A tide of refugees from the Middle East and Asia showed no sign of abating on Thursday, after European Union leaders began the task of trying to prevent tens of thousands of people fleeing war or poverty from streaming unchecked through the continent. After weeks of recrimination and...

A double suicide bombing killed at least 10 people on Thursday at a mosque run by Yemen's Houthi group in the capital Sanaa, where worshippers were performing Muslim Eid al-Adha prayers, medics and witnesses said. Islamic State's branch in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack at...

The head of Iran's hajj organization blames Saudi "mismanagement" for a crush of pilgrims outside Mecca that killed hundreds of people, including 21 Iranian pilgrims. Saeed Ohadi told state TV by phone from Saudi Arabia that the incident might have been caused by the closure of a road. State...

The United States and its allies have conducted 20 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria since Wednesday, the U.S. military said in a statement on Thursday. Four air strikes in Syria targeted tactical units, artillery and vehicles near Al Hasakah, Ar Raqqah and Mar'a. In Iraq,...

Syrian government forces used newly arrived Russian warplanes to bombard Islamic State fighters in Aleppo province in northern Syria, Reuters said on Thursday, in an attempt to break a siege on a nearby air base. Russia is bolstering its ally Damascus with military aid that U.S. officials...

Saudi Arabia's civil defense directorate says 717 people were killed in a crush of Muslim pilgrims near the holy city of Mecca. Thursday's disaster was the deadliest such incident on the annual hajj pilgrimage in more than two decades, and comes nearly two weeks after a crane collapsed in...

Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing for unilateral air strikes against Islamic State in Syria if the United States rejects his proposal to join forces, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing two people familiar with the matter. Russia has increased its military...

Hundreds of Syrians gather at dusk for a passenger ferry from Lebanon's northern port of Tripoli to Turkey, the next step on their long trek toward what they hope will be a better, safer life in western Europe. For more than four years, Lebanon has drawn refugees fleeing Syria but...

(Translation by Yusra Ahmed) All difficult circumstances and hard living conditions from poverty, unemployment, bad weather have gathered to harden the life of people in the countryside of Hasaka, especially in the days of  Eid Adha, beside school opening time, added to unbearable rules of...

Activists of the embattled outskirt of Daraya west of Damascus reported heavy aerial campaign against one of the first rebellious towns in Syria, saying regime has dropped 58 barrel bombs and three surface-to-surface missiles in the last 48 hours. No casualties reported by local activists....

The Syrian ambassador in Moscow said on Wednesday Damascus would welcome the deployment of a Russian military base in the city of Latakia (Lattakia) if Moscow decides to build one there, Interfax news agency reported. "If Russia agrees, Syria would only welcome such a step, because it...

An insurgent group fighting in Syria made up of around 1,500 Chechen, Uzbek and Tajik fighters has pledged allegiance to al Qaeda's Syria wing Nusra Front, Reuters  said on Wednesday. Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar (Muhajireen Brigade) made the pledge in a statement distributed by...

Moscow sees growing chances for an international agreement on solving the conflict in Syria and on fighting ISIS in the Middle East, a Russian diplomatic source said Wednesday.

The new left-wing government of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras took office Wednesday with a core of returning ministers pledging to restart the country's flagging economy. Sending a signal to creditors, Tsipras kept the same team that negotiated the country's latest EU bailout but the...

The Syrian government has intensified its airstrikes on the ISIS-held ancient city of Palmyra, killing more than 100 people including civilians in recent days, activists said Wednesday. The fierce raids follow the delivery by Russia of new arms including warplanes to its ally Syria....

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed the heads of four working groups on Syria, the United Nations said on Tuesday, signaling a step toward talks where warring parties are expected to discuss how to implement a roadmap for peace. "It is hoped that their outcomes...

World leaders will gather for their annual meeting at the United Nations starting Friday as Europe faces a flood of asylum seekers, many fleeing Syria's civil war in the worst humanitarian crisis since the world body was created 70 years ago. Islamic State will also top the...

Russia's military intervention in support of President Bashar al-Assad has dismayed Gulf Arab enemies of the Syrian leader who say it will prolong the war and keep Syria firmly in the orbit of their arch regional rival Iran. Russia says it is providing arms to the Syrian leader, a...

Satellite photos taken in mid-September and obtained by IHS Jane's show Russian forces developing two additional military facilities near Syria's Mediterranean coast, Rob Munks, editor of IHS Jane's Intelligence Review, said on Tuesday. Munks said the previously undisclosed...

The U.S. military has assessed that the type of Russian aircraft in Syria is consistent with "force protection," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday. "For the moment it is the judgment of our military and experts that the level and type represents basically force protection,"...