BAGHDAD, IRAQ, Nicolas Revise- US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Baghdad on Friday to back Iraq's government as it battles jihadists, struggles with a financial crisis and attempts to carry...

BEIRUT, LEBANON- A Lebanese military court sentenced former information minister Michel Samaha to 13 years in prison with hard labour on Friday for attempting to carry out "terrorist acts", a...

MANAMA, BAHRAIN- US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived Wednesday in Bahrain where he is expected to discuss human rights and regional conflicts ahead of a Gulf summit to be attended by President...

DAMASCUS, SYRIA- Around 250 Syrian civilians are feared kidnapped after an attack by the Islamic State jihadist group on a cement factory east of Damascus, residents told AFP on Thursday. "We haven't...

UNITED NATIONS, UNITED STATES- Fewer UN relief convoys are reaching starving civilians in Syria's besieged areas, prompting the United States on Tuesday to call for renewed pressure on the Damascus...

WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES- US President Barack Obama said Tuesday that destroying the Islamic State (IS) group remains his "top priority" at a time when the jihadist group continues to lose ground in...

AL-QARYATAIN, SYRIA, Sammy Ketz and Maher Al Mounes- On the wall of a monastery in Syria's desert, jihadists from the Islamic State group left a grim warning: "The lions of the caliphate are here to...

BEIRUT, LEBANON, Rouba El Husseini with Sammy Ketz in Al-Qaryatain- A US air strike in Syria targeted Al-Qaeda members, reportedly killing its spokesman, and the Islamic State group has been forced...

BEIRUT, LEBANON- The spokesman for Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, Al-Nusra Front, his son and 20 other jihadists were killed in air strikes Sunday in the northeast of the country, a monitor said. Abu...