Around 1,000 people protested Friday in central Baghdad demanding the release of an Iraqi female journalist after she was abducted by unknown gunmen. "Freedom for Afrah!" cried the demonstrators, who included many women, after Afrah Shawqi was seized Monday from her home in a southern...

A leading terrorist has been killed by Turkish security forces in the eastern Tunceli province, the Turkish General Staff announced Friday. A General Staff statement said that the terrorist identified as S.I., code-named Ozan, was killed when security forces repelled his attack on a...

Russia has circulated a proposed resolution at the U.N. Security Council that would endorse the fragile cease-fire aimed at ending nearly six years of war, the country's ambassador to the United Nations said Friday. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters before a Security Council meeting...

President Vladimir Putin said Friday said he would not expel any Americans in response to Washington turfing out dozens of Russian diplomats over alleged election interference. The Kremlin strongman's shock decision came after Russia's foreign ministry asked him to send home 35 US diplomats...

(The Wall Street Journal)- A cease-fire appeared to be taking hold across Syria on Friday, despite allegations of violations by both sides, as government forces and armed rebel groups paused hostilities as part of a wider agreement brokered by Russia and Turkey to end the country’s nearly...

Iraqi forces faced car bombs and fierce resistance from ISIS militants in southern Mosul Friday, the second day of a renewed push to take back the city after fighting stalled for several weeks. An officer in the federal police forces, which joined the battle Thursday, said there were heavy...

Egypt's Cabinet has approved the transfer of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia despite protests earlier this year and a court ruling the transfer unconstitutional. The state-run MENA news agency reported Thursday that President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi's government approved the deal and sent...

(Zaman AL Wasl)- Turkish medicine is widely spread in liberated areas northern of Syria, but the trust in it vary among different people, some find it ineffective, while others trust it and find it not different from Syrian medicine that some people prefer to use. To find out about the...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Several breaches reported on Friday for the nationwide ceasefire that had been brokered by Russian and Turkish to end the war in Syria and lead to peace talks between rebels the Syrian regime. Activists said regime forces and allied militias tried to advance in Jabal...

Syrian government warplanes carried out at least 16 airstrikes against rebels in northern Hama province Friday in the latest violence to interrupt a Russian and Turkish backed ceasefire, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The British-based activist group did not immediately...

Russia Friday moved to expel 35 U.S. diplomats in a tit-for-tat response after President Barack Obama unleashed a barrage of punishment against Moscow over alleged election interference. Obama's broadside over cyber-attacks sent ties between Russia and the United States -- already at their...

An aid flotilla carrying food and emergency supplies for Rohingya Muslims will sail from Malaysia for Myanmar's troubled Rakhine State next month, the Malaysian organizer said on Friday. The flotilla, organized by a coalition of aid groups, has yet to receive permission to enter Myanmar,...

The Obama administration is ending its term in "anti-Russia agony", Russian Prime Minster Dmitry Medvedev said Friday, a day after the United States imposed sanctions on Moscow in response to alleged hacking of Democratic Party institutions. "It is regrettable that the Obama administration,...

Syrian regime forces and allied terrorist groups reportedly launched sporadic attacks late Thursday in several provinces across the war-torn country. According to reports Anadolu Agency correspondents received from frontline sources, attacks took place in Hama province’s Suran city, Idlib...

Turkish hospitals have treated just over 300 civilians from Aleppo, the country’s prime ministry confirmed on Friday. A total of 303 injured civilians have been brought to Turkey for medical aid following the evacuation of the war-torn Syrian city. However, 41 people lost their lives...

Syrian opposition activists say a nationwide cease-fire that went into effect at midnight is holding despite minor violations. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported clashes early Friday between troops and rebels in the central province of Hama and near the...

Turkish police detained 30 people suspected of links to ISIS in the southern province of Adana, the Dogan news agency reported Friday, as clashes between Turkish soldiers and the extremist group intensified in northern Syria. In an operation backed by helicopters, counter-terror squad police...

The United States on Thursday fired back at Moscow over its meddling in the presidential election, announcing a series of tough sanctions against intelligence agencies, expulsions of agents and shutting down of Russian compounds on US soil. US President Barack Obama had all but accused...

A spokesman for a major Syrian rebel group said Thursday it had reservations about an agreement for a nationwide cease-fire and resumption of negotiations and was not among the groups that had signed it. "Ahrar al-Sham has a number of reservations over the proposed agreement and the...

Syria's foreign minister said Thursday there was a "real chance" to reach a political settlement to the Syrian conflict, after Damascus's ally Russia announced a ceasefire deal that was to take effect at midnight. "It is the duty of the factions (rebel groups) who have signed it to distance...