Six French jet fighters targeted and destroyed an Islamic State (IS) training camp in eastern Syria, president Francois Hollande said yesterday, making good on a promise to go after the group he said is planning attacks against several countries, including France.

A deal on Iran’s nuclear programme would legitimise its regional influence in a way that’s not occurred in decades, says Mai Yamani.

Russia says UN chemical weapon inspectors will return to Syria on Wednesday.

More than a million children have been forced to leave Syria to flee the ongoing crisis.

A leading Muslim cleric has dismissed fears that armed groups are trying to recruit children from Ireland for fighting units abroad after a Co Meath schoolboy was killed on active duty in Syria.

Stagnation over the US budget in Congress will have far-reaching consequences, writes Anne-Marie Slaughter

Syria is “genuinely worried” some countries might equip extremist groups with chemical weapons and then claim they were used by the Syrian government, the country’s UN envoy said in a letter to UN chief Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council.

Activist preacher Moaz al-Khatib is the only candidate to head a new Syrian opposition umbrella group which factions trying to bring down president Bashar al Assad agreed to form yesterday, a delegate involved in choosing the leader said.

A senior security official is among at least eight people killed in a huge car bomb attack in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Syria and Iran will be top of the agenda today, as the Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore joins fellow EU Foreign Affairs Ministers for a meeting in Luxembourg.

The country is developing its nuclear programme, says Mehdi Khalaji

A Syrian general and 38 other soldiers defected to Turkey, state television said, days after Syria shot down a Turkish warplane, escalating tensions between the two neighbours.

China and Russia have said that they are 'decisively against' any regime change in Syria.

French President Francois Hollande has said military intervention in Syria should not be ruled out, despite US insistence that it is not a good idea at this point.

Turkey has raised the stakes on Syria by reminding Nato countries of their treaty responsibilities, but no country or group is willing to act first, writes Anne-Marie Slaughter

The EU slapped sanctions on the mother, sister and influential wife of Syrian President Bashar al Assad, increasing pressure on his country to halt its bloody crackdown against a year-long uprising.

The UN humanitarian chief entered the shattered Syrian district of Baba Amr, where activists accuse regime forces of trying to cover up evidence of execution-style killings and reprisal attacks following a bloody military siege.

Nearly 60 Syrian civilians and soldiers were killed in fighting over Syria’s future that coincided with a vote on a constitution that could keep Bashar al Assad in power until 2028.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has blasted Russia and China’s opposition to UN Security Council action on Syria, calling it “despicable”.

Syrian officials involved in the brutal suppression of anti-regime protests will eventually be held accountable for their actions, Western diplomats have warned.

Syrian officials involved in the brutal suppression of anti-regime protests will eventually be held accountable for their actions, Western diplomats have warned.

A government committee is to hold an emergency debate on Syria in Dublin today.

Britain today condemned continued violence in Syria despite the presence of Arab League observers and called for an immediate end to state repression of protests.

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Micheál Martin will sit down with the president of Syria today during the first stage of a diplomatic tour of the Middle East.