Bashar al-Assad

The attack on the largest US military base in Syria has resulted in the deaths of at least six Kurdish fighters. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a key ally of the United States in the fight against jihadism, issued a statement attributing the attack to "mercenaries of the regime" of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The Israeli army said early Saturday that it was carrying out strikes in Syria after two rockets fired from the country fell into territory under its control.

"Following the report regarding sirens sounding in northern Israel, a short while ago two launches that were identified crossing from Syria fell in an open area," the army said.

Israeli air strikes hit southern Syria, the Syrian defence ministry said, with state media reporting attacks near the capital Damascus.

"At approximately 23:05 (20:05 GMT) today, the Israeli enemy carried out air strikes from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting some points in the southern region," the defence ministry said in a statement, reporting no casualties.

According to sources familiar with Hezbollah's arsenal, the leader of that militant group, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, warned Washington last week that his group was preparing something for U.S. ships deployed in the region.

A Russian tanker was damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack in the Kerch Strait, briefly halting traffic on the strategic bridge linking Crimea to Russia on Saturday, a day after one of Moscow's warships was hit in the Black Sea.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main opponent showed after a brief silence the new tone of the run-off campaign. In a video shared on Twitter, he accused the head of state of "scratching at the door" of Russia and "orienting" towards it, but also that under his watch the government had allowed "10 million illegal migrants" into the country.

A meeting between the foreign ministers of Türkiye, Russia, Iran and Syria is expected to be held in Moscow next month, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on April 10.

"We think it will happen in a period at the beginning of May, according to the preliminary information we received from the Russians. It will be hosted by Russia in Moscow," Çavuşoğlu said in a televised interview.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad in Cairo on Saturday, a first since Syria's civil war broke out over a decade ago, Shoukry's office said.

The deputy foreign ministers of Syria, Turkey, Iran and Russia will meet in April in Moscow, Turkish and Iranian officials said on Tuesday, building on contacts between Ankara and Damascus after years of hostilities during the Syrian war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad began talks in Moscow Wednesday.

"Dear Mr President, I am very glad to see you in Moscow. Thank you for accepting our invitation," Putin told Assad at the start of their meeting broadcast by state TV. "We are in constant contact and our relations are developing."