war
Syrian war: UN to expand aid amid partial truce
The UN says it plans to deliver aid to about 150,000 Syrians in besieged areas over the next five days amid a partial truce in the country's civil war. It said it was ready to help an estimated 1.7 million people in hard-to-reach areas by the end of March. A cessation of hostilities began on Saturday and there have been...
Syrian war: Russia reports nine truce violations
The truce in Syria has been violated nine times in the past 24 hours, says Russia, but is otherwise holding. A temporary cessation of hostilities was agreed as part of a US-Russian plan and is now in its second day. Reports say warplanes have attacked villages to the west of Aleppo. It it is unclear whether the planes were...
SYRIA CRISIS: Landmark ceasefire begins after almost five years of bloody civil war
A LANDMARK but fragile temporary ceasefire has come into force in Syria after almost five years of civil war. The truce, agreed by 97 fighting groups including the Syrian government and Russian airforce, came into effect at midnight local time. But the United Nations quickly warned that the fragile ceasefire will be breached...
Syria conflict: Temporary truce comes into effect
The first major truce in Syria's five-year civil war has come into effect. The "cessation of hostilities" began at midnight (22:00 GMT Friday) with early reports suggesting that guns had fallen silent over major battlefields. UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura said fighting had "calmed down"...
A look at proposed cease-fire set to begin in Syria
Secretary of State John Kerry told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday that the agreement has already allowed five or six Syrian communities to receive 114 trucks carrying assistance and that 80,000 people now have supplies for a month that they did not have a week ago. The truce is needed before U.N.-led peace...
Ceasefire brings hope for ending ‘proxy war’ in Syria, no truce with ISIS – Obama
The US is skeptical about the Syrian ceasefire, but will do everything it can to make it work, President Barack Obama said after meeting with top security officials. The truce will not apply to Islamic State or Al-Nusra, the president added. Speaking to reporters at the State Department following a meeting of the National...
One chart that shows the world’s biggest arms dealers – and who’s buying
Asia was the main importer of weapons in the last five years The number of major weapons switching hands around the world was up 14 per cent in the last five years, compared to the five years before that. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent resource on global security, has released a...
Russia and US agree ceasefire in Syria as Putin calls it a chance to stop ISIS ‘bloodshed’
THE US and Russia, who are opposite sides in Syria's bloody civil war, have agreed on a new plan for a cease-fire in the war-ravaged country to begin on Saturday. The truce would mean an end to fighting between the Syrian regime and all major opposition groups except for al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate and the Islamic State...
Syria conflict: US-Russia brokered truce to start at weekend
The US and Russia have announced that a planned cessation of hostilities in Syria will come into effect at midnight on 27 February. Their statement said the truce did not include so-called Islamic State (IS) and the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front. World powers agreed on 12 February that a truce would come into effect within a...
Syria conflict: IS claims deadly Homs and Damascus blasts
The Islamic State group says it carried out bomb attacks in the Syrian capital Damascus and the city of Homs, which left at least 140 people dead. Four blasts in the southern Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab killed at least 83 people, state media say. Earlier in Homs, 57 people, mainly civilians, were killed in a double car...
Syria conflict: Homs and Damascus blasts kill more than 100
Bomb blasts in the Syrian cities of Homs and Damascus have left more than 100 people dead, monitors and state media say. In Homs, at least 57 people, mainly civilians, were killed in a double car bombing, a monitoring group reported. At least four blasts later struck the southern Damascus suburb of Sayyida Zeinab, causing at...
EXCLUSIVE: British Government accused of snubbing Commonwealth war heroes for EU migrants
THE British Government has been accused of ostracising Commonwealth countries in favour of the European Union (EU). Commonwealth leaders are becoming increasingly concerned over their countries' futures as Prime Minister David Cameron pushes for Britain to remain in the EU. This week 80 business and community leaders from...