Translation by Yusra Ahmed (Zaman Al Wasl)- Kurdish PYD's key unit, Asayish militia, seized13 houses in Alsiahi and Gharbi neighborhoods of the northeastern city of Qamishli, saying the move is protect properties of expatriates and migrants, activists said this week. Owners abroad and...

(Middle East Eye)- US Secretary of State John Kerry told Syrian aid workers, hours after the Geneva peace talks fell apart, that the country should expect another three months of bombing that would “decimate” the opposition. During a conversation on the sidelines of this week’s Syria donor...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian regime forces have extended aerial and ground bombardment  on rebel-held countryside in southern Daraa province, activists said Saturday, pressing hard to cut supply routes of rebels. Syrian and Russian air strikes on Saturday have hit most of ...

Syrian regime's foreign minister warned Saturday that Saudi or other foreign troops entering his country would "return home in wooden coffins" and asserted that recent military advances put his government "on track" to end the five-year-old civil war. Walid al-Moallem's comments capped a week...

Tunisia's defense minister has visited an anti-jihadi fence that's being built on the country's border with Libya to stop Islamist militants from entering Tunisian territory. Defense Minister Farhat Horchani inspected the first completed part of the 196-kilometer (122-mile) fence Saturday,...

Syrian regime President Bashar al-Assad's mother, Anisa Makhlouf, has died at the age of 86, state-run media said on Saturday. Makhlouf was married to the late president Hafez al-Assad, who ruled Syria from 1971 until his death in 2000. They married in 1957 and had five children:...

Three members of Britain's special forces were injured in fighting with Islamic State gunmen in Iraq, the Mirror newspaper reported on Saturday without giving any details about its sources. The Ministry of Defence said it did not comment on special forces operation. The Mirror said the...

Syrian government forces have tightened a three-year siege on two rebel-held suburbs southwest of Damascus by capturing land between the two and choking off their supply route, state media, a monitoring group and a rebel spokesman said on Saturday. The suburbs of Daraya and Mouadamiya were...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Saturday for better protection at the European Union's external borders in order to maintain the passport-free Schengen zone. Merkel, who opened her country's borders to Syrians fleeing civil war last summer, is under increasing pressure...

The head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard said on Saturday Saudi Arabia lacked the courage to go through with a plan to send ground troops to Syria, and warned they would be wiped out if they went in. Mohammad Ali Jafari's blunt words on the Fars news agency were Iran's first...

Tens of thousands of Syrians sought refuge in Turkey on Saturday, while those who have already made the crossing waited and worried about the fate of their families on the other side of the border. The border gate at Oncupinar, near the southern city of Kilis, was closed, but...

Syria's mainstream rebels risk total collapse after a Russian-backed government advance that severed their main supply line to Aleppo city and threatens to leave them completely besieged there. Analysts said rebels and their international backers were left with few options to prevent fresh...

The Pentagon on Friday released 198 photographs linked to allegations of abuse of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them showing close-ups of cuts and bruises to arms and legs of prisoners held in U.S. facilities. The Pentagon said the photos came from criminal...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Iran’s media outlets mourned Saturday 3 Revolutionary Guards fighters said they were killed in northern Aleppo province defending Shiite villages as death toll rises to 165 in four months since Russia began its air strikes, activists said. The Russian bombing on Wednesday...

(The Daily Sabah)- Australia is considering subjecting thousands of refugees from Syria to tougher character and security checks than European counterparts, to minimize the risk of "extremist infiltration," according to a leaked policy document. The draft document singles out refugees...

Translation by Yusra Ahmed (Eqtsad)- The Syrian rural areas, especially rural Damascus, have lost its characteristics and started to lose its three distinctive features: people, trees and buildings after 5 years of devastating war waged by the regime and regional allies. Comparing between the...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- An official letter addressed by the governor of coastal Tartus province to government's institutions has called on all employees in the predominantly Alawite governorate to follow military training to join regime army when it needed. Safwan Abu Saadi, in an official...

The United States and its allies are probably many weeks or even months away from launching a new military campaign against Islamic State in Libya, despite mounting concern about the group's spread there and its attacks on oil infrastructure, U.S. officials say. The Pentagon...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Syrian regime forces and Shiite allies have pressed more advances on Friday in the northern province of Aleppo, activists and regime-run media said. Regime troops and their Lebanese and Iranian allies fully encircled the countryside north of Aleppo and cut off the main supply...

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday Russia must be held accountable for the people it has killed in Syria, arguing that Moscow and Damascus were together responsible for 400,000 deaths there, Dogan News Agency reported. Speaking at a joint press conference with his...