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"The U.S. military targeted the head of Islamic State in a raid in northwestern Syria that U.S. officials said resulted in the death of an individual—an operation that, if successful, would remove the operational and spiritual leader of the group the U.S. has been attempting to defeat for the past several years."

"ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is believed to have been killed in a raid conducted by the US military in northwest Syria on Saturday, according to a senior US defense official and a source with knowledge. The final confirmation is pending while DNA and biometric testing is conducted, both sources tell CNN."

"In the capital these days the distant thud of battle punctuates the rumble of the traffic, but the streets are busy. This is a city fueled by oil, coffee and resilience."

"President Trump this month ordered most U.S. troops to leave Syria, paving the way for a Turkish military operation against Kurdish-led militias that had helped the U.S. in the fight against Islamic State."

"The U.S. military sent fresh forces on Saturday to secure oil fields in eastern Syria, two U.S. officials said, as part of a pivot from a decision earlier this month to pull most American troops out of the country."

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday his nation's military would "clear terrorists" from its border in northern Syria if the Kurdish YPG militia does not leave by the deadline agreed upon by Turkey and Russia earlier this week.

"Like a bad movie where you've already seen the ending, history now risks repeating itself in a dangerous corner of the Middle East."

"Syrian troops reached a key area near Turkey's border Saturday after sending further reinforcements to the region, in what a war monitor said was its largest deployment there in years."

NATO has reaffirmed its commitment to the long-running Afghanistan mission and said it will ensure its deployment there remains "sustainable."

"Renewed clashes between Kurdish and Turkish forces tested a shaky cease-fire in northern Syria on Friday, as the Russia-backed Syrian government moved troops into the area in part of its efforts to reclaim territory it ceded during the eight-year war."

"Lebanon's Hezbollah movement warned on Friday that a power vacuum could tip the country into civil war, suggesting that adversaries including the United States and Israel were seeking to exploit an unprecedented wave of demonstrations to provoke conflict."

"Last week, hundreds of gunmen from the Sinaloa cartel overpowered military forces in fighting that killed at least a dozen people, blocked the airport and major roads, and terrorized the city of Culiacán for hours until the Mexican government capitulated and freed the son of legendary drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán."

"Psychological operations forces have been under pressure from the Pentagon to step up their influencing missions, the results of which could be seen in Syria, the commander of U.S. Army Special Operations Command said last week."

"The U.S. military is planning to send some kind of mechanized force to help keep oil fields in eastern Syria from slipping into the hands of a resurgent ISIS as American troops withdraw from the region."

"The Pentagon awarded Microsoft Corp. a hotly contested and controversial contract to build a large cloud-computing system for the U.S. military in a major setback to rival Amazon.com Inc., which was widely seen as the front-runner."

The United States will bolster its forces currently protecting oil fields and facilities in eastern Syria from the Islamic State terror group, even as most of its troops are being pulled from the country.

"After capitulating to U.S. demands for years, Syrian Kurdish leader Ilham Ahmed has some conditions of her own."

"Kurdish forces yesterday accused Turkish-backed fighters of violating the ceasefire in northeast Syria with a “vast” new ground offensive and pleaded with the US “to intervene immediately” to stop the assault."

"The Saudi-backed Yemeni government signed a power-sharing deal with a local group seeking a separate state in the south, an agreement designed to keep the country from fracturing and pave the way for broader talks to end its five-year-old war, people familiar with the talks said."

"The White House is considering options for leaving about 500 U.S. troops in northeast Syria and for sending dozens of battle tanks and other equipment, officials said Thursday, the latest in an array of scenarios following President Trump’s decision this month to remove all troops there."

"Russian aircraft carried out strikes on the last rebel stronghold in northwestern Syria early Thursday, according to a monitoring group and rescue workers, raising fears of an all-out Syrian regime offensive to retake the area following a Moscow-brokered border deal with Turkey."

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper says Turkey's offensive against Kurds in northeastern Syria was "unwarranted" and Ankara is "heading in the wrong direction" after its agreement with Russia to jointly patrol a "safe zone" in the region.

"U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper is expected to focus on Turkey’s offensive into Syria and the fight against Islamic State when he meets NATO partners in Brussels this week, but he has limited options for both issues."

"After spending four tumultuous days engulfed in the chaotic ramifications of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper lashed out Thursday at Turkey for its military assault across the border on Syrian Kurdish fighters."

"Turkish forces suspended their offensive in northern Syria and Russian security forces began patrolling nearby, under an agreement that gives Kurdish fighters 150 hours to leave what Ankara calls a safe zone in the war-torn country’s north."