Russian President Vladimir Putin and embattled Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich held a one-on-one meeting in Sochi on the day of the opening of the Winter Olympics, Putin's foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters on Saturday. The meeting between Putin and...
With lights, floats and flying, Russia kicked off the opening ceremony in Sochi as the world turns its attention to the costliest Olympic Games in history. Spectators from all over the world watched the introduction of athletes that marked the official start of...
The civil war in Syria has become a matter of U.S. homeland security over concerns about a small number of Americans who have gone to fight with Syrian rebels and returned home, new Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Friday. Johnson said he and other law enforcement and...
The Syrian city of Homs, dubbed "the capital of the revolution" by rebels, has been a key flashpoint since the early days of the almost three-year-old revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. A major battleground ever since a popular uprising rapidly morphed into an armed insurgency,...
Australia, Luxembourg and Jordan have presented to the five permanent U.N. Security Council members a draft resolution demanding full access for aid workers across Syria, which was quickly dismissed by Russia as a "non-starter." Western diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity...
Even as it began the evacuation of a group of 83 civilians from the Old City of Homs, the Assad regime was attacking the nearby district of al-Waer, home to many displaced Syrians, activists said. State news agency SANA says a first group of 83 civilians has been moved...
Liwa'a Al-Tawhid, key Islamic front unit, said Friday more than 40 fighters from Forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad have been killed after blowing up the Justice palace, one of Assad's fortified strongholds in Aleppo. Footage has been circulated on the Internet by rebels...
Jabhat al-Nusra has issued a long statement complaining about attacks on its facilities by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham. The Islamist faction said ISIS has interfered with its financial resources in Deir Ez Zour Province in eastern Syria, saying the...
Over the last two weeks, Obama administration officials have signaled - sometimes intentionally, sometimes not - that a worst-case scenario is emerging in Syria. Peace talks are at a virtual standstill. An emboldened President Bashar al-Assad has missed two deadlines...
The high-security buffer zone across from Turkey's Reyhanli district on the Syrian side of the border crossing has become Syria’s lifeblood for aid. The high-security buffer zone across from Turkey's Reyhanlı district on the Syrian side of the border crossing has...
Two explosions have been heard in the space of two minutes in a busy district near Egypt's capital. Al Jazeera sources, quoting the security directorate, said the two blasts occurred in Giza and went off on Giza Bridge near where Central Security Forces vehicles were parked....
The United States has increased direct funding to rebel groups fighting in Damascus and southern Syria, ramping up pressure on president Bashar Al Assad after negotiations in Geneva ended in deadlock. Last week, as the Syrian regime delegation in...
Over the last two weeks, Obama administration officials have signaled - sometimes intentionally, sometimes not - that a worst-case scenario is emerging in Syria. Peace talks are at a virtual standstill. An emboldened President Bashar al-Assad has missed two...
Iran is ready to answer the U.N. atomic agency's questions about its nuclear program, a senior official was quoted as saying ahead of talks on Saturday expected to broach sensitive military-related issues. The International Atomic Energy Agency hopes to persuade Iran to finally...
The family of a Saudi woman student who died of heart problems has said her university prevented medics from getting to her in time because of rules barring men from the women-only part of the campus, Saudi media reported. The King Saud University in Riyadh denied the accusation...
Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan appealed for Libyans to avoid violence in settling a standoff over their interim parliament, whose mandate was due to run out on Friday with the country deeply divided over its future. Two-and-a-half years since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's...
Syria evacuated three busloads of civilians from a besieged area of Homs on Friday, the first stage of a planned three-day humanitarian ceasefire in the city which has suffered some of the worst devastation of Syria's three-year conflict. The buses carrying dozens of weary-looking...
Israel's right-wing foreign minister on Friday defended U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry whose Middle East peace drive has seen mounting criticism from within the Israeli government. The conciliatory remarks by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who has previously been a vocal...
Aid agencies working in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem expressed alarm on Friday at a spike in Israeli demolitions of Palestinian property coinciding with renewed U.S.-backed peace negotiations. The statement by 25 aid organizations said the number of demolitions...