AFP - Poland signed on Wednesday a $4.75 billion (3.8-billion-euro) contract to purchase a US-made Patriot anti-missile system, a move that is likely to irk Russia as East-West tensions rise.

AFP - Thousands of Syrian rebels and civilians arrived in opposition territory on Wednesday after having evacuated their Eastern Ghouta enclave near Damascus, an AFP correspondent said.

Buses carrying opposition fighters, their relatives, and other civilians began arriving at a transit point in northwestern Syria around dawn, after travelling all night from Ghouta.

AFP - The United States joined Britain's allies in Europe and around the world Monday in expelling scores of suspected Russian spies in an unprecedented response to a nerve agent attack.

AFP - A new group of Syrian rebels and civilians prepared to leave Eastern Ghouta on Monday after the largest exodus yet from the opposition enclave, as talks stalled over the final pocket of resistance.

AFP - French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday backed Britain’s charge that Russia was responsible for the nerve agent poisoning of a former spy, saying there was “no other plausible explanation”.

AFP - The UN Human Rights Council on Monday ordered an immediate probe into the situation in Syria's besieged rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta, as aid arrived there for the first time in weeks.

The council approved a resolution calling on war crimes investigators to "urgently conduct a comprehensive and independent inquiry into recent events in Eastern Ghouta."

REUTERS - Iran said pro-Damascus forces would press ahead with attacks on an insurgent enclave near the Syrian capital, as ground fighting raged on there following a U.N. resolution demanding a 30-day truce across the country.

AFP - Syrian regime air strikes and artillery fire hit the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta for a sixth straight day Friday as the world struggled to reach a deal to stop the carnage.

More than 400 civilians have been killed in one of the seven-year Syrian conflict's bloodiest episodes and rescuers were finding more bodies buried in the rubble.

AFP - Syria's army launched a new deadly aerial campaign on Damascus's rebel-held Eastern Ghouta region on February 18, with daily bombardments since then turning it into "hell on Earth".

AFP - Turkey on Thursday said it planned to host in Istanbul a new three-way summit on Syria with the presidents of Russia and Iran aimed at reviving a drive to bring peace to the country.