Astana

A jealous girlfriend in Kazakhstan allegedly severed her lover’s penis after discovering that he complimented another woman on her appearance.

Contents: Turkey’s troops mass on border, preparing to invade northern Syria; Collapse of the Russian ‘peace process’; The growing conflagration in northwest Syria

Contents: Syria’s Bashar al-Assad targets civilians and hospitals in never-ending war of extermination; Russia’s ‘de-escalation zones’ turn into total farce

Contents: Syria regime walks out of UN-sponsored Geneva peace talks; Syria and Russia repeat Aleppo war crimes in massive destruction of Eastern Ghouta

Contents: BBC reports hoax by US-led coalition about ISIS evacuation from Raqqa Syria; Syria war violence surges as Bashar al-Assad repeats Aleppo genocide in Ghouta; Apparent coup is in progress in Zimbabwe against 93-year-old Robert Mugabe

Contents: Mattis and Tillerson work to prevent Iraq vs Kurd military confrontation in Kirkuk; ISIS fighters permitted to leave Raqqa, Syria, with human shields; Syria demands ‘immediately’ pullout of Turkey’s forces from Idlib province

Contents: Iraqi troops and tanks seen massing near Kirkuk, poised to attack Kurds; Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas announce unity agreement; Turkey’s tanks and troops cross border into Syria’s Idlib in apparent truce with HTS

Contents: International Red Cross: Fighting in Syria worst since Aleppo; Analyst gives a chilling analysis of where the Syrian war is going

Contents: Russian-led Syria peace talks collapse in Astana, Kazakhstan; The four de-escalation zones; Is the end of the Syrian war in sight?

Contents: Hezbollah keeps on fighting, but says it will honor Syria ceasefire; Tensions grow over the future of Bashar al-Assad

Contents: Russia, Iran, Turkey sign farcical Syria peace agreement; Syria peace conference sees a return to ‘proximity talks’; The aftermath of the destruction of Aleppo

Russian-led talks on Syria ended with agreement Tuesday to bolster a cease-fire even as apparent tensions with Iran, a staunch supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, threaten to hold up efforts to end the six-year civil war.

The Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG), the armed wing of the Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD) that controls large swathes of northern Syria, has declared that it is “not bound” by any decisions made during the current Syria peace talks in Kazakhstan.

The Syrian peace talks brokered by Russia, Turkey, and Iran have begun in Kazakhstan. The United States does not have a delegation at the talks, although the Kazakh government did send an invitation, with the support of Russia and Turkey (but most definitely not Iran).

Syria rebels began peace talks with the war-torn country’s government Monday in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana, but refused to negotiate face-to-face in the first session.

Syrian rebels are set to meet their war-torn country’s government on Monday in the Kazakh capital Astana, in the latest push to end the conflict.