The Union of Free Syrian Students held its first founding conference in Istanbul, Turkey, days ago, with physical and electronic attendance of representatives elected by 55 Syrian student societies in Syria and abroad. A member of the founding committee of the Union, Amjad Al-Sari told...

 When Syrian opposition took over Idlib at the beginning of the Syrian revolution in 2011, dozens of pro-Bashar al-Assad militants and corrupt officials had fled the northern province to nearby cities, while some headed to Turkey and Europe like Yasser Salim Al-Asaad. At the start...

Turkey dismissed prospects of any imminent ceasefire in Libya on Monday, saying any deal incorporating the conflict's existing front lines would not benefit the Ankara-backed Government of National Accord. In an interview with state broadcaster TRT Haber, Foreign Minister Mevlut...

Daily cases of coronavirus infection in Russia has remained above 6,000 for the third week in a row, an official report revealed on Monday. Another 6,537 infections were registered in the country over the past 24 hours, bringing the current overall count to 733,699, the country's...

The Syrian opposition claims the government delegation to the Geneva peace talks is coming up with new conditions, making it difficult to move forward. Opposition spokesman Yahya Aridi said Tuesday that the Damascus delegation told U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura they won't negotiate...

Turkey's president on Sunday underlined that the Hagia Sophia's status is an internal matter, urging other countries to respect the final decision of the country. "The final decision-maker on the status of the Hagia Sophia is the Turkish nation, not others. This is our internal affair,"...

US: With the United States grappling with the worst coronavirus outbreak in the world, Florida hit a grim milestone Sunday, shattering the national record for a state's largest single-day increase in positive cases. Deaths from the virus have also been rising in the US, especially in the...

Teachers in the Kurdish-held part of eastern Deir Ezzor province have refused to replace the UNICEF curricula with a Kurdish educational program in the elementary schools, activists said Sunday. The curriculum is promoting the Kurdish militant movement and personalities in a region that...

The novel coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 20,000 people across the Middle East, half of them in Iran, according to an AFP tally at 1000 GMT Sunday based on official tolls. But despite having 907,736 reported infections and 20,005 deaths from the COVID-19 illness, the Middle East...

At least 10 pro-Iran militants were killed Sunday in a Daesh (ISIS) attack in the eastern countryside of Homs province, local news site said.  Daesh jihadists have stormed Iran-run bastions near the town of al-Sukhna, leaving dozens more wounded.  Most of the slain...

The government of Spain's Catalonia region on Sunday ordered residents in and around the northeastern town of Lerida to go back into home confinement as cases of coronavirus spiked. "The people must stay at home," regional health official Alba Verges told a news conference. The area,...

Florida has registered more than 15,000 new cases of coronavirus in a day, easily breaking a record for a US state previously held by California, according to official numbers published Sunday. The total of 15,299 cases in the hard-hit southeastern state was up sharply, 47 percent above the...

The Trump administration on Sunday again pressed for full school reopenings in the fall, even as resurgent COVID-19 infections raised mounting criticism that a premature return to classes could pose a danger of greater spread of the disease. With the virus setting new records by the day in...

Jordan's King Abdullah II said Sunday that his country had successfully brought the novel coronavirus "under control" and that it was time to focus on restarting the economy. "We have successfully dealt with the coronavirus, which today is under control in Jordan," he said during a meeting...

The Palestinian Authority on Sunday imposed a night-time and weekend curfew on the occupied West Bank for the coming 14 days to try and rein in rising coronavirus numbers. "Travel will be prohibited daily from 8:00 pm (1700 GMT) to 6:00 am in all governorates," as well as from Thursday...

Pope Francis on Sunday joined an international chorus of condemnation of Turkey's decision to convert Istanbul's iconic Hagia Sophia landmark back into a mosque. "I think of Hagia Sophia, and I am very saddened," Pope Francis said towards the end of his midday sermon in Saint Peter's...

Arch-foes Armenia and Azerbaijan traded accusations of launching a military offensive using artillery fire along their shared border on Sunday, with Baku reporting two troops killed. Azerbaijan's defence ministry said Armenia's "offensive" from its northern Tavush region was met with a...

Lewis Hamilton secured his first win of the season and the 85th of his career with a perfectly-judged victory from pole position as Mercedes delivered a one-two finish in Sunday's Styrian Grand Prix. The six-time world champion bounced back from a disappointing season-opening Austrian Grand...

Libya’s Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha held talks via video conference on Sunday with the acting head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, Stephanie Williams, to discuss Libyan plans to reform the security sector.  "We are determined to move forward in implementing the...

Yemeni forces seized an arms shipment to Houthi rebels in Al-Hudaydah province in western Yemen, according to the army on Sunday.  A military statement said the shipment included light and medium weapons, ammunition and mortar shells. According to the statement, government forces...