Syria

U.N. Syria envoy delays peace talks to ensure players are serious

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GENEVA The start of a new round of peace talks on the Syrian war has been pushed back by two days so that U.N. mediator Staffan de Mistura can travel to Damascus and Tehran to sound out their position on a political transition, the envoy said on Thursday.

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Syrian rebels seize Islamic State stronghold - monitor, sources 1:19am BST

AMMAN Syrian rebel forces on Thursday took over a town near the Turkish border that had been the main stronghold of Islamic State in the northern Aleppo countryside, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and rebel sources said.

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Turkey investigating Russian claims on smuggled Syrian antiquities 07 Apr 2016

ISTANBUL Turkey is investigating Russian claims that Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq have profited from smuggling stolen antiquities through its territory, but it believes the charges are politically motivated, a Turkish official said on Thursday.

Syrian state TV, monitor say workers kidnapped by Islamic State 07 Apr 2016

BEIRUT Islamic State fighters have kidnapped scores of workers in an area northeast of Damascus after launching an attack on government forces there this week, Syrian state television and a monitoring group said on Thursday.

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U.S., Turkey discuss ways Syrian opposition can push Islamic State east 07 Apr 2016

ANKARA U.S. officials are discussing with the Turkish military and government how the moderate Syrian opposition can push Islamic State farther east in Syria, Washington's ambassador to Ankara said on Thursday.

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Turkey grants temporary protection to Syrians returned from Greek islands 07 Apr 2016

ISTANBUL Turkey will grant temporary protection status to Syrian migrants sent back from Greek islands, the government said on Thursday, a step required under an agreement with the European Union to combat illegal migration.

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Islamic State nets millions from antiquities - Russia 06 Apr 2016

UNITED NATIONS Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq are netting between $150 million and $200 million a year from illicit trade in plundered antiquities, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations said in a letter released on Wednesday.

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Islamic State attacks Syrian forces near Damascus 06 Apr 2016

BEIRUT Islamic State fighters launched attacks on government-held areas near Damascus overnight in what a Syrian source said appeared to be a response to the group's loss of ground elsewhere.

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Syrian army and allies launch attack south of Aleppo 06 Apr 2016

BEIRUT The Syrian army and its allies launched a major attack on insurgents south of Aleppo, described as the fiercest government assault in the area since an agreement to ease the fighting came into effect in February.

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Nusra Front confirms senior Syrian figure killed in U.S. strike 06 Apr 2016

BEIRUT Al Qaeda's Syrian offshoot Nusra Front confirmed on Wednesday that their spokesman and veteran jihadist fighter Abu Firas al-Suri was killed in a U.S. air strike in Syria.

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Syrian warplane shot down, pilot captured

Rough Cut
 Syrian warplane shot down, pilot captured

Islamist rebels have shot down a Syrian warplane and reportedly captured its pilot in an area south of Aleppo where insurgents are battling the Syrian army and allied militias. Rough Cut - Subtitled (no reporter narration).