Violence in Libya and Syria means more migrants are trying to leave their countries sooner, says UN refugee agency Italian authorities say they have rescued more than 4,000 would-be migrants at sea over the past four days as the war in Syria and instability in Libya spawn new waves of refugees. The numbers of migrants reaching Italian shores generally rises this time of year as warm weather and calm...
Air raids targeting Syrian army HQ kill one solider and wound seven – in response to ambush of Israeli paratroopers Israeli air force jets bombed Syrian army positions near the town of Quneitra in the early hours of Wednesday, killing one soldier and wounding seven, as analysts warned of the danger of the country's armed forces being sucked further into its northern neighbour's conflict. During the...
Caner Temel, who was shot dead in northern Syria in January, trained as an army sapper before going awol in 2010 Michael Safi ...
Air raids on Syrian positions were in retaliation for roadside bombing a day earlier, say Israeli authorities ...
Honorary consulates in Michigan and Texas also closed after embassy announced last week it would cease all services Paul Lewis ...
Four-year-old girl among the dead after fibreglass boat took on water as it approached island of Lesbos Seven Syrians trying to reach Europe have drowned off the coast of Greece. Rescue services, alerted by a passing Turkish cargo ship, pulled two bodies from the waters off the island of Lesbos and another five from a semi-sunken boat. Eight other migrants were rescued and two were missing. The merchant...
The sleepy mountain town of Qabaait in northern Lebanon is at the centre of the world's worst refugee crisis in decades. As Syrian refugees cross the border to escape conflict, they place a heavy load on the town's stretched resources. In September 2013, 18 Qabaait residents left their town to seek a better life in Australia, but all perished when their boat sank off the Indonesian coast. Photographer...
Nicholas Teausant, 20, from Acampo, taken off bus just short of the Canadian border near Washington state overnight ...
In today's multipolar world, events in Ukraine may well reverberate as far away as Afghanistan and North Korea EU imposes sanctions on 21 Russians and Ukrainians If international relations are a seamless web, then the crisis over Russia's actions in Ukraine risks entangling other knotty current issues – from efforts to contain Iran's nuclear ambitions, through the continuing carnage in Syria to wider...
The sleepy mountain town of Qabaait in northern Lebanon is at the centre of the world's worst refugee crisis in decades. As Syrian refugees cross the border to escape conflict, they place a heavy load on the town's stretched resources. In September 2013, 18 Qabaait residents left their town to seek a better life in Australia, but all perished when their boat sank off the Indonesian coast. Photographer...
Fall of Yabroud, a key rebel supply line into Lebanon, would be latest success for President Assad as conflict enters fourth year Syria claims its military has seized a key town on the Lebanese border that was the target of a months-long offensive. Activists said fighting was continuing but the government was in control of much of Yabroud. Yabroud was a key supply line for rebels into neighbouring...
Exclusive: Human Rights Watch says sending asylum seekers back to Syria would be a breach of international law Oliver Laughland ...
Unicef figures show one in five girls, some under 10, forced to marry by parents to protect against sexual violence Britain is to take the lead in tackling the rise in the number of Syrian refugee girls below the age of 16 forced into early marriage by destitute parents, many of whom believe it provides the best hope of protection against sexual violence. David Cameron is to host a Girls' Summit after...
We’ve been using GuardianWitness to highlight the Syrian refugee crisis. Here, we ask our key contributors to reflect Maeve Shearlaw Caroline Bannock ...
10 - 14 March 2014: Catch up with our selection of this week’s development-related news, images and key reports Anna Leach ...
Here’s our weekly round-up of great city content we found online – from shipping containers turned into housing to decrepit amusement parks Marta Bausells ...
From the origins of unrest in the violent protests that began three years ago this Saturday, to the start of peace talks in Geneva two months ago, our interactive explores the key events that have shaped the evolution of the Syrian war, highlighting the geography of the conflict and its key statistics ...
Molly Crabapple: For the anniversary of a civil war no side can win, painting a history, with the Western left failing at every stroke Molly Crabapple ...
State television says Syrian president inspected shelter for people displaced by fighting in town of Adra Bashar al-Assad visited displaced Syrians in the town of Adra on Wednesday, Syrian state media said, in a rare public appearance outside the heart of Damascus. State television said the Syrian president inspected a shelter for people displaced by fighting in Adra, a town about 12 miles (20km)...
The Middle East's most potent new political force, Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, is stepping up its support for the Bashar al-Assad regime Each day for the past nine months, the bodies have been coming. Some are carried in simple wooden coffins strapped to car roofs. Others arrive with more ceremony, escorted by black-clad mourners or men in military fatigues to a hypnotic soundtrack of Islamic hymns. The convoys...