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. ...

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. ...

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. ...

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...

Israel says it carried out ground raid into Syria, seizing a Syrian citizen connected to Iran

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military said Sunday it has carried out a ground raid into Syria, seizing a Syrian citizen involved in Iranian networks. It was the first time in the current war that Israel announced its troops operated in Syrian territory. Israel has carried out...

The Israeli military says it has seized a Syrian citizen in the current war's first announced ground operation in Syria

Kurdish leader in Syria calls for diplomatic solutions to conflict with Turkey

QAMISHLI, Syria (AP) — The leader of the U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in northeast Syria in an interview with The Associated Press called for international mediators to continue pushing for diplomatic solutions to the complex web of conflicts in the Middle Eastern country, including the escalating...

Violence spikes in Syria's opposition-held northwest, killing civilians and striking infrastructure

IDLIB, Syria (AP) — A U.N. official said Thursday that he is “alarmed” by escalating violence in Syria’s opposition-held northwest in recent days, including airstrikes that hit near a food distribution site for displaced families and others that struck a power station and disabled water...

Hundreds of fleeing families sleep on beaches and streets after Israel's strikes shake Beirut

BEIRUT (AP) — Smoke was still rising from Beirut’s southern suburbs Saturday morning, visible to many of the families who had fled their homes there the night before to escape Israel’s massive bombardment. It had been a harrowing night — getting out amid earthshaking...

Thousands are pouring into Syria, fleeing worsening conflict in Lebanon

JDEIDET YABOUS, Syria (AP) — Families fleeing the escalating conflict in Lebanon poured into Syria in growing numbers on Wednesday, waiting for hours in heavy traffic to reach the relative safety of another war-torn country. U.N. officials estimated that thousands of Lebanese and...