The Turkish army has confiscated 700 parrots and 294 budgerigars on the border with Syria, it said on Friday, as its tighter security measures ensnare what was once a thriving trade in domesticated birds. NATO member Turkey has stepped up security along its 900-km (560-mile)...

Vladimir Putin thinks Russian air strikes in Syria have helped turn the war's tide but the pace of the Syrian army's advance has frustrated him, some sources say. If Aleppo falls, he could get the military and symbolic prize he has been craving. More than four months of Russian...

Islamic State militants have slipped into Europe disguised as refugees, the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency (BfV) said on Friday, a day after security forces thwarted a potential IS attack in Berlin. Hans-Georg Maassen said the terrorist attacks in Paris last...

Turkey all but ruled out direct talks with Kurdish militants to end one of the worst periods of bloodshed in a three-decade insurgency on Friday, saying the government would instead bring what it called civil society groups to the table. In a speech in the southeastern city of...

The United Nations has no plans to change the format of invitations for the next round of Syria talks, which it hopes to start by Feb. 25, a U.N. official involved in arranging the talks told Reuters TV Friday. "There will be no further invitations. No new invitations will be issued in a...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Russian warplanes have staged more raids on central provinces of Homs and Hama provinces as Syrian rebels killed 15 fighters loyal to Bashar al-Assad in Jadrin village, activists said on Friday. Dominant Ahrar al-Sham movement with other rebels groups said they have killed 15...

(Zaman Al Wasl- agencies)- Syrian regime forces and allied fighters seized the town of Ataman near Deraa city Friday, Hezbollah's Al Manar television and a Syrian monitoring group said, building on gains made last week in the southern province. The recapture from rebels of Ataman, around...

A Russian proposal to set up an advisory body in Amman to coordinate actions in Syria was rejected by the United States and its Western allies, Interfax news agency quoted Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov as saying Friday. "Our minister proposed holding a telephone conversation...

A Syrian child with eye cancer was flown into Italy for treatment Thursday, becoming the first to benefit from a new humanitarian corridor hoping to stop desperate refugees from attempting an often deadly Mediterranean crossing to Europe. "So happy because we come to Italy,...

Tens of thousands of Syrians were reported to have fled their homes on Thursday as regime troops pressed a major Russian-backed offensive around second city Aleppo. Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking at a donors conference in London, said up to 70,000 people were...

Reporitng by Mohamed al-Hussein; Translation by Yusra Ahmed (Zaman Al Wasl)- 15 children died due to a suspected HINI flu last January in the PYD-cotrolled areas in the northeastern province of Hasaka, medical source told Zaman al-Wasl. The deadly flu cases were recorded in the predominantly...

Saudi Arabia said on Thursday it was ready to participate in any ground operations in Syria if the U.S.-led alliance decides to start such operations, an adviser to the Saudi defence minister said. "The kingdom is ready to participate in any ground operations that the coalition...

Saudi Arabia willing to send ground troops to Syria to fight ISIS: AP

(Zaman Al Wasl)- At least 30 people have been killed on Thursday in northern Aleppo province as regime forces backed by Russian air strikes conduct the fiercest offensive on the rebel-held areas since the revolution erupted in March 2011, activists and monitoring groups said. This week, three...

Russia said on Thursday it had serious grounds to suspect Turkey was preparing a military incursion in Syria as a Syrian army source said the city of Aleppo would soon be encircled by government forces that are advancing with Russian air support. Turkey, which has backed the...

German police Thursday arrested two Algerians suspected of links to the Islamic State group and hunted two others after raids targeting several sites including refugee shelters where some of the suspects lived. The four "from the jihadist scene are under investigation over suspicions that they...

 (Zaman Al Wasl- Reuters)- Top Syrian regime army commander has been killed in the ongoing clashes in northern Aleppo province, activists said. M.General Mazhar Badie Zaher, head of the artillery and missiles directorate in Aleppo and the ground commander of Aleppo's onslaught, was...

An air strike believed to have been carried out by a US drone in south Yemen on Thursday killed a prominent chief of Al-Qaeda's branch in the war-torn country, a family member said. Jalal Belaidi, alias Abu Hamza, a top commander of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), was...

The British government announced £1.2 billion (1.6 million euros, $1.74 billion) in aid for war-torn Syria and its neighbours on Thursday, ahead of a donors' conference in London. "More money is needed to tackle this crisis and it is needed now," Prime Minister David Cameron said in a...

The EU said Wednesday it had agreed on how to finance a three billion euro ($3.3 billion) deal to aid Syrian refugees in Turkey, in exchange for Ankara's help stemming the flow of migrants, after resolving a dispute with Italy. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi had stalled on...