Gabbard's sympathetic views toward Russia cause alarm as Trump's pick to lead intelligence services

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tulsi Gabbard, President-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead the U.S. intelligence services, in 2022 endorsed one of Russia's main justifications for invading Ukraine: the existence of dozens of U.S.-funded biolabs working on some of the world's nastiest pathogens. ...

Israeli strikes kill at least 12 Lebanese rescuers and 15 people in Syria

BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli airstrike killed at least 12 Lebanese rescue workers on Thursday inside a civil defense center in the eastern city of Baalbek, according to health and rescue officials, hours after state media in Syria said Israeli strikes in and around the capital killed at least 15...

Turkey's Erdogan says he remains hopeful about reconciliation with Syria

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he remains hopeful that a reconciliation with Syrian President Bashar Assad can be achieved to end more than a decade of tensions between their two neighboring countries, state-run media reported on Wednesday. ...

UN force says Israeli work on Syrian frontier saw 'severe violations' of cease-fire after AP report

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — United Nations peacekeepers warned Tuesday that the Israeli military has committed “severe violations” of a cease-fire deal with Syria as its military continues a major construction project along the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-occupied...

UN force says Israeli project on Syria border saw 'severe violations' of a cease-fire deal after AP report on work there

US military strikes Iranian-backed militia targets in Syria

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. struck nine targets at two locations in Syria Monday to hit Iranian-aligned militias that had launched attacks on U.S. personnel over the last 24 hours, U.S. Central Command said. No U.S. personnel were injured in the attacks, but as of late Monday the...

Israel's military is building along UN-patrolled demilitarized zone in Syria, satellite images show

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel has begun a construction project along the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria, apparently laying asphalt for a road right along the frontier, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press show. ...

Satellite photos show Israel building along Syria demilitarized zone. UN tells AP Israel troops entered zone during work

While Syrian refugees don't want to return, officials in Lebanon and Syria see exodus as opportunity

BEIRUT (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees have returned to their country since Israel launched a massive aerial bombardment on wide swathes of Lebanon in September. Many who fled to Lebanon after the war in Syria started in 2011 did not want to go back. But for...

Leader of the free world has never been a role Trump has embraced. The world has gotten the message

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. presidents usually at least pay lip service to being leaders of the free world, at the helm of a mighty democracy and military that allies worldwide can rally around and reasonably depend on for support in return. Not so under President-elect Donald Trump, a...