Syrian President Bashar al Assad attended Christmas choir preparations in an ancient church close to a frontline area in the capital Damascus where his army is engaged in heavy fighting with rebels, state media said on Saturday. State television showed footage of Assad and his...

Iran will export around nine tonnes of enriched uranium to Russia in the coming days, Tehran's nuclear chief was quoted as saying on Saturday, as the country implements curbs to its nuclear program to secure sanctions relief. "In the next few days around nine tonnes of Iran's enriched uranium...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- The U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Syria phoned Zaman al Wasl Friday to get more information over an asylum seeker and a former Syrian regime soldier who was involved in mass torture photos published early 2014. Zaman al Wasl has provided the "Independent International...

A U.N.-backed roadmap to end the Syrian war was met with skepticism Saturday by members of the country's fractured opposition who insist President Bashar Assad must go to achieve peace. The U.S. and Russian initiative, unanimously approved by the U.N. Security Council on Friday, foresees talks...

The United Arab Emirates has secretly sent some 300 Colombian mercenaries to fight for it in Yemen, paying handsomely to recruit a private army of well-trained, battle-hardened South American soldiers, sources told AFP. The sources, who spoke on condition of...

 Eighteen people drowned overnight when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea as it was heading for the Greek island of Kalymnos, Turkish media reported early Saturday. Another 14 people, among them Syrians, Iraqis and Pakistanis, were pulled to safety by the Turkish coastguard, the Dogan...

The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution endorsing a peace process to put an end to the nearly five-year war in Syria. US Secretary of State John Kerry said the resolution sends "a clear message to all concerned that the time is now to stop the killing in Syria." The...

The shepherd's widow no longer asks God for peace. Like many Kurds in Turkey's southeast, Sevgi Gezici, 22, believed President Tayyip Erdogan would relent in a violent clampdown against Kurdish militants after his party won back its majority in an election in November. Three...

Nearly 991,000 refugees and migrants have entered Europe by land and sea so far this year and the number is expected to reach 1 million in the coming days, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday. Some 4,300 people arrived on the Greek islands on...

NATO allies agreed on Friday to send aircraft and ships to Turkey to strengthen Ankara's air defenses on its border with Syria, the alliance's chief said. Diplomats said the package is partly designed to avoid more shoot-downs of Russian planes. Envoys to the North Atlantic...

The five United Nations Security Council veto powers have agreed the text of a draft resolution to endorse an international roadmap for a Syria peace process and the 15-member body is expected to adopt it later on Friday, diplomats said. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power,...

Syria's opposition wants a political transition without President Bashar al-Assad, the coordinator of an opposition negotiating body in future peace talks said on Friday. The United States, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and major European and Arab powers outlined a plan last month...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- At least 20 civilians killed in northern Idlib province Friday in Russia's air strikes on towns of Jisr al Shughour and al Najiyah,  Revolution Local Committees said. Russia warplanes have targeted the main mosque of Jisr al-Shughour with vacuum missiles, killing 16...

(Zaman Al Wasl)- Powerful Islam Army rebel group said the Islamist rebels had killed 20 Syrian regime troops and allied militants in the besieged Eastern Ghouta district near Damascus, senior commander said Friday. Islam Army's spokesman, Islam Alloush, said rebels had carried out a counter...

The United States and its allies conducted 22 strikes against ISIS Thursday, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement Friday. In Syria, three strikes in two cities destroyed an ISIS mortar position and two fighting positions. In Iraq, 19 strikes in seven cities targeted...

At least 54 PKK terrorists have been killed in ongoing operations in Turkey’s southeastern Sirnak province within the last 72 hours, a security official said Friday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Anadolu Agency that security forces had been operating in Cizre and...

(Business Insider)- The Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah has seen between 1,300 and 1,500 of its fighters killed in battles in the Syrian civil war, which means that together with the wounded it has lost as much as a third of its fighting force, according to Israeli estimates....

(Zaman Al Wasl)- The Political Body of Western-backed Syrian National Coalition has recommended 8 of its members to join Opposition's negotiators team which is supposed to lead future peace talks with Bashar al-Assad regime, sources told Zaman al Wasl. The proposed list includes Hisham Marwa,...

Russia has made clear to Western nations that it has no objection to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stepping down as part of a peace process, in a softening of its publicly stated staunch backing of Assad ahead of talks in New York, diplomats said. Russia, like Iran, has been...

A grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini is expected to seek election early next year to the body that chooses Iran's supreme leader and is said to have the cautious blessing of the incumbent, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Registration opens on Thursday for the election that is likely...