( The Guardian )- The leader of the parliamentary assembly in Europe’s oldest human rights body has been stripped of his powers after being accused of tarnishing his office by meeting the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. In a move unprecedented in the 68-year history of the parliamentary...

U.S.-backed forces fighting Islamic State in Syria took several neighborhoods from the militant group in the town of Tabqa on Friday, they said in a statement, part of a campaign to oust Islamic State from its stronghold in Raqqa city. The multi-phased campaign against the jihadists by the...

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Friday he would try to convince Donald Trump next month that Turkish-backed forces should be used to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from ISIS rather than Kurdish militia Ankara views as a terrorist threat. Erdogan said Washington's support for Kurdish...

The chief of the international chemical weapons watchdog says his team of experts is ready and willing to travel to the site of a deadly nerve gas attack in Syria if their safety can be assured. Ahmet Uzumcu of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says the experts are...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi next Tuesday to prepare the upcoming G20 summit in July and discuss geopolitical conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, a German government spokesman said Friday. "The visit serves the preparation of this year's G20...

President Tayyip Erdogan said Friday Turkey's southern border region with Syria had come under serious mortar fire over the last two days and Turkish forces were retaliating as necessary. Erdogan also told a conference in Istanbul that United States support for Kurdish militia fighters...

U.S. President Donald Trump said a "major, major conflict" with North Korea was possible over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, while China said the situation on the Korean peninsula could escalate or slip out of control. Trump, speaking to Reuters on Thursday, said he wanted to...

(Eqtsad)- The Russian forces in the airport of Hmeymim in Qardaha, Assad’s hometown have distributed food rations and medical aid in town and countryside to families of the dead members of the army and intelligence forces added to Shabiha and families in need. The Russian military forces have...

 Jose Mourinho identified Liverpool and Arsenal as Manchester United's chief rivals for Champions League qualification following his side's 0-0 draw at fellow top-four contenders Manchester City. Thursday's stalemate at the Etihad Stadium left United just a point below local foes City,...

Companies from Singapore to Finland are racing to improve artificial intelligence so software can automatically spot and block videos of grisly murders and mayhem before they go viral on social media. None, so far, claim to have cracked the problem completely. A Thai man who broadcast...

French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen's far-right party is in new turmoil - its temporary leader is stepping down over allegations he expressed doubt about Nazi gas chambers. National Front vice president Louis Aliot said on BFM television Friday that interim party leader Jean-Francois...

 The European Union will seek to end an ugly spat with Turkey Friday despite deep unease about Ankara's future under President Tayyip Erdogan, whose sweeping new powers and crackdown on opponents appear to have ended the country's EU ambitions. Meeting in Malta, Turkish Foreign Minister...

Four suspected Islamist fighters blew themselves up at a hideout in Bangladesh, ending a 24-hour standoff, police said Friday. Police raided the house in the northern town of Shibganj late Wednesday on a tip-off that extremists were hiding out there, triggering a tense standoff that ended...

The Afghan Taliban launched their "spring offensive" Friday, heralding fresh fighting in the drawn-out conflict as embattled security forces struggle to recover from a devastating attack on a military base one week ago. Operation Mansouri -- named after the group's former leader, who was...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces pressed new advances aginst Islamic State inside Tabqa city; taking blocks in the western neighborhoods, local activist said Friday. Muhan Nasser told Zaman al-Wasl the Kurdish-led forces made gains in Wadi Mahouk and al-Qariya...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Fierce fighting between Tahrir al-Sham and ISIS took place in Yarmouk Camp south of Damascus on Thursday, field sources told Zaman al-Wasl. Powerful Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance led by former al-Qaeda affiliate, has stormed ISIS bastions in the besieged camp to...

( The Guardian )- Boris Johnson has signalled the UK could join any US military action against Syria without parliamentary approval, prompting an outcry from politicians from across the spectrum. Johnson said he and the prime minister agreed that in the event of another chemical attack by...

New clashes erupted on Thursday between the Turkish army and a Syrian Kurdish militia regarded as a terror group by Ankara but seen by the United States as a key ally in the fight against extremists, reports said. Mortar shells fired from an area in Syria controlled by the Kurdish Peoples'...

US Ambassador Nikki Haley urged the UN Security Council on Thursday to ratchet up pressure on Russia to end sieges in Syria and help advance peace talks. "All eyes and all pressure now need to go to Russia, because they are the ones who could stop this if they wanted to," Haley told a...

Syrian President Bashar Assad said in a Venezuelan television interview broadcast on Thursday that Israeli military strikes on his army showed Israel was "supporting terrorists" in Syria, state-run Syrian media reported. Assad did not directly refer to the Israeli air strikes near Damascus...