SYRIA

The U.N. refugee agency says it’s giving its highest award to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her efforts to accept more than 1 million refugees — mostly from Syria — into Germany, despite some criticism both at home and abroad.

German federal prosecutors say they have charged a woman with crimes against humanity and aiding and abetting genocide for allegedly having joined the extremist Islamic State group in Syria where she had a Yazidi slave and committed other crimes

Student loan repayments are impacted by inflation and tuition hikes, with income not meeting demand. Advocates worry that $10,000 in debt relief isn't enough.

Rockets struck around a U.S. military base in Syria on Sunday, failing to strike any personnel or equipment, CENTCOM announced. Iran-backed militants operate in the region.

The Spanish charity Open Arms has rescued 372 people seeking to cross the central Mediterranean Sea to Europe in unseaworthy boats in three operations.

SKOPJE, North Macedonia — (AP) — A group of 142 migrants was detained near North Macedonia's southern border with Greece early Thursday, authorities said. A police statement said the detainees were mostly from Syria and Pakistan, and had entered from Greece. Police say the number of people illegally entering North Macedonia has doubled so far this year, compared to the same period in 2021. More than 11,000 people — mostly from Pakistan, Syria and India — have been stopped this year. They usually pay criminal gangs to be smuggled through the Balkans to Europe's prosperous heartland.

There is no specific date on when Hezbollah was founded, starting as a small, shadowy group of fighters helped by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Hezbollah’s biggest achievement over the past 40 years was its guerrilla war against Israeli forces occupying parts of southern Lebanon. In early July, the Israeli military shot down three unmanned aircraft launched by Hezbollah heading toward an area where an Israeli gas platform was recently installed in the Mediterranean Sea. “Not as strong as the Israeli military, not as strong as the Israeli air force. Within Lebanon, Hezbollah has used its powerful support among the Shiite community and tough tactics to gain political dominance.

Forty years since it was founded, Lebanon’s Hezbollah has transformed from a ragtag organization to the largest and most heavily armed militant group in the Middle East

Forty years since it was founded, Lebanon's Hezbollah has transformed from a ragtag organization to the largest and most heavily armed militant group in the Middle East.

The U.S. military responded with airstrikes that killed at least two suspected militants.

About 900 U.S. troops are in Syria on a mission of training allied local forces fighting ISIS.

The U.S. military says it carried out airstrikes in eastern Syria that targeted areas used by militias backed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard

Iran's state-run media announced the death but gave no info on Revolutionary Guard Corps General Abolfazl Alijani's "mission," or his demise.

Elshafee El Sheikh, 34, was found guilty in April of kidnapping and supporting a terrorist group.

Aine Davis was arrested at Luton Airport, north of London, on Wednesday after being deported by Turkish authorities.

Aine Davis has denied being part of an Islamic State cell nicknamed the Beatles which murdered hostages.

An African security expert is warning the U_N_ Security Council that the threat from the Islamic State extremist group is growing by the day in Africa and the continent could be “the future of the caliphate.”

A German woman has been convicted of membership in the Islamic State group and other offenses for traveling to Syria to join the organization with her young son

The inquiry into the fatal fire has heard about a group of residents who perished on the 14th floor.

The top U.S. Air Force general in the Middle East has warned that Iran-backed militias could resume attacks in the region against the United States and its allies

Yusuf Zahab was taken to Syria as a child and recently pleaded with Australia for help.

The U.S. killed IS leader Maher al-Agal Tuesday, according to the Pentagon.

Maher al-Agal, who worked “aggressively” on building ISIS networks outside of Iraq and Syria, according to the U.S. military, was one of two targets of the strike outside Jindaryis, about 35 miles west of Aleppo. Al-Agal was considered to be one of the top five ISIS leaders in Iraq and Syria, U.S. officials said. A second official closely associated with him, whom the military did not identify, was “seriously injured” during the strike, according to CENTCOM.

WASHINGTON — (AP) — The Pentagon said Tuesday that it killed a leader of the Islamic State in Syria in a drone strike. U.S. Central Command said in a news release that Maher al-Agal was killed Tuesday and an unidentified senior official in the Islamic State was seriously injured. The U.S. carried out the strike outside Jindaris, a town in northwest Syria close to the Turkish border. The Islamic State at the height of its power controlled more than 40,000 square miles stretching from Syria to Iraq and ruled over 8 million people. The strike on al-Agal comes months after the head of the group, Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, killed himself during a raid of his hideout by American special forces.

At least 220 people were killed and nearly 570 others were wounded in shootings in nearly every U.S. state over Fourth of July weekend, according to data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive.

