The United States is reviewing an invitation to attend upcoming talks on the Syria conflict in the Kazakh capital, Astana, later this month, a State Department official said Thursday. "We did get an invitation, and it's under review," the official told Reuters after Russian Foreign Minister...

ISIS is using "headhunters" on social media and instant messaging sites to recruit disaffected young people in Germany, some as young as 13 or 14, the head of the country's domestic intelligence agency said on Thursday. Hans-Georg Maassen also drew parallels between the militant Islamist...

(BBC)- So-called Islamic State militants have beheaded four people and shot eight dead in the Syrian city of Palmyra, a monitoring group says. Some of the killings took place in a museum yard near the city's Unesco-listed ancient ruins, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said....

(Al-Monitor)- Russia has issued an invitation to the Trump administration to send a representative to Syria peace talks set to get underway in the Kazakh capital of Astana next week. But amid the transition of power in Washington, there is confusion as to whether the United States will...

The Afghan Taliban has sought to reassure the United Arab Emirates that it was not behind an attack in the southern city of Kandahar that killed five UAE diplomats and injured the ambassador, senior Taliban officials said on Thursday. More than a dozen Afghan and foreign officials were...

Syrian regime forces encircled a key rebel area northwest of Damascus Thursday that serves as the capital's main water supply, a monitoring group said. Clashes have rocked the Wadi Barada region for more than a month, despite a fragile nationwide truce aimed at smoothing the way for...

Saudi Arabia's government should end the kingdom's ban on women driving and reform the male guardianship system, a United Nations independent expert said Thursday. Philip Alston spoke at the end of a 12-day visit during which he met cabinet ministers, people living in poverty, activists,...

Real Madrid will be seeking to reassert an air of invincibility when they host Malaga Saturday after their stunning 40-game unbeaten run was replaced by a two-match losing one with consecutive defeats to Sevilla and Celta Vigo. Zinedine Zidane's side still lead the standings by two points...

Undeterred by a blessing from Pope Francis, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte launched an angry rebuke Thursday of priests and bishops critical of his drugs war, accusing them of homosexuality, corruption and of abusing children. Duterte was furious over concerns by the Catholic Church of...

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said he believed Russian-backed peace talks in Kazakhstan aimed to produce local "reconciliation" agreements with rebel groups whereby they would give up their weapons and receive a government pardon. Assad said in an interview with a Japanese TV station that...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- The Democratic Union Party with the help of American forces seems to intend to build a new military base in the northern province of Hasaka, after evacuating the training camp of Tal-Baidar. Activist Mahmoud al-Ahmad reported that the Democratic Union Party (PYD) are intending...

(Financial Times)- When the Syrian government and rebels meet in Kazakhstan next week, the chances of the warring parties agreeing on a political solution to end their near six-year conflict will be slim. But for Moscow, the main sponsor of the talks, one crucial thing has already been...

Barack Obama has ended his last news conference as President with an optimistic message: "I think we're going to be okay". "This is not just a matter of no-drama Obama," he said. "It is true that behind closed doors I curse more than I do publicly. "And sometimes I get mad and...

A South Korean court on Thursday dismissed an arrest warrant against the head of Samsung Group [SAGR.UL], the country's largest conglomerate, amid a graft scandal that has led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye. But the reprieve for Jay Y. Lee, 48, may only be temporary, as the...

 ISIS lost nearly a quarter of its territory in Iraq and Syria last year, according to a report released Thursday by research firm IHS Markit. Between early January 2016 and the end of the year ISIS' self-declared "caliphate" fell from 78,000 to 60,400 square kilometers (47,500 to...

After years of political deadlock, Lebanon finally has a new government. Now it needs a new economy. Battered by war in neighboring Syria, neglected by wrangling politicians and caught in rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the pillars of the economy - remittances from overseas workers,...

Leaders of an ad hoc group of protesters enraged by Republican Donald Trump's election as president of the United States vowed on Wednesday to disrupt his inauguration this week by blocking public access to the event. The DisruptJ20 protest group said it will send groups of demonstrators to...

Turkey's Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has warned Japan on Wednesday evening about terrorist group FETO's structuring in the island country. The Turkish premier has held a meeting with Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Keiichi Ishii in the Prime Ministry....

(Sky News)- British tourists have started to arrive back in the UK from The Gambia amid that country's worsening political crisis. Gambian President Yahya Jammeh declared a state of emergency earlier this week after refusing to hand over power following his loss in last month's election....

Residents of government-held areas of the Syrian city of Deir az-Zour have expressed fears of massacres as the Islamic State group continues its advance on the city. Besieged by IS since early 2015, the regime-controlled third of Deir az-Zour city is home to an estimated 100,000 people....