By David Schenker (The Washington Institute)- In recent weeks, fighting has intensified in southern Syria as Russian warplanes and Bashar al-Assad's forces seek to retake the city of Deraa. Located on the main highway to Damascus, Deraa is only a few miles north of the Jordanian border,...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- New American shipment of arms has arrived the province of Hasaka in order to be to be handed Syrian Democratic forces, the PYD-led militias that had announced the near arrival to Raqqa- Deir Ezzor route. Activist Mahmood al-Ahmed confirmed that a military convoy had Monday...

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is presenting the White House with a plan to "rapidly defeat" ISIS, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday. The strategy includes significant elements of the approach President Donald Trump inherited, while potentially deepening U.S. military involvement in Syria. Navy...

The UN Security Council will vote Tuesday on a draft resolution that would impose sanctions on Syria for the use of chemical weapons, diplomats said. Russia has vowed to use its veto to block the measure, which would be the seventh time that Moscow has resorted to its veto power to shield...

The Kuwaiti government could pay up to $60,000 to President Donald Trump's hotel in Washington for a party it held on Wednesday in an early test of Trump's promise to turn over profits from such events to the U.S. Treasury. The Kuwait Embassy hosted an event to mark their National Day....

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Four Islamic State's militants were killed on Monday when a rival group opened fire on an ISIS-held territory in Yarmouk refugees camp south of Damascus, source said. The powerful Haya’t Tahrir al-Sham alliance, led by the formerly known Nusra Front, hunted four ISIS...

Israeli forces were set Monday to evacuate and demolish nine settler homes built on private Palestinian land, after the supreme court rejected a last-minute request to only seal the structures. The same court had ordered the homes in the Ofra settlement be demolished by March 5. Their...

(Washington Post)- Sitting 7,000 miles from the fuss and frills of Sunday's Academy Awards, it was Raed Saleh, dressed in a simple T-shirt, who delivered one of the most powerful messages of the night. In a short acceptance speech — posted online after a documentary about his Syrian...

A train carrying 22 Syria-bound armored personnel carriers and soldiers from across Turkey pulled into the southeastern province of Gaziantep Monday -- along Turkey's border with Syria -- according to a military source.   Military vehicles and personnel are headed towards the Syrian...

Turkey on Monday criticized Austria after its foreign minister said President Tayyip Erdogan was not welcome to campaign among Turks living in Austria for a referendum to be held in Turkey in April. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told a news conference that Turkey "did not...

(Zaman Al Wasl) Regime army and auxiliary forces have reached taken control of the town of Jab al-Khafi in Aleppo’s eastern countryside. The move brings them in direct contact with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units in Aleppo’s countryside. The regime takeover comes as part of a campaign...

The Russian frigate Admiral Grigorovich left the port of Sevastopol in Crimea on Monday for the Mediterranean where it will join the country's naval forces deployed near the Syrian coast, a naval official said. A Reuters witness saw the ship leaving its moorings in the naval port of...

(Bloomberg)- A new military strategy to meet President Donald Trump's demand to "obliterate" the Islamic State group is likely to deepen U.S. military involvement in Syria, possibly with more ground troops, even as the current U.S. approach in Iraq appears to be working and will require fewer...

In the days before the Islamic State group's Syrian bastion Al-Bab fell, Umm Abdo's family sheltered underground both from the bombing and from jihadists themselves looking for somewhere to hide. In a narrow rubbish-strewn street lined with broken and blackened stalls, the 30-year-old mother...

Greek authorities say an overnight arson attack against the French Institute and French archaeological school in Athens caused minor damage but no injuries. Police said a car parked on grounds between the two was torched early Monday, with the fire spreading to a second car, while attackers...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is "not welcome" to hold campaign events in Austria ahead of April's referendum on strengthening his powers, the foreign minister in Vienna said Monday. Sebastian Kurz said that Erdogan campaigning over the controversial referendum would "increase...

The main opposition group at Syrian peace talks in Geneva plans to meet Russian envoys later Monday to discuss promises it says Moscow had not kept, a senior negotiator said. Russia has sought to revive diplomacy since its air force helped the Syrian army and allied militias defeat rebels in...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian regime airstrikes on Monday have killed 19 people in Ariha, less than 48 hours since 15  people lost their lives in aerial bombing on the northern town of Idlib province, local activists said.

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Free Syrian Army killed 22 regime troops in the eastern countryside of Aleppo as Damascus launched major offensive to halt advances made by the Turkish-backed group, local reporter said Monday. Three more soldiers were taken captive by FSA as battles take place near al-Bab...

Two Afghan friends were incarcerated together at Guantanamo Bay, but they chose starkly divergent paths after release ?- one became an Islamic State jihadist, the other joined the US-led government fight to crush the group. Haji Ghalib and Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost, whose friendship coalesced...