Middle Orient

Syrian army troops and Shi’ite militia fighters loyal to President Bashar al-Assad captured two southern suburbs of Damascus on Friday, killing at least 70 people, opposition activists said. The fighters, including some from the Lebanese Shi’ite movement Hezbollah and Iraqi Shi’ites backed by Syrian army tanks, searched al-Thiabiya and Husseiniya, …

Syrian air raids on rebel positions in the northern Aleppo and southern Deraa provinces killed 30 people Thursday, including civilians, a monitoring group said. Underscoring the complexity of the mission of chemical weapons now inside the country, a regime warplane bombed the rebel-held town of Safira, an

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday that he does not anticipate “any further role” for the military alliance in Syria. “There is no military solution to the conflict in Syria,” Rasmussen told a press conference in Athens with Greek Foreign Minister

Turkey’s parliament on Thursday extended for one year a mandate that would allow Ankara to order military strikes against Kurdish rebels holed up in neighbouring northern Iraq. The vote coincides with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s reforms to boost the rights of the country’s sizeable Kurdish community and secure an end to …

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen Thursday welcomed the adoption of the UNSC resolution for the elimination of Syrian chemical weapons. Rasmussen called for an international conference to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis. “This is a huge step forward,” he told his monthly press conference at NATO …

The EU will aid Bulgaria in its efforts to deal with the ongoing refugee influx, Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetlin Yovchev said after meeting his colleagues in Luxembourg. Yovchev did not specify on the sum of money Bulgaria is going to receive.

Russia and the United States agreed on how to eliminate chemical weapons in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday after meeting US Secretary of State John Kerry. “We have a common understanding of what needs to be done and how. I am very glad that President (Barack) Obama …

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday that Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad could take credit for quickly starting the process of destroying his government’s chemical weapons arsenal, and thanked Russia for its help. “The process has begun in record time and we are appreciative for the Russian cooperationand 

Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu Tuesday rejected Syrian claims that Ankara was supporting armed groups affiliated to Al-Qaeda, and allowing them to use Turkish territories to launch attacks on the Syrian regime. “Turkey has never provided any kind of support for these groups, and we do not allow our borders …

EU interior and justice ministers, during their meeting in Luxembourg Tuesday, had an in-depth discussion on Syria with particular reference to the protection of refugees, said the ministers in a statement tonight.