Syrian army and allies regain southern Aleppo district: monitor
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syria’s army and its allies have regained an important Aleppo district lost to rebels last month, state media and a war monitor said on Thursday, and were pressing an offensive south of the city to further squeeze the insurgents.
Kerry to meet Lavrov about Syria in Geneva on Friday
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva on Friday in an effort to move toward a political agreement to end the Syrian civil war, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday.
At least five killed in explosion in Syria’s Jarablus: Turkish security sources
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – At least five people were killed and 12 wounded in an Islamic State attack in the Syrian border town of Jarablus, Turkish security and hospital sources said on Thursday, only a day after civilians started returning to their homes i…
U.N. nuclear agency says Iran sticking to nuclear deal
VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran has kept to a nuclear deal it agreed with six world powers last year limiting its stockpiles of substances that could be used to make atomic weapons, a report by the U.N. nuclear agency found.
Turkish military says takes control of four settlements in Syria operation
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s military said on Thursday it had taken control of four residential areas in northern Syria as it presses an offensive to sweep Islamic State out of a patch of border territory and prevent Kurdish militia fighters gaining gro…
Britain, EU must work together for smooth divorce: PM May
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain and the European Union must work together to make their divorce smooth and forge a new “strong relationship”, Prime Minister Theresa May told European Council President Donald Tusk on Thursday.
Nine Yemeni civilians, four of them children, killed in air strike: residents
SANAA (Reuters) – At least nine civilians, including four children, were killed on Thursday in an air strike by the Saudi-led coalition on a residential building north of the Yemeni capital Sanaa, residents said.
Syrians on haj pray for peace; Damascus says Riyadh plays politics
MECCA, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – Syrians from territory held by opposing sides in the civil war prayed together for peace as they flew to Mecca for the haj, even as President Bashar al-Assad’s government accused Saudi Arabia of politicizing the annual M…
Fight for Iraqi city of Mosul may begin ‘soon’: U.S. military official
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The coalition fighting Islamic State will have to begin the fight for Mosul soon to meet Iraq’s aim of freeing the city by the end of the year, a U.S. military official said on Thursday, but he declined to say if the offensive wo…
U.S., Turkey see key role for local Syrian forces in Raqqa offensive: Pentagon
LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter and his Turkish counterpart Fikri Isik on Thursday discussed the importance of local forces being at the center of any effort to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from Islamic State, the Pentagon said….
