Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has accepted the blame for a failure to extract answers from Egypt over the unresolved 2016 murder of an Italian student in Cairo, while defending a controversial frigate deal.

Baghdad on Thursday demanded Ankara immediately halt its assault in northern Iraq, where Turkish special forces and helicopters have been targeting Kurdish rebel hideouts.

President Bashar al-Assad's government has condemned new U.S. sanctions imposed on Syria Wednesday, calling them a form of "terrorism" perpetrated by Washington in the war-scarred country.

Seven Syrians who suffered or witnessed rape and sexual abuse in detention centers under President Bashar al-Assad's regime have submitted a criminal complaint to prosecutors in Germany, an NGO supporting them said Thursday.

Iran on Thursday condemned new US sanctions which punish any company that works with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, saying they were "cruel" and would exacerbate suffering in the war-torn country.

Rockets hit Baghdad's Green Zone, home to the US embassy, on Thursday, the fifth such attack in 10 days, security sources inside the high-security district told AFP.

The Trump administration on Wednesday ramped up pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad and his inner circle with a raft of new economic and travel sanctions for human rights abuses and blocking a settlement of the country's bloody nine-year conflict.

The State Department said 39 Syrian individuals, including Assad and his wife, had been designated for the new sanctions. Others include members of the extended Assad family, senior military leaders and business executives. Many of those on the list were already subject to U.S. sanctions, but the penalties also target non-Syrians who do business with them.

James Jeffrey, the U.S.Special Representative for Syria Engagement and Special Envoy to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, has stated that the “atrocities” of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime have destroyed Syria, not the U.S. sanctions.

“Today as the United States announces new sanctions under the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019, it is important to focus on the reasoning behind this legislation,” said Jeffrey in an op-ed published in Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.

Rival Kurdish groups in Syria have reached a breakthrough agreement on a joint political vision following a series of U.S.-backed talks that aim to achieve Kurdish unity, a statement said Wednesday.

A Paris court on Wednesday found Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's uncle guilty of misappropriating public funds in Syria, laundering the spoils and building a vast property portfolio in France with ill-gotten gains.