PARIS — (AP) — French authorities on Tuesday repatriated 51 women and children from the former Islamic State-controlled areas in Syria, according to a statement from the national antiterrorist prosecutor’s office. It’s the single largest return of women and children to France from camps in northeastern Syria since the territorial defeat of the Islamic State group in March 2019. France saw more of its citizens leave to join IS than any other country in Europe. Twelve women returned with their children and four of the women had previously agreed to the return of their children, according to the prosecutor’s statement. France, which saw more of its citizens join IS in Syria than any other European country and suffered multiple deadly attacks beginning in 2015, has been especially reluctant.

French authorities say they have repatriated 51 women and children from former Islamic State-controlled areas in Syria

Ukrainian military intelligence said it is the largest prisoner swap since the start of the war.

The United Nations says the first 10 years of Syria’s conflict, which began in 2011, killed more than 300,000 civilians

WASHINGTON — (AP) — An Air Force airman has been taken into custody in connection with an April explosion that injured several U.S. troops at a base in eastern Syria. Rose Riley, an Air Force spokeswoman, said the airman was placed in pretrial confinement by his commander after a review of the investigation. The blasts hit two support buildings and four service members were evaluated for minor injuries and possible traumatic brain injuries. The investigation is being done by the Army Criminal Investigation Division and the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. The U.S. has several hundred troops in eastern Syria as part of its effort to counter the Islamic State group.

BRUSSELS — (AP) — Belgium's judicial authorities said on Tuesday they have repatriated six women of Belgian citizenship who were held in Syria for their suspected connection with the Islamic State group, along with 16 children. The federal prosecutor's office said it's the second repatriation operation after the one that took place in July 2021, when Belgian authorities took back six mothers and 10 children. Spokesman Eric Van Duyse told The Associated Press that all the women on the latest flight have been given sentences in Belgium of up to five years in jail. Belgian authorities say returning children must be done for “humanitarian reasons," and that repatriation operations are also as a matter of national security since it's easier to monitor people who have spent time in Syria when they are on home soil. The plane transporting the women and children back to Belgium landed early Tuesday.

Belgium’s judicial authorities have brought home six women and 16 children with Belgian citizenship who were held in Syria for their suspected connection with the Islamic State group

June 20 marks World Refugee Day and for the first time on record, more than 100 million people have been forced to flee conflict, violence, human rights violations and persecution, according to the U.N.

Appeals judges at an international tribunal have sentenced two members of the militant Hezbollah group to life imprisonment for their roles in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and the deaths of 21 other people

The coalition did not name the person but identified him as one of the top leaders of the extremist group's Syria branch.

BEIRUT — (AP) — U.S.-led coalition forces captured a senior Islamic State leader in a military operation in northern Syria on Thursday, the coalition said. In a statement, it said the captured leader was an experienced bomb maker and operational facilitator, describing him as one of the top leaders of the extremist group’s Syria branch. It said the operation was “successful” with no civilians harmed nor any injuries to coalition forces. The U.S.-backed forces declared victory over the Islamic State in March 2019 after retaking the last piece of territory held by the group in Syria. In February, the group’s leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi blew himself up along with members of his family as American forces raided his Syria hideout.

A U.S.-led global coalition fighting the Islamic State group says it has conducted a military operation in northern Syria to capture a senior leader from the extremist group

A U.S.-led global coalition fighting the Islamic State group says it has conducted a military operation in northern Syria to capture a senior leader from the extremist group.

Allison Fluke-Ekren admitted to operating an all-female ISIS military group and training women and girls on how to use explosive devices.

A U.S. official said the attack on April 7 that resulted in traumatic brain injury for a small number of soldiers is being investigated as having been carried out by a U.S. service member.

WASHINGTON — (AP) — A U.S. service member has been identified as a possible suspect in an April explosion that injured several U.S. troops at a base in eastern Syria. The U.S. military initially reported that the injuries were caused by artillery or another form of indirect fire. The blasts hit two support buildings and four service members were evaluated for minor injuries and possible traumatic brain injuries. The U.S. has several hundred troops in eastern Syria as part of its effort to counter the Islamic State group. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

France Angry Diplomats FILE - A usher looks through the key hole at the French foreign ministry in Paris, Friday March 4, 2016 during international ministerial discussions about Syria. Some ambassadors and numerous diplomats, in posts ranging from Tokyo to the Middle East and Washington, have said they would honor the day-long strike. “Today, (diplomatic) agents ... are convinced it is the very existence of the ministry that is now being put into question.”Union leaders said Thursday's job action is only the second strike by French diplomats in 20 years. A protest is planned near the imposing French foreign ministry complex known as the Quai d’Orsay, on the River Seine. The Twitter hashtag, #diplo2metier, shows a number of ambassadors and diplomats around the world joining in or supporting Thursday's strike.

