Syria

More than 30 humanitarian organisations launched an appeal on Dec. 8 for countries to take in around 180,000 refugees from the Syrian conflict.

That figure would represent five percent of the projected refugee population by the end of 2015, according to the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Israel said Dec. 8 it will not allow "sophisticated weapons" to fall into the hands of its enemies, after furious claims from Syria that Israeli warplanes carried out air strikes near Damascus.
      
Israel refused to confirm or deny the strikes, but its forces have previously targeted weapons allegedly destined for arch-foe Lebanon's Hezbollah.
      

Syria accused Israel of bombing its main international airport on Dec. 7 as the U.N. announced talks with rebel leaders on a ceasefire in its war-battered second city of Aleppo.

The accusation came hours ahead of an appeal by humanitarian organisations Dec. 8  for countries to take in around 180,000 refugees as the number of people fleeing the Syrian conflict continues to grow.

The Democratic Union Party (PYD) has promised that arms sent by the United States to fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) will definitely not be transferred to the outlawed Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), PYD co-leader Salih Muslim has told the Hürriyet Daily News.

The U.N.'s envoy to Syria will meet in Turkey with rebel leaders from Aleppo to discuss a possible freeze in fighting in the war-torn city, his spokeswoman said on Dec. 7.

Staffan de Mistura "will travel very soon to Gaziantep (in Turkey) to discuss his plan with key rebel groups from Aleppo," Juliette Touma told AFP. She did not specify when exactly the talks would place.

New EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini travels to Turkey next week to highlight the "strategic importance" of ties, one week after Russian President Vladimir Putin made a rival visit during which he cancelled a huge gas pipeline to Europe.

A 20-year-old German man was sentenced to 3 years and 9 months in prison on Dec. 5 after he admitted joining Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants in Syria, in the first trial in Germany of a home-grown jihadi accused of membership of the insurgent group.

The European Commission adopted on Thursday an EUR 180 million package aimed at alleviating the ongoing crisis in Syria, as well as its spillover effects in neighbouring Jordan and Lebanon.

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Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Dec. 4 his resignation last week was not prompted by "major differences" with President Barack Obama, pushing back against statements that he had been fired or quit due to White House micromanagement.

Wealthy nations have only taken in a "pitiful" number of the millions of refugees uprooted by Syria's war, placing the burden on the country's ill-equipped neighbours, Amnesty International said Dec. 5.

In a statement ahead of a December 9 donors' conference in Geneva, the London-based rights group blasted as shocking the failure of rich nations to host more refugees.