Jordan

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has begun talks with Turkish officials over the common threat posed by extremist jihadists in Iraq and Syria as Washington suggested the formation of a coalition to destroy the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Over 3 million people have fled the civil war in Syria, according to reports of the United Nations refugee agency.

Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), called the crisis "the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era" in a Friday statement.

According to the press release, almost half of all Syrians have been forced to abandon their homes.

An interview of Novinite.com with Mohamed Khalaf, an Iraqi-born journalist and correspondent in Bulgaria of a Kuwaiti newspaper, on the Sunni militant group called Islamic State (IS) acting in Iraq and Syria.

Folk dancers from Panama participating in Earthdancers, an international dance and music festival, performed in Syntagma Square, central Athens, on Wednesday.

In its fourth year, the festival began on Wednesday and is to run through Sunday with more than 300 dancers and musicians from nine countries participating in performances across Attica.

The U.S. military could move against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria once its militants are determined to have become a direct threat to the U.S. homeland or Europe, but not before, U.S. Gen. Martin Dempsey has said.

The UN refugee agency said Tuesday it was poised to mount a massive aid operation for 500,000 Iraqis driven from their homes by jihadist rebels.
      

Japan's government said Monday it was investigating a video posted online that appears to show a kidnapped Japanese man being roughly interrogated by Syrian militants.
      
The video, which surfaced over the weekend, shows a man who identified himself as Haruna Yukawa lying on the ground with blood trickling down his face as his apparent captors question him.
      

The leader of Lebanese group Hezbollah described the radical Islamist movement that has seized territory in Iraq and Syria as a growing "monster" that could threaten Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other Gulf states.
   

The U.N. humanitarian chief has said there are 'significant challenges' in delivering humanitarian aid into Syria from Turkey, Jordan and Iraq, including a multitude of opposition and terrorist groups.

The European Commission said Tuesday it would release a further 50 million euros ($67 million) in humanitarian aid for Syria as the crisis there deepens.