APRNEWS - Qatar's foreign minister ruled out on Monday the possibility of re-opening an embassy in Damascus, in line with some other Gulf countries, calling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a war criminal.

APRNEWS - The U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State has begun the process of withdrawing from Syria, its spokesman said on Friday, affirming the start of a pullout that has been clouded by mixed messages from U.S. officials.

APRNEWS - Syria's information ministry says the United Arab Emirates will reopen its embassy in Damascus for the first time in seven years.

The ministry gave no further details other than inviting journalists to cover the event at the embassy in central Damascus later on Thursday.

APRNEWS - Kurdish-led forces on Thursday moved deep into Hajin, the main village in the last pocket still held by the Islamic State group in eastern Syria, a war monitor said.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with support from air strikes conducted by the US-led coalition, deployed across the Euphrates Valley village.

REUTERS - Turkey will start a new military operation in Syria east of the Euphrates river “in a few days”, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, a move that could further complicate relations with the United States.

REUTERS - Up to 250,000 Syrian refugees could return to their devastated homeland in 2019, while many others face problems with documentation and property that the Damascus government must help resolve, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday.

REUTERS - The United Nations has reports of Islamic State (ISIL) executing people perceived as cooperating with rebel fighters in Deir al-Zor governorate in eastern Syria, the U.N. human rights boss said on Wednesday.

APRNEWS - The US-led coalition against the Islamic State group said Monday it killed a senior jihadist involved in the executions of an American aid worker and other Western hostages.

APRNEWS - Pope Francis on Sunday lit a candle for the children of Syria, adhering to the initiative of “Aid to the Church in Need”.

The pope also offered prayers for the Syrian children who he said are ‘‘tormented by war’‘.

Reuters - Iran said the missile attack it launched in Syria on Monday had killed 40 “top leaders” of Islamic State, and that intelligence for the operation had been provided by its elite Quds Force.