Syrian writer and veteran government critic Khaled Khalifa has died of cardiac arrest at the age of 59 at his home in Damascus, a close friend told AFP. Khalifa, who hailed from Maryamin in northwestern Aleppo province, was celebrated for his novels, television screenplays and newspaper...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged global defense companies Saturday to conduct joint production. Zelenskyy and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov attended the first international defense industry forum held in Kyiv, where more than 252 defense companies from over 30 countries...

By Sinan Hatahet In the intricate ballet of Middle Eastern geopolitics, Syria stands as a symbol of the delicate equilibrium between consensus and competition, a dance choreographed since 2011. Once a canvas for regional contention, the country mirrors the broader tensions and alignments...

Praise from Xi Jinping and a silk gown worn by Asma provided a PR boost for Damascus. But what it really needs is cold, hard cash Shrouded in heavy fog, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad landed in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, exiting an Air China plane on 21 September in his first official...

SWEIDA, Syria: Hundreds of Syrians protested on Friday in the southern city of Sweida, as women play a growing role in the anti-government demonstrations that have rocked the province for over a month, activists said. Peaceful protests have swept Sweida province, the heartland of the...

  Almost five months since Arab states extended an olive branch to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, there are signs that some key architects of the initiative may be growing skeptical about his commitment to the agreement. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi this week said that...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered one of the top commanders of the Wagner military contractor to take charge of “volunteer units” fighting in Ukraine, signaling the Kremlin’s effort to keep using the mercenaries after the death of their chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin. In remarks...

Syrian Kurdish fighters and American forces have captured a senior member of the Islamic State group, a militant described as one of its “key facilitators," the force said Friday. Mahmdouh Ibrahim al-Haji, also known as Abu Youssef, was taken into custody on Thursday in the northern Syrian...

A powerful bomb exploded near a mosque at a rally celebrating the birthday of Islam's Prophet Muhammad in southwestern Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 35 people and injuring nearly 70 others, police and a government official said. The bombing occurred in Mastung, a district in...

Six female migrants trapped inside a refrigerated food truck were rescued by French police after one of the women was able to make contact with a reporter, the BBC and French authorities said Thursday. The women — four Vietnamese and two Iraqis — hid for hours in a truck loaded with boxes of...

Viral hepatitis is sweeping the Al-Shajara district in the Yarmouk Basin area in the southern Daraa province It began appearing about a month ago, due to contamination of drinking water, threatening the lives of more than 30,000 civilians there. Not a house in the region was free of...

 Israel reopened a main crossing with the Gaza Strip on Thursday to allow thousands of Palestinian laborers to enter the country for the first time in over a week, a move that eased tensions between Israel and the Palestinian enclave. The opening of the crossing was a sign of...

BERLIN (AP) — Dozens of people from around the world lined up on a sunny morning this week in front of a former mental health hospital in Berlin to apply for asylum in Germany. There were two older women from Moldova. A young man from Somalia sat next to them on a bench. A group of five...

BEIRUT (AP) — A Lebanese military court has sentenced an official with the extremist Islamic State group to 160 years in prison for carrying out deadly attacks against security forces and planning others targeting government buildings and crowded civilian areas, judicial officials said...

Jed Suliman was excited about progressing through the interview stages for an accounting job at a prominent bank. But he was left dumbfounded when he was rejected because they requested a police check from Syria, the nation he escaped in 2015. "They asked for a police check from Syria....

MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — A raging fire seemingly caused by fireworks set off to celebrate a Christian wedding consumed a hall packed with guests in northern Iraq, killing around 100 people and injuring 150 others as authorities warned Wednesday the death toll could still rise. Authorities said...

The Jordanian army on Tuesday said it downed two drones carrying drugs from Syria in the latest incident raising concerns over increased smuggling across the border. The army statement said the drones had crossed into its territory and their hauls of crystal methamphetamine were seized. It...

Fighting between pro-government and Kurdish-led forces in eastern Syria has left dozens dead in recent days, according to the Syrian Observatory on Human Rights (SOHR). Violence broke out between the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and fighters loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in...

BERLIN (AP) — Police in Germany said they found more than 100 Syrian citizens inside apartments and other buildings that were searched Tuesday in connection with the suspected smuggling of migrants. More than 350 federal police officers searched locations as part of an investigation, police...

At least civilians, including 2 children and 4 women, were 10 injured on Monday evening in regime's artillery that targeted the Jisr al-Shughour city in the northwestern Idlib region, said the White Helmets agency. The bombardment hit residential neighborhoods and the popular market...