NEWSWORTHY
Push on last IS enclave stalled by surprise discovery of civilians
The offensive on the last enclave held by the Islamic State group in eastern Syria has been blunted by the discovery of hundreds of civilians still living there, a commander with the Kurdish-led force fighting the extremists said Friday. The U.S.-backed force known as the ...
U.S. general recommends arming and aiding Syrian fighters after pullout
The United States should keep arming and aiding the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) following the planned U.S. withdrawal from Syria, provided the group keeps up the pressure on Islamic State, a senior U.S. general said Friday. The recommendation by Army Gen. Joseph Votel, who ...
U.S. says no timeline for Syria withdrawal as 'final blows' continue
The United States has no timeline for the withdrawal of American troops from Syria but does not plan to stay indefinitely, a senior State Department official said on Friday, sending a strong signal that U.S. forces could stay until the fight against Islamic State ...
UNICEF warns 1 million Syrian children are at risk if Idlib assault happens
More than a million Syrian children are at risk in the event of a government military assault on the rebel-held province of Idlib, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Friday. Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF's director of emergency programs, said that the agency has drawn up ...
Standoff over Syria: U.S. and Russia trade chemical weapons warnings
The U.S. and Russia exchanged warnings about a possible chemical attack in Syria and a Western military intervention in response, on the eve of what may be one of the decisive campaigns in the Middle Eastern country's civil war. Tensions between the nuclear powers flared ...
Osaka student fights for Syrians' right to study in safety in Japan
When Yahya Almasri heard Japan had closed the door on other students fleeing war, he decided he had to do something.
Chemical weapons watchdog finds 'chlorinated chemicals' in Douma, site of attack by Syrian regime
A preliminary report by the world's chemical weapons watchdog says "various chlorinated chemicals" were found at the site of an April attack in Douma, Syria, that killed dozens of civilians and prompted airstrikes by Britain, France and the United States. The Organisation for the Prohibition ...
Defying the United States, Assad presses assault in southwest Syria
Syrian government helicopters dropped barrel bombs on opposition areas of the country's southwest on Friday for the first time in a year, a war monitor and rebel officials said, in defiance of U.S. demands that President Bashar Assad halt the assault. Assad has sworn to ...
Syrian state media said Monday that U.S.-led coalition aircraft had bombed "one of our military positions" in eastern Syria, leading to deaths and injuries, but the U.S. military denied carrying out strikes in the area. The strike took place in al-Harra, southeast of Albu Kamal, ...
Pair whose teen graffiti lit Syrian war brace for regime attack on hometown
"Your turn, doctor." Seven years after scribbling the anti-Assad slogan that sparked Syria's war, activists-turned-rebels Moawiya Sayasina and Samer Sayasina are bracing for a regime assault on their hometown, Daraa. They were just 15 when they and friends, inspired by the Arab Spring revolutions they ...
Syria — nothing but endless dilemmas
It is becoming ever harder to work out who is on whose side, who should be backing whom, and to what end.
Syrian air defenses shoot down missiles over two air bases, reports say
Syrian anti-aircraft defenses shot down missiles fired at the Syrian air base of Shayrat in Homs province late on Monday and another base northeast of the capital, Damascus, Syria's state television and pro-Iranian Hezbollah media said. State television showed pictures of a missile that was ...
