Qamishli

Kurdish militia pressed a big offensive against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in northeast Syria Feb. 25, cutting one of its supply lines from Iraq, as fears mounted for dozens of Christians abducted by the hardline group that recently beheaded 21 Egyptian Copts.

A Swedish journalist has been freed from captivity in Syria after a week-long detention by Syrian government forces, local media reported Feb. 22.  

Sultan Kösen, who entered the Guinness Book of World Records for being the world’s tallest man, has asked authorities’ help for ensuring the return of his newly-wed wife Merve from Syria.