A 6.4 magnitude earthquake has struck the Turkey-Syria border region, two weeks after deadly tremors devastated the area. Turkey’s disaster management agency, AFAD, said the magnitude 6.4-earthquake was centered around the town of Defne, in Hatay province, one of the regions hardest-hit by the earlier earthquakes. The earthquake struck at a depth of 1.2 miles (2km), the European Mediterranean Seismological …

US President Donald Trump welcomed the fall of the Islamic State group’s five-year “caliphate”, but warned that the terror group remained a threat. Mr Trump’s remarks came after Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) raised victory flags in the Syrian town of Baghuz, IS’s last stronghold. He said the US would “remain vigilant until [IS] is finally defeated”. Despite losing territory …

  Syria has condemned as “irresponsible” US President Donald Trump’s comments that it was time to recognise Israel’s sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights. A statement published by the Syrian state news agency said it showed the “blind bias” of the US towards Israel. It said Syria was determined to recover the area “through all available means”. Israel captured the …

The withdrawal of US troops from Syria depends on certain conditions, US National Security Adviser John Bolton says, in a further indication that the process is being slowed down. On a trip to Israel and Turkey, he said he would seek Turkish assurances that Kurds in northern Syria would be safe. The US also wants to ensure that the remnants …

President Donald Trump has ordered a slowdown to the withdrawal of United States troops from Syria, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has said. “I think we’re in a pause situation,” the South Carolina Republican said outside the White House on Sunday. On December 19, Trump announced the withdrawal of all the roughly 2,000 troops from war-torn Syria, with aides expecting it …