BERLIN — (AP) — A German woman who took her young daughter to Syria, joined the Islamic State group there and allegedly took advantage of an enslaved Yazidi woman was convicted Wednesday of membership in a terrorist organization and other offenses. The state court in Celle said the 34-year-old, who has been identified only as Romiena S. in line with German privacy rules, was sentenced to three years and three months in prison. Judges said that she traveled to Syria in 2014, taking her 4-year-old daughter against the wishes of the child's father. At one point, it added, she exploited an enslaved Yazidi woman at the home of a slave trader for a few days and guarded her as she went into town. The court said the defendant largely admitted to the allegations against her and has now “distanced herself credibly” from IS.

A German who took her young daughter to Syria, joined the Islamic State group there and allegedly took advantage of an enslaved Yazidi woman has been convicted of membership in a terrorist organization and other offenses

A Kosovo court has decided to continue detaining an Albanian man who allegedly joined an extremist group in Syria

Police say that an Albanian man has been arrested for allegedly using social media to call for terror attacks against state institutions

Turkey NATO Sweden Finland Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan inspects a military honour guard during a ceremony marking the docking of a submarine, in Kocaeli, Turkey, Monday, May 23, 2022. Erdogan, whose country has objected to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, called on Stockholm on Monday to take "concrete steps" that would alleviate Turkey's security concerns. (Turkish Presidency via AP Photo) (Uncredited)ANKARA, Turkey — (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened Monday to launch a new military operation in Syria to secure Turkey's southern border. Speaking following a Cabinet meeting, Erdogan said the aim of the operation would be resume Turkish efforts to create a 30-kilometer (20 mile) safe zone along its border with Syria. Erdogan did not provide further details but said the operation would begin after Turkey’s military, intelligence and security forces complete their preparations.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is threatening to launch a new military operation in Syria to secure Turkey's southern border.

Islamic State FILE - A motorist passes by a flag of the Islamic State group in central Rawah, 175 miles (281 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, July 22, 2014. Members of the global coalition fighting the Islamic State group are meeting in Morocco on Wednesday May 11, 20222 to discuss ongoing efforts in the campaign. Islamic extremists in Nigeria also have carried out violence under the banner of a group they call the Islamic State West Africa Province. Mozambique’s extremist rebels are also aligned with the IS group and announced this week it is known as the Islamic State Mozambique Province. Numerous Moroccans have traveled to Syria, Iraq and elsewhere to join extremist groups in recent years.

Islamic State FILE - A motorist passes by a flag of the Islamic State group in central Rawah, 175 miles (281 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq, July 22, 2014. Members of the global coalition fighting the Islamic State group are meeting in Morocco on Wednesday May 11, 20222 to discuss ongoing efforts in the campaign. The meeting is a reminder of the persistent threat from the extremist group despite the overwhelming preoccupation with Russia’s war on Ukraine. (AP Photo, File) (Uncredited)RABAT, Morocco — (AP) — Members of the global coalition fighting the Islamic State group gathered in Morocco on Wednesday to discuss the campaign, a reminder of the persistent threat from the extremist group despite the overwhelming preoccupation with Russia’s war on Ukraine. Numerous Moroccans have traveled to Syria, Iraq and elsewhere to join extremist groups in recent years.

Members of the global coalition fighting the Islamic State group are meeting in Morocco to discuss the campaign

Members of the global coalition fighting the Islamic State group are meeting in Morocco to discuss the campaign.

Filipinos gather outside electoral authority offices to protest after the son of late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos won the presidential election by a landslide. IMAGES

U.S. Treasury says the actors are pivotal to helping extremists travel to Syria and other regions where IS operates. The sanctions, imposed by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, block any property or other assets the individuals have in the U.S. and those who engage in business with the sanctioned people could receive secondary sanctions. The announcement comes just two days ahead of a meeting of foreign ministers from the global anti-IS coalition that is happening in Morocco on Wednesday. The U.S. government refers to the group as ISIS, which stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

The U.S. announced Monday it is imposing financial penalties on five people accused of fundraising for the Islamic State group and using the funds to help traffic children to serve as fighters for the organization.

Israel Airport Scare In this photo provided by Israel's airport authority, shows an unexploded artillery shell at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod, Israel, Monday, Sept. 6, 2021. A bomb scare set off scenes of panic at Israel's airport after an American family showed up with an unexploded artillery shell they had found in the Golan Heights and intended to bring back as a souvenir. (Israeli airport authority via AP) (Uncredited)JERUSALEM — (AP) — A bomb scare set off scenes of panic at Israel's airport after an American family showed up with an unexploded artillery shell they had found in the Golan Heights and intended to bring back as a souvenir. The airport authority said security officers sounded an alert when they discovered the unexploded shell. Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 war, and the area saw heavy fighting during that war and another Arab-Israeli war six years later.

