guardian: Turkey launches military operation in northern Syria

The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has said that a long-planned Turkish military operation in north-east Syria has begun, with Kurdish forces currently in control of the area reporting widespread airstrikes and “huge panic”. more...

guardian: US to let Turkish forces move into Syria, dumping Kurdish allies

The White House has given the green light to a Turkish offensive into northern Syria, moving US forces out of the area in an abrupt foreign policy change that will in effect abandon the Kurds, Washington’s longtime military partner. more...

Syria - Sovereignty and Peace. Press Conference, United Nations, 9 Dec.

ntv: Niqab-Trägerin empört Zuschauer - "Anne Will"-Redaktion in der Kritik

Skandal-Auftritt bei Anne Will: Einer vollverschleierten Muslima wird vorgeworfen, den islamistischen Terror in Syrien zu verharmlosen und "Kriegspropaganda" zu betreiben. Bereits in der Sendung wird Kritik an der Redaktion laut. [mehr...]

the guardian: Russia accused of war crimes in Syria at UN security council session

Accusations centre on widespread use of bunker-busting and incendiary bombs on civilians in rebel-held eastern Aleppo [more...]

tageschau: Die Welt ist entsetzt

Die Bewohner Aleppos sind derzeit den schlimmsten Angriffen seit dem Beginn des Syrienkrieges ausgesetzt. Das erklärte UN-Generalsekretär Ban und kritisierte die syrische Militäroffensive aufs Schärfste. Heute kommt der UN-Sicherheitsrat zu einer Dringlichkeitssitzung zusammen. [mehr...]

ntv: Bürger gaben entscheidende Hinweise - Flüchtling in Köln plante Anschlag

In Köln wird ein 16-Jähriger aus Syrien festgenommen. Wenig später steht für die Ermittler fest: Der junge Mann plante ein Sprengstoffanschlag. Per Chat hatte er Kontakt zum IS und bekam konkrete Anweisungen eine Bombe zu bauen. [mehr...]

the guardian: Russian planes dropped bombs that destroyed UN aid convoy, US officials say

If confirmed, the claim of direct Russian involvement in the bombing that killed at least 20 people in Syria would have far-reaching consequences [more...]

Berliner Zeitung: Rückzug hinter Euphrat Syrische Kurden weichen Druck der Türkei und USA

Nach starkem Druck der Türkei und der USA ziehen sich die syrischen Kurden im Norden des Landes aus Gebieten unter ihrer Kontrolle zurück.[mehr...]

the guardian: Iran covertly recruits Afghan soldiers to fight in Syria

Shia men from Afghanistan are coaxed into war to support Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, Guardian investigation reveals [more...]

the guardian: 'Here it is a big dream': Syrians taken in by Vatican begin new life in Rome

Trastevere becomes temporary home for 12 Syrian asylum seekers after Pope Francis offers sanctuary after Lesbos visit [more...]

the guardian: Resettling Syrians, aid and visa changes on table at EU-Turkey migration summit

Draft of summit conclusions says EU ready to double aid to €6bn, as leaders discuss plan to resettle one Syrian refugee in Europe for every Syrian returned to Turkey from Greek islands [more...]

new York Times: In Syrian Town Cut Off From the World, Glimpses of Deprivation

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Nisrine kept teaching school for months as the siege tightened around the Syrian town of Madaya, but had to give up a few weeks ago when her students got too weak from starvation to walk to class. A local medic has been surviving on the rehydration salts he gives patients, while a business school graduate makes soup from grass for his 70-year-old father, consulting shepherds about which ones their long-since-slaughtered flocks liked best. [more...]

sueddeutsche.de: "Wir können die Grenzen nicht dichtmachen"

In der Flüchtlingskrise spüren Polizisten soziale Spannungen so schnell wie kaum jemand sonst. Zwei Ordnungshüter über Macht und Ohnmacht. [mehr...]

the guardian: 7,000 Syrians who died in state detention 'were tortured or executed'

Human Rights Watch says it has identified 19 victims from photographs taken by defector who chronicled deaths in Syrian regime custody [more...]

the times: EU buckles as Merkel’s migrants hit 1 million

The influx of refugees entering Germany this year has passed the one million mark, heaping pressure on European leaders as they struggle to cope with the migrant crisis.[more...]

the guardian: Germany joins anti-Isis military campaign

Parliament backs plan to provide support staff and reconnaissance jets, but Germans will not actively engage in combat [more...]

the guardian: The story of a radicalisation: 'I was not thinking my thoughts. I was not myself'

 
 Maysa, a teenager from Brussels, was a music fan and a ‘ray of sunshine’ at school. But an encounter on social media had changed her within a year [more...]

the guardian: Russia hails rescue operation as downed jet's navigator denies Turkey warning

The second Russian airman from the Su-24 shot down by the Turkish air force is “alive and well”, after a 12-hour special operation to save him succeeded, Russian officials have said. [more...]

spiegel online: Nach Abschuss des Kampfjets: Nato warnt Türkei vor Eskalation mit Russland

Die Nato versucht nach dem Abschuss eines russischen Kampfjets durch die Türkei zu beschwichtigen. Bei einer Krisensitzung sicherte die Allianz Ankara zwar ihre Solidarität zu - doch warnte sie vor einer Eskalation. [mehr...]