(The Guardian)- The UN has hired scores of friends and political associates of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, as part of its relief operation in the country, according to documents leaked to the Guardian. The staff lists show that relatives of high-ranking ministers have been on the...

Iraqi Shi'ite militias backed by Iran said on Friday they would soon join the fight against Islamic State on a new front west of Mosul, a move which could block any retreat by the jihadists into Syria but might alarm Turkey and the United States. The Shi'ite militias, with thousands of...

Turkey expects to take delivery of its first Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) F-35A fighter jets in 2018 and has decided to order a second batch, the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries said on Friday. It did not say how many more of the fighter jets it planned to order but two U.S....

Syrian rebels launched a major assault Friday aimed at breaking a months-long siege of opposition-held districts of Aleppo, as regime ally Russia held off on renewed air strikes. The European Union said late Friday its top diplomat Federica Mogherini was heading to Iran and Saudi Arabia for...

(Middle East Eye)- A Russian fighter flew dangerously close to a US warplane over eastern Syria, US defence officials said on Friday, highlighting the risks of a serious mishap in the increasingly crowded airspace. The near miss occurred late on 17 October, when a Russian jet that was...

OPEC officials meeting in Vienna to work out the details of their plan to reduce oil production failed to reach agreement after hours of talks on Friday, amid objections by Iran which has been reluctant to even freeze its output, OPEC sources said. The High Level Committee of experts will...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian resistance factions have killed several regime soldiers and allied militias near the newly regime-captured town of  Soran in Hama province after a counter-attack targeted village of Maan and other areas in the western countryside. Jaish al-Ezzah Faction has...

A Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman on Friday said an expert examination of pictures showing a strike on a Syrian school that UNICEF said killed 22 children, had shown they were fake. "Today after expert analysis of photographs from the Syrian village of Hass, it turned out that there was...

Warships from the US Navy and allied nations have intercepted four weapons shipments from Iran to war-ravaged Yemen since April 2015, a US admiral said on Thursday. Yemen has been rocked by conflict since Houthi rebels overran the capital Sanaa and other parts of the country in late 2014,...

In the midst of war, political chaos and a regional refugee crisis, Iraq still managed to be the world's most generous country to strangers in 2016, according to an annual global survey of charitable giving. Eighty-one percent of Iraqi respondents reported helping someone they didn't know in...

When Army Capt. Hugh Miller heard a group of policemen trading stories about a militant called Farouq al-Qahtani at their base in Afghanistan’s Konar province one day four years ago, he didn’t know what all the fuss was about. “I don’t think I even sent a report up about it,” Miller, who was...

The FBI is reviewing new emails linked to Hillary Clinton's tenure as Secretary of State, the bureau’s director James Comey said in a letter Friday. "In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear pertinent to the investigation," Comey wrote...

(Rudaw)- Eight of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel fighters Turkey is supporting against ISIS in northwestern Syria were killed in clashes on Friday, the Turkish military announced.  Another 34 were also wounded during these clashes, according to a Turkish General Staff statement cited...

Zaman Al Wasl)- Fateh al-Sham Front backed by rebel factions has controlled Dhahiyat al-Assad suburb west of Aleppo city, commander said. Abu Anas al Shami told Zaman that the resistance factions have captured the western suburb,  killing more than 50 regime soldiers and allied...

Venezuela's streets were quieter than usual on Friday, but a strike called by the opposition drew patchy participation after the socialist government threatened to seize businesses that closed. "The strike is a good pressure tactic ... but if I don't work, I don't eat," said insurance agent...

(The Guardian)- Lindsey Snell knew she was being hunted. A Syrian contact had told her that militants had already arrested her fixer Abdullah, but they were coming for her next. This was Jabhat al-Nusra territory. No armed group, certainly not the smaller and more moderate one she was with,...

(The Daily Star)- Four people died in clashes between government forces and pro-Russian insurgents in Ukraine's separatist east, officials said Friday, the highest death toll since international peace talks held 10 days ago. The flare-up in the two-year conflict followed German Chancelor...

Saudi Arabia is ready -- if asked -- to take part in a planned military operation to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from the Daesh terrorist group, a high-ranking Saudi military officer has said. Speaking to the Al-Arabiya television channel on Thursday evening, Brigadier-General Ahmed...

 Trump Place Apartments are luxury living at one of New York's finest addresses, with marble floors, grand entrance halls, attentive doormen and magnificent views across the Hudson River. But behind closed doors, residents are squabbling over whether to remove the Republican nominee's...

At least 90 migrants who refused to leave the so-called “Jungle” camp in Calais, northern France, have been detained before deportation, a French NGO said on Friday. The CIMADE organization said the 90 migrants were taken to detention centers ahead of being sent back to their countries in 45...