The Trump administration has decided to halt the CIA's covert program to equip and train certain rebel groups fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, two U.S. officials said, a move sought by Assad ally Russia. The U.S. decision, said one of the officials, is part of an...

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Thursday warned Cyprus its moves to explore for energy around the eastern Mediterranean were "untimely and dangerous," adding that Ankara would continue to protect the rights and interests of Turkish Cypriots. Yildirim was speaking at an event in...

The United States and China failed on Wednesday to agree on major new steps to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China, casting doubt over President Donald Trump's economic and security relations with Beijing. The annual economic dialogue session in Washington ended with canceled news...

She was trafficked into Raqa as a sex slave by the Islamic State group but managed to escape. Now Yazidi fighter Heza is back to avenge the horrors she and thousands of others suffered. Her hair tucked under a tightly wrapped forest green shawl embroidered with flowers, Heza says battling IS...

An attack on Lebanese troops raiding a Syrian refugee camp has stirred violent debate and polarised opinions, with rising calls to repatriate refugees but also warnings against racist rhetoric. The uptick in pressure comes after Lebanese soldiers were attacked as they stormed two refugee...

For one Iraqi lieutenant, the fight against Daesh (ISIS) in Mosul has been a slow, methodical quest for revenge. For three years, he has hunted for two Daesh militants from his village who he believes killed his father.  Along the way, he has shot to death detained militants after...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Turkey-backed rebel factions may join Ahrar al-Sham in its fight against the former al-Qaeda branch in Syria as fierce clashes take place in northern Idlib province since Tuesday, sources told Zaman al-Wasl.  Turkey-backed Euphrates Shield, an alliance of moderate...

A Tunisian court has banned the US film "Wonder Woman" which stars an Israeli actress, more than a month after it had been scheduled to open at cinemas in the Arab state, a legal source said Wednesday. Lebanon has also banned Wonder Woman, on the grounds of a long-standing boycott of Israel....

By Ethar Abdulhaq (Zaman Al Wasl)- Many international media outlets have circulated news of Zaman al-Wasl’s exclusive reports about the top-secret Wadi Jehanam (Valley of Hell) and the Iranian and Russian activities in the area. Moscow was incited by the reports and responded by...

The United Nations on Wednesday demanded media access to report on the "man-made catastrophe" in Yemen after a Saudi Arabia-led coalition blocked three foreign journalists from traveling on a U.N. aid flight to the Houthi rebel-controlled capital Sanaa. "Steps like this do not help," U.N....

The Pentagon has voiced concerns to Turkey after the NATO ally's state news agency disclosed the locations of 10 US military posts in northern Syria, an official said Wednesday. The Anadolu Agency (AA) on Monday published a report detailing the military facilities' whereabouts and in some...

Iran's president said Wednesday that it will stand up to the United States and reciprocate for any new sanctions that Washington imposes on the Islamic republic.Hassan Rouhani's remarks came a day after the Trump administration announced new, non-nuclear sanctions while at the same time warning...

A Moroccan court on Wednesday sentenced 23 Sahrawis to prison terms ranging from two years to life over the killing of 11 members of the Moroccan security forces in contested Western Sahara. The verdict in the case, which has been closely followed by human rights campaigners, was delivered at...

The Trump administration says in a new report that Iran continues to be the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. The report also notes a drop in the number of terrorist attacks between 2015 and 2016. In its annual "Country Reports on Terrorism" released Wednesday, the State Department...

 The battle for Mosul is all but over after nine months of devastating urban warfare between government forces and Islamic State militants, but Iraqi civilians are suffering in a humanitarian crisis of monumental scale. More than one million people fled their homes in Mosul and nearby...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- A car bomb struck Ahrar al-Sham's base in Armanaz town in Idlib province, killing five people, including three fighters, as clashes still ongoing between the Islamist Movement and Tahrir al-Sham group, medics and commander told Zaman al-Wasl Wednesday. Omar...

 France wants major powers involved in the Syrian crisis to join a contact group that would make proposals to warring parties, in an effort to break a deadlock in political negotiations, the French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said. Emmanuel Macron's election victory has given...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- For the first time, hundreds of residents of Saraqib city participated in elections to vote for a local council in the opposition governed areas of rural Idlib on Tuesday.  Speaking to Zaman al-Wasl, Mohammad Musfra, the director of Public Relations in the former...

( The Daily Beast) - In the latest display of Turkish anger at U.S. policy in Syria, the state news agency has divulged the locations of 10 U.S. military bases and outposts in northern Syria where the U.S. is leading an operation to destroy the so-called Islamic State in its self-styled capital...

Britain will probably set up fewer than 10 new regulators after leaving the European Union, a government source said on Wednesday, offering the first assessment of how officials will tackle one of the most business-sensitive Brexit issues. Untangling decades of complex legal ties between...