The European Union will closely watch the political process developing in Syria and stand by the country if it moves toward a peaceful and open future but it will not back Syria's Islamization, Germany's foreign minister said on Friday.

By Riham Alkousaa DAMASCUS (Reuters) -All Syrian groups, including women and Kurds, must be involved in the country's transition if Damascus wants European support, Germany's foreign minister said after a closely-watched first meeting with the new de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Friday.

Since ousting Assad, Syria’s new rulers have sought to reassure Arab countries and the international community that they will govern on behalf of all Syrians and not export Islamist revolution

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot have visited Syria to initiate negotiations on behalf of the European Union, marking the first visit by EU foreign ministers to the current Syrian government.

Some 50 tonnes of EU-funded medical supplies that were due to enter Syria from Turkey on December 31 have been delayed and won't cross the border until next week, a UN health official told AFP on Monday.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is travelling to Syria for a one-day trip with her French counterpart on behalf of the EU, where she will meet with the leader of Syria's new rulers, Ahmed al-Sharaa,

Syria's new rebel-led authorities say supporters of ousted President Bashar al-Assad have killed 14 interior ministry troops in an "ambush" in the west of the country. They say 10 other troops were wounded in the fighting on Tuesday near the Mediterranean port of Tartous, a stronghold of Assad's minority Alawite Muslim sect.

The decision underscores the White House’s wariness about removing the broad sanctions on Syria until the direction taken by its new leaders, led by a group the U.S. labels a te

The world bid farewell to 2024 which forged a phase marked by its democratic struggles, political reforms, and major shifts in power. From the streets of

This military achievement boosted the Kurdish standing in the US and revived their aspirations to achieve autonomy in the area they occupy, on the lines of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) that enjoys a quasi-state status in Iraq.

“In battles yesterday and today near just one village, Makhnovka, the Russian army lost up to a battalion of North Korean infantry soldiers and Russian paratroops,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly address yesterday, calling the losses “significant.”