service sector that could lead to higher interest rates in December. The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq...

(Reuters) - Asian shares were a tad firmer on Thursday, taking their cues from strong U.S. data although holiday-thinned trade and uncertainty about the impact of recent hurricanes on the U.S. economy are likely to keep investors cautious. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares...

By Fuad Abdulaziz (Eqtsad)- Many Syrians are asking about the status of their Syrian Pound after a year of stability against the U.S. Dollar after it has witnessed significant declines compared to 2016. The Syrian Pound exceeded the 600 Pound barrier in 2016 against the Dollar before...