Syrian forces enter IS-held Palmyra; intense clashes with IS
By ALBERT AJI and SINAN SALAHEDDIN Backed by Russian airstrikes, Syrian government forces on Thursday pushed into the ancient town of Palmyra that has been held by the Islamic State…
Beirut
Gulf nations declare Lebanon’s Hezbollah a terrorist group
By ADAM SCHRECK A Saudi-led bloc of six Gulf Arab nations formally branded Hezbollah a terrorist organization on Wednesday, ramping up the pressure on the Lebanese militant group fighting on…
IS beheads leading Syrian antiquities scholar in Palmyra
By ALBERT AJI and BASSEM MROUE Islamic State militants beheaded a leading Syrian antiquities scholar who spent most of his life looking after the ancient ruins of Palmyra, then hung…
Shelling, strikes before Iran foreign minister’s Syria visit
By BASSEM MROUE Heavy rebel shelling and government airstrikes hit around Syria’s capital Wednesday, killing at least 16 people and wounding scores more just hours before the arrival of Iranian…
Experts: Pilot video shows militants are raising stakes
By ZEINA KARAM A video of a Jordanian pilot being burned to death was exceptional in its brutality, even for the Islamic State group, and also was a sign that…
Human Rights group blasts IS for atrocities
By BASSEM MROUE Human Rights Watch on Thursday blasted Islamic State militants over their atrocities, but also criticized the “sectarian and abusive” policies of the Syrian and Iraqi governments, saying…
Lebanese Hezbollah hits Israeli convoy, killing 2 soldiers
Missiles fired by the Lebanese Hezbollah group struck an Israeli military convoy on Wednesday, killing two soldiers in an apparent retaliation for a deadly airstrike attributed to Israel that killed…
Watchdog accuses Syria’s Kurdish party of abuses
By BARBARA SURK United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Antonio Guterres greets a Syrian child during his visit to Khaldeh, south of Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, June 19, 2014. Guterres…