Syrian government troops captured a fiercely contested suburb of the capital Thursday after five months of heavy fighting, flushing rebels from their last hideouts and quickly moving to crush pockets of resistance in the surrounding countryside, activists and state media said. The fall of Mleiha, located some 10 km southeast …

A massive Russian “humanitarian” convoy closed in on Ukraine’s border today despite doubts over whether the trucks would be allowed across, and as deadly fighting rocked rebel-held strongholds. The nearly 300 vehicles headed towards southeastern Ukraine, even as intense shelling there in the insurgent bastions of Donetsk and Lugansk ~ …

Clashes between Iraqi troops and Sunni militants west of Baghdad killed at least four children today as the United Nations announced its highest level of emergency for the Arab country’s humanitarian crisis in the wake of the onslaught by the extremist Islamic State group. Since their blitz offensive in June, …