Middle Orient

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.

A first shipment of chemical materials was moved from Syria on Tuesday, which initiated the process of transferring chemical weapons from the country to locations outside its territory for destruction.

The Turkish authorities have detained a truck loaded with weapons which was heading to Syria, in the province of Hatay, Turkey.

The United States condemns the ongoing air assault by Syrian government forces on civilians, including the indiscriminate use of SCUD missiles and barrel bombs in and around Aleppo over the last week, the White House said on

Syrian warplanes have killed more than 300 people, including 87 children, in an eight-day bombing campaign against rebel-held parts of the northern city of Aleppo, a monitor said Dec. 23.