The Syrian government has effectively stopped aid convoys this month and the besieged city of Aleppo is close to running out of fuel, making U.S.-Russian peace talks in Geneva on Friday even more urgent, the United Nations said.

• September 9, 2016

Turkey will have to strike a balance between the conflicting goals of Russia and the United States if it is to achieve its ambition of a "safe zone" in northern Syria and build on an incursion which gave it control of a thin strip of the border.

• September 6, 2016

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday urged Russia to finalize a ceasefire agreement on Syria with the United States and stressed the urgency of delivering humanitarian aid to people under siege in Aleppo.

• September 4, 2016

Turkey renewed air strikes on Islamic State sites in Syria on Friday, extending operations along a 90-km (56-mile) corridor near the Turkish border which Ankara says it is clearing of jihadists and protecting from Kurdish militia expansion.

• September 2, 2016

Turkey wants to clear Islamic State from a 90 km (56 mile) stretch of territory on the Syrian side of its border, an official said on Wednesday, a week after launching an incursion that has strained ties with the United States.

• August 31, 2016

Japan's defense ministry on Wednesday asked for a hike in spending to record levels, as it juggles its responses to a growing ballistic missile threat from North Korea and China's assertive moves in the East China Sea.

• August 31, 2016

Iran has deployed the Russian-supplied S-300 surface-to-air missile defence system around its Fordow underground uranium enrichment facility, Iranian state media reported on Monday.

• August 29, 2016

Turkish-backed forces pushed deeper into northern Syria on Monday and drew a rebuke from NATO ally the United States, which said it was concerned the battle for territory had shifted away from targeting Islamic State.

• August 29, 2016