Kurdish-led forces push back Turkish-backed Syrian rebels in a tense offensive

QAMISHLI, Syria (AP) — Kurdish-led fighters in Syria, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, said Tuesday they have launched a counter-offensive against the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army to take back areas near Syria’s northern border with Turkey. The Kurdish-led SDF is...

Cyprus can help rid Syria of chemical weapons and search for its missing, Cypriot top diplomat says

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday. Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos...

German Christmas market ramming is the latest attack to use vehicles as deadly weapons

LONDON (AP) — A car-ramming at a Christmas market in Germany, which police are treating as an attack, is the latest in a grim series of events in which vehicles have been used as deadly weapons. There have been a spate of such attacks over the past decade, some committed by groups...

Pentagon says it doubled the number of US troops in Syria before Assad's fall

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has more than doubled the number of its forces in Syria to fight the Islamic State group — a dramatic increase that the Pentagon revealed Thursday, acknowledging that the added troops have been there for months or even more than a year. The...

Pentagon says it more than doubled the number of US troops in Syria to counter the Islamic State group before Assad fell

Virginia man convicted of funneling money to Islamic State group

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A northern Virginia man targeted by an FBI sting operation has been convicted on terrorism charges for collecting funds on behalf of the Islamic State group. Mohammed Chhipa, 35, of Springfield, was convicted late Friday afternoon on all five counts against...

Syrians cheer end of 50 years of Assad rule at first Friday prayers since government fell

DAMASCUS (AP) — Exuberant Syrians observed the first Friday prayers since the ouster of President Bashar Assad, gathering in the capital's historic main mosque, its largest square and around the country to celebrate the end of half a century of authoritarian rule. The newly...

Niger junta suspends BBC accusing it of 'spreading false news' in coverage of attack

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Niger's ruling junta suspended the BBC for three months over the broadcaster's coverage of an extremist attack that allegedly killed dozens of Nigerien soldiers and civilians, authorities said Thursday. “BBC broadcasts false information aimed at...

Biden administration makes final diplomatic push for stability across a turbulent Mideast

AQABA, Jordan (AP) — Top U.S. officials were in the Middle East on Thursday, pushing for stability in Syria and an end to Israel’s 14-month war in the Gaza Strip in a last-ditch diplomatic push by the outgoing Biden administration before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in a few weeks....

Thousands attend the funeral of a Taliban minister killed by an Islamic State suicide bomber

GARDA SERAI, Afghanistan (AP) — Thousands of people attended the funeral on Thursday of a Taliban minister killed in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, the day before that was claimed by the Islamic State group. The funeral for Khalil Haqqani, the minister for...