Middle Orient

Hard—line Islamic rebels captured a small town in northwestern Syria near the Turkish border as part of their offensive in the rugged coastal region that is a bastion of support for President Bashar Assad, activists said Monday. Fighters from an array of armed opposition groups, including the al—Qaida—linked Nusra Front, …

Shootouts between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad died down in Tripoli, northern Lebanon on Friday after heavy fighting in the past 24 hours, three deaths.

The Syrian air force bombed a northwest suburb of Damascus Wednesday, killing eight people and violated a truce that had been in place since October, activists said.

The trilateral meeting between the foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan held for creating designs for the expansion of relations in the political, economic and cultural wrapped by issuing a joint statement in the eastern

Syrian jets launched air strikes on Friday on mountainous areas in Lebanon, activists and the Lebanese National Agency reported. The jets struck areas in the hills of Kherbet Younine near Lebanon’s north-eastern town of Arsal.

The US revealed that the Bashar Al-Assad regime in Syria has arrested relatives of opposition members and taken other punitive measures, following the failure of the Geneva II meetings earlier this month.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Monday urged the Syrian regime to comply with the Geneva Press track and contribute to efforts to find and end the conflict . Updating Parliament on the situation in Syria , Hague said : ” On Saturday the Security Council of the United Nations …

The United Nations Security Council has voted unanimously to pass a resolution requiring full access of humanitarian aid into war torn Syria. The resolution demands that the Syrian government and opposition groups provide immediate access to allow aid to be delivered to millions of people in desperate need.

In a meeting with his Albanian counterpart Thursday, Speaker Nabih Berri spoke of improving ties with the Eastern European country in terms of trade and transport agreements.

The European Union (EU) announced Monday financial support of 12 million euro (USD 16.4 mn) to help destroy Syrian chemical stockpiles, by contributing to a Trust Fund established by the Organisation for the Prohibition of