Syria

An Iranian plane owned by a company sanctioned by the United States for allegedly shipping weapons to Syria landed in Venezuela on Tuesday, according to an opposition Venezuelan lawmaker and flight tracking data.

The mother of Austin Tice, a freelance journalist and former U.S. Marine officer who disappeared while reporting in Syria in 2012, on Monday accused U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of undermining efforts to free her son.

Hundreds of mourners including Syria's religious affairs minister attended a funeral in Damascus on Friday for the state's top Muslim cleric, who was killed in a bombing near the capital.

After tackling war in Syria, Oscar-nominated Evgeny Afineevsky wanted his next documentary to send a message of hope, so he chose as its subject the only world leader he believes capable of uniting humanity: Pope Francis.

Turkey is withdrawing troops from a military post in northwest Syria that was surrounded by Syrian government forces last year, but is consolidating its presence elsewhere in the region, sources familiar with the operation said on Monday.

A White House official traveled to Damascus earlier this year for secret meetings with the Syrian government seeking the release of at least two U.S. citizens thought to be held there, a Trump administration official said on Sunday.

Bombing of civilians by Syrian and Russian armed forces during a campaign against the last rebel bastion in northwest Syria may amount to crimes against humanity, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report on Thursday.

Turkey's foreign minister angrily dismissed European Union calls to withdraw troops from northeast Syria on Tuesday, accusing it of double standards and trying to lecture Ankara on human rights and international law.

The sprawling Najha cemetery outside Damascus, resting place for thousands of dead from Syria's wars, is struggling to cope with a surge in victims from the country's latest conflict - the largely unacknowledged battle with COVID-19.