Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad must leave office or face being removed by force, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said, rejecting Russia’s bid to build support for its ally. Speaking in New York after meeting Saudi Arabia’s allies, Jubeir on Tuesday dismissed Russia’s call for a coalition to defend Assad against ISIS as a “non-starter.” He warned that other countries would ...

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Monday chaired a cabinet session in which “false and misleading accusations” over the Kingdom’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis were addressed. Almost 2.5 million Syrians have been received by Saudi Arabia since the start of the civil war, state news agency SPA reported. Adel Altoraifi, the Minister of Culture and Information, said Saudi Arabia ...

Civilians in Aleppo city undergoing huge suffering because of deliberate cuts to water supply, humanitarian agency says.   Rival sides in the conflict continue to trade blame over who is responsible for the lack of water [Al Jazeera] Civilians in the city of Aleppo are undergoing enormous suffering because of deliberate cuts to water and electricity supplies, the International Committee ...

This Monday, Aug. 31, 2015 satellite image provided by UNITAR-UNOSAT shows damage to the main building of the ancient Temple of Bel in the Palmyra, Syria. The main building has been destroyed, a United Nations agency said. The image was taken a day after a massive explosion was set off near the 2,000-year-old temple in the city occupied by Islamic ...

AZRAQ REFUGEE CAMP, Jordan –  Jordan’s second-largest refugee camp for Syrian refugees now has a water well and a new school. The projects are part of long-term investments in the still-growing Syrian refugee population as the conflict drags on. A new remedial school aims to support 1,300 students. The well, Azraq’s first, will cut water costs in half by avoiding ...

ABU DHABI: As part of a multi-activity project funded by the United Arab Emirates to improve the overall water, sanitation and hygiene conditions for Syrian refugees in the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, the Ministry of International Cooperation and Development (MICAD) and UNHCR announced that work is in progress to establish a full-scale waste-water and drainage with a system in ...

The military tribunal sentenced two Syrian nationals in absentia and a Lebanese citizen, who is in custody, in connection with a Syria-bound cargo ship laden with arms that was seized in 2012 in Lebanese territorial waters, a judicial source told The Daily Star Thursday. The source said that the two Syrians were sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment, while the ...

  A Syrian Coalition official accused the Kurdish militia Peoples Protection Units (YPG) of being a ‘radical extremist group’ alligned with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, according to a report on National Coaltion of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces’ website.     A Syrian Coalition official accused the Kurdish militia Peoples Protection Units (YPG) of being a ‘radical extremist group’ alligned ...

* U.N. FAO/WFP see Syria 2015 wheat crop at 2.445 mln tonnes * Wheat harvested area smallest since 1960s * War hampering agricultural output despite ample rain By Maha El Dahan ABU DHABI, July 23 (Reuters) – Conflict-torn Syria’s wheat production has been estimated at 2.445 million tonnes in 2015 by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the ...

BEIRUT (AFP) – Al Qaeda s Syrian affiliate has offered to release three Lebanese soldiers in exchange for an ex-wife of the leader of the militant Islamic State group and four other female prisoners. Al-Nusra Front, which along with IS has held 25 Lebanese soldiers and policemen hostage for almost a year, issued the offer in a statement aired on Lebanon s ...