Syrians vote as peace talks resume
Syrians voted in a parliamentary election in government-held areas of the country yesterday in a show of support for President Bashar al-Assad.
Syrians voted in a parliamentary election in government-held areas of the country yesterday in a show of support for President Bashar al-Assad.
Syria's democratic opposition is combing through this week's release of the "Panama Papers" to revitalise efforts to identify and freeze billions of dollars amassed by the family and friends of their country's dictator, Bashar al-Assad.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, with his sudden move to withdraw Russian forces from Syria, once more caught international observers by surprise.
COMMENT: The announcement makes it explicit that Putin has no interest in giving Assad the support he'd need to take on the forces of Isis.
Putin's announcement that Russia will begin withdrawing the "main part" of its military from Syria is a surprise potential end to a six-month intervention.
For five years Syria has suffered through a civil war that has tortured its people and destroyed the country, writes World Vision's Chris Clarke. For five years too long children have witnessed things no one should ever see.
There are over a million refugees living in Europe. Living in squalid and challenging conditions. And witness how that influx of humanity has destabilised Europe, writes Rachel Smalley.
Russian's plan is "the best opportunity the Syrian people have had over the past five years for lasting peace and stability".
A cessation of hostilities in Syria has come into effect under a ceasefire warring sides in the five-year conflict have committed to.
The Turkish government, in league with Saudi Arabia, made a tentative decision to enter the war on the ground in Syria, writes Gwynne Dyer.
An airstrike in Syrian destroyed a makeshift clinic supported by Doctors Without Borders, in a series of attacks that hit hospitals and schools killing at least 50.
A cessation is the most basic good-faith requirement as a first step towards discussions about what peace may look like, writes Alexander Gillespie.
Ceasefire means little as rebels hold various factions at bay and children typically become the victims.
Up to 70,000 Syrians are heading for Turkey, threatening to send a new wave of refugees into Europe as Syria's civil war intensifies.
Abdel Razzak had to be carried on a chair in agony for two months to reach Lebanon after he was shot in the abdomen in Syria's civil war.
Children waved small photocopied Syrian flags as New Zealand welcomed its first extra intake of refugees from the war-torn nation at Mangere today.
NZ is leading urgent talks at the UN on a desperate humanitarian crisis in the Syrian town of Madaya, where besieged residents are reported to be dying of starvation.
In the years since the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, Alaa Aljaleel has become his hometown's unofficial feline caretaker.
Western countries face the prospect of being dragged further into the war in Syria as it prepares to support a new "ground army" from Muslim nations.
The number of foreign fighters who have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join militant groups such as Isis has more than doubled according to a study.
Corbyn called the plan for strikes an 'ill-fated twist in never-ending war on terror', but lost the support of his caucus.
Special Ops task force will expand US troops' direct involvement in battling Isis commanders.
Twelve years ago, George W Bush gave his "Mission Accomplished" speech from the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, confident that the Saddam Hussein regime had been....
Before the Syrian conflict, the country suffered a severe drought. Resulting crop failures sent over 1.5 million people into urban centres that contributed to the destabilisation of the country and devastating civil war.
The immense human toll is a far more immediate and obvious concern.
At least 36 people have been killed in air strikes by Russian and Syrian jets on Islamic State-controlled Deir Ezzor province, a monitor said.
The U.S. faces the dilemma of whether to take in refugees from the Syrian civil war, but it could prove beneficial for the economy.
France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier will be deployed to the eastern Mediterranean to boost operations in Syria.
The Paris attacks and the largely stalemated war in Iraq and Syria have prompted heavy criticism of Barack Obama's handling of the fight against Isis.