Human rights group urges European governments and Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon to halt any forced return of refugees

European Parliament says Irish MEPs undermined its work to promote democracy

Landslide victory undermined by voter apathy and lowest turnout in republic’s history

Mixture of pushing back and engaging with Moscow urged to stabilise relationship

President wins 95% of vote but western countries say process was not free or fair

Riyadh no longer enjoys the unequivocal backing of the US administration

Military commander was killed by US drone strike in January 2020

Country destroyed by decade of conflict following unfulfilled promise of Arab Spring

Foreign minister calls for end to Syria’s suspension from Arab League membership

Minister aims to build closer relationships during UN Security Council membership

If he was controversial, it was because he refused to conform. Robert never followed the herd

Israel, Bahrain and UAE sign peace agreement in foreign policy win for administration

The verdict, many hoped, would be a watershed moment, a chance to shake off the past, but if anything it will deepen divisions as the country mourns the victims of the August 4th explosions in Beirut port which killed more than 170 and wounded 6,000

Court rules there is no proof Syria was involved in Hariri’s assassination

Four low-ranking members of the Shia Muslim Hezbollah political party are accused of killing the former prime minister and 21 others in a massive bombing in 2005

Grouping of countries looking east called ‘axis of the sanctioned’

Constitutional changes would let Russia’s leader of 20 years stay on until 2036

Rifaat al-Assad gets four-year sentence and has more than €100m in assets seized

Demonstrations against prices and wages erupt in Sweida and spread to Deraa

President fears country’s 44 cases and three deaths could ‘suddenly spike in few days or weeks’

Hawaii congresswoman and Iraq war veteran says former vice-president clearly voters’ choice

With the eastern Arab world hollowed out, a return to prewar conditions is impossible

Pessimism abounds in war-ravaged towns in Syrian province after ‘killer ceasefire’ pact

Clashes between Syrian army and jihadis puncture uneasy truce after Putin-Erdogan deal

Erdogan and Putin reach agreement on Syria after six hours of talks in Moscow

Bardarash Letter: Camp’s occupants struggle on after having lost everything

Turkish call for Idlib no-fly zone not seriously discussed as fears of clash with Russia grow

Erdogan says developments turning in Turkey’s favour as fighting heaps misery

Paris Letter: The French face the possibility Washington has reduced them to vassal status

Turkey and Russia have shown that they regard the welfare of the three million civilians as of less concern than their own narrow strategic interests

Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan says he will meet Putin, Merkel and Macron as Syrian government forces push to retake region

Stuck between a closed border and Russian-backed forces, Syrians have nowhere to run

Russian warplanes strike rebel-held towns as Turkish military backs insurgent strikes

Erdogan, whose country has second-largest army in Nato, says ‘we are making our final warnings’

Relief agencies overwhelmed by humanitarian crisis in northwest Syria, says UN

UN says 875,000, mostly women and children, have fled heavy aerial bombing since December 1st

Hundreds of thousands of civilians in Idlib are scrambling to escape a widening offensive by Assad’s forces

‘Those who sit down with anger get up with losses,’ says president after deadly exchange in Syria

Wave of airstrikes force 700,000 civilians to flee towards Turkish border

Russian and Turkish inability to end war in Syria has implications for the truce in Libya