Middle Orient News

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says that half of Syria’s population now “urgently need humanitarian aid”. He was speaking at a donor conference in Kuwait to raise funds for the worsening humanitarian crisis.

A major donor conference began in Kuwait as part of a UN appeal to raise donations for Syria, Wednesday.

At least 16 people were killed and 69 others wounded in a wave of violent attacks in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Wednesday, police said.

Turkey should re-calibrate its Syrian diplomacy and security policies in the face of realities, President Abdullah Gül urged Jan. 14 in his address to Turkish ambassadors convened in Ankarafor an annual conference. 

A split has emerged between the US and Russia over Iran’s participation in Syrian peace talks planned for next week. 

US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Monday called for “localised ceasefires” in Syria ahead of peace talks later this month in Switzerland.

US diplomat John Kerry meets his Russian counterpart on Monday after trying to entice Syrian rebels into Geneva peace talks by vowing to exclude the Moscow-backed Damascus regime from any future transition government.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived here on Monday for talks with Iraqi top officials over range of regional issues, including the crisis in Syria and crisis in Iraq’s Anbar province, an official television reported.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is hitting the road again from January 11 to the 15 for discussions about the war in Syria in France.

The Turkish government removed police chiefs in 16 provinces, including the capital of Ankara overnight amid a corruption probe that has shaken the country, local media reported on Wednesday.