Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Monday he was positive about the way the incoming U.S. administration wanted to restore American influence in the world, contain Iran and fight Islamic State. "We are optimistic about the incoming administration and look forward to working with...

 (Zaman Al Wasl)- Kurdish-led Syria Democratic Forces on Monday took three villages from ISIS near the group's self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa city, sources said. The SDF captured villages of Traikiya, Bayoud, and al-Takmani in the western countryside. Backed by the the U.S.-led...

Oman said it received 10 inmates from the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay Monday, as outgoing President Barack Obama looks to reduce the number of prisoners there before leaving office. Neither the sultanate's foreign ministry nor the US defence official who confirmed the transfer...

(Al-Monitor)- When 2016 was drawing to a close, Moscow surprisingly agreed to divide Syrian warring factions into “good” and “bad” guys and to recognize the idea of the “moderate opposition.” On Jan. 10, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced the preparation of talks between the Syrian...

U.N. experts monitoring sanctions against Sudan say the 13-year conflict in the Darfur region is now limited to the Jebel Marra area following the government's successful counter-insurgency strategy against two rebel groups. The experts said in a report to the U.N. Security Council...

(Eqtsad)- Syrian doctors have started a-6-week training course in Turkey, in health centres allocated to train Syrian doctors on the Turkish health system in southern Turkish provinces “Hatai, Mersin and Urfa” where high numbers of Syrians live there.  The training courses are...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian regime air strikes killed 7 people in the besieged northern countryside of central Homs province in a new violation for the nationwide ceasefire, local reporter said Monday. The regime warplanes hit the towns of Talbiseh  and villages of Ezzieddin, Deir Foul and...

Islamic State has launched its fiercest assault in a year against a besieged Syrian regime enclave in the city of Deir al-Zor, trying to cut it off from a nearby military air base in a battle that has killed dozens. A regime military source said the fighting was intense. "This attack is one of...

  (Zaman Al Wasl)- Senior official in the Syrian National Coalition said the key opposition group would witness substantial reforms in the upcoming General Assembly conference next February that will be surprising for many parties. The reforms will widen the robe of the old-fashioned body...

Bahrain's foreign ministry summoned Iraq's ambassador in Manama to protest against remarks by Iraqi officials denouncing the execution of men convicted of a 2014 bomb attack, state news agency BNA said Monday. The execution on Sunday of three men, whose attack killed three policemen, has...

Just as London appears to be coming round to the idea that it will need a temporary transitional agreement with Brussels to smooth its exit from the European Union, it may find the position of European leaders has hardened. For months the working assumption in Brussels has been that it would...

Three suicide bombers, including a child, exploded at dawn Monday at Nigeria's northeastern University of Maiduguri, killing a university professor and another child, witnesses and police said. The bombers also died. One blast ripped through the mosque where professors were saying dawn...

(Sky News)- At least five people have been hurt, two seriously, after an explosion in the Manchester suburb of Blackley. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) said five crews had been sent to the scene to deal with a partial collapse of terraced house. Pictures showed rubble...

An explosion in Turkey's southeastern province of Diyarbakir wounded three people on Monday, security sources said, although it was not immediately clear what caused the blast. The sources said the explosion happened near a university in the city, the biggest in the mainly Kurdish southeast....

The chief of the U.N. atomic agency says Iran has complied with a key commitment of its nuclear deal with six world powers by removing sensitive equipment from a strategic underground site. Yukiya Amano of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday that Tehran has met a deadline and...

A Palestinian lawmaker was among at least 13 activists arrested by Israeli forces on Monday in an operation targeting resistance movement Hamas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. In a statement, the Israeli army said the operation was aimed at breaking up a Hamas "cell" that had been...

(Eqtsad)- The northern town of Sarmada at the Turkish border has turned a commercial hub due to the strategic position near the Bab al-Hawa border crossing. According to the 2008 population census, Sarmada’s inhabitants numbered 15,000 persons. A large number of the town’s population worked...

The heads of major U.N. organizations on Monday called for access to civilians cut off from humanitarian aid in Syria, saying the world "must not stand silent" even though the high-profile siege of the Syrian city of Aleppo is over. The joint appeal from the U.N.'s refugee agency,...

By Hassan Hassan (The  National)- Al Qaeda in Syria has faced – and survived – two upheavals since 2011. Today, the organisation might be facing its third major test, and the new development brings with it a fresh challenge for Syria. The first challenge was the dispute with...

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is not wary of big-spending Chinese clubs poaching his players amid reports that a lucrative offer from Far East has unsettled Premier League's joint-top scorer Diego Costa. Oscar and John Obi Mikel have already left Chelsea to join Chinese Super League sides in...