A bomb scare set off scenes of panic at Israel’s airport after an American family showed up with an unexploded artillery shell they had found in the Golan Heights.

A Calgary man who traveled to Syria to join the militant group Islamic State has pleaded guilty to terrorism-related activities

There is no government data on how many people are prosecuted for terror offences after returning from Syria.

The U.S. military says explosions earlier this month on a base in eastern Syria that injured several U.S. service members were not, as it originally reported, caused by artillery or another form of indirect fire.

The top U.S. commander for the Middle East says the exchange of missile strikes by Iran and Israel in Iraq and Syria puts U.S. forces at risk.

The U.N. migration agency estimates that nearly 6.5 million people have now been displaced inside Ukraine, on top of the 3.2 million refugees who have already fled the country.

Iran has claimed responsibility for a missile barrage that struck near a sprawling U.S. consulate complex in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, saying it was retaliation for an Israeli strike in Syria that killed two members of its Revolutionary Guard.

Officials say the U.S. led-coalition in Syria struck several launch sites for short-range rockets believed to be intended for attacks on an installation used by U.S. troops in eastern Syria.

Indiana congressman Greg Pence watched the Jan. 6 insurrection unfold from an extraordinary perch.

Former French President François Hollande has testified at the trial of 14 men accused of helping in the 2015 Islamic State attacks on Paris.

There was a time not long ago when uprisings and wars in the Arab world topped the agenda at the U.N. General Assembly meetings in New York.

Coronavirus cases are surging to the worst levels of the pandemic in a rebel stronghold in Syria.

The United Nations chief is warning that a “hurricane of humanitarian crises” around the world has left civilians in conflict areas paying the highest price.

The leader of an Iran-backed Iraqi militia has vowed to retaliate against America for the deaths of four of his men in a U.S. airstrike along the Iraq-Syria border last month.

The Dutch Defense Ministry says Russian fighter jets repeatedly flew low over a Dutch navy frigate in the Black Sea last week and carried out “mock attacks.”.

A dog smells pieces of tar from an oil spill in the Mediterranean Sea, on a beach in the Gdor Nature Reserve near Michmoret, Israel, Monday, March 1, 2021. The cleanup from the disastrous oil spill that has blackened most of the country's shoreline is expected to take months. Over 90% of Israel’s 195 kilometer (120-mile) Mediterranean coastline was covered in more than 1,000 tons of black tar, the result of the mysterious oil spill in international waters. Iranian oil tankers increasingly have been accused of smuggling oil out of the country and selling the lucrative crude abroad after then-President Donald Trump withdrew from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers nearly three years ago. Israel's Environmental Protection Ministry had kept the particulars of its investigation into the incident under close guard and obtained a court issued gag-order on all details about the case.

The U.S. military conducted airstrikes against facilities in eastern Syria, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, that the Pentagon said were used by Iran-backed militia groups, in response to recent attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)WASHINGTON – The United States launched airstrikes in Syria on Thursday, targeting facilities near the Iraqi border used by Iranian-backed militia groups. The Pentagon said the strikes were retaliation for a rocket attack in Iraq earlier this month that killed one civilian contractor and wounded a U.S. service member and other coalition troops. Officials have noted that in the past, Iranian-backed Shiite militia groups have been responsible for numerous rocket attacks that targeted U.S. personnel or facilities in Iraq. A week later, a rocket attack in Baghdad's Green Zone appeared to target the U.S. Embassy compound, but no one was hurt.

Migrants from Eritrea, Egypt, Syria and Sudan, rest on board the Spanish NGO Open Arms vessel after having been rescued in the Mediterranean sea, about 110 miles north of Libya, on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu)ROME – Italy allowed a Spanish-flagged charity ship with 265 rescued migrants aboard to anchor off Sicily on Monday. The Open Arms vessel had brought the migrants safely aboard in separate rescues last week in the central Mediterranean. Open Arms said 96 of those rescued had been adrift two days in a wooden boat without life vests in international waters. In an earlier, separate operation, Open Arms had taken aboard 169 migrants, who had departed Libyan shores, where many human traffickers are based.

Migrants from Eritrea, Egypt, Syria and Sudan, are assisted by aid workers of the Spanish NGO Open Arms, after fleeing Libya on board a precarious wooden boat in the Mediterranean sea, about 110 miles north of Libya, on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu)ROME – A Spanish-flagged humanitarian ship on Sunday was seeking a port of safety for 265 migrants its crew rescued from the Mediterranean Sea in the last few days. The Open Arms charity tweeted that its vessel on Saturday had safely brought aboard 96 migrants who had been adrift in a wooden boat with without life vests in international waters. In a separate operation two days before that rescue, Open Arms took aboard 169 migrants, who had departed Libyan shores, where many human traffickers are based. The traffickers launch vessels, many of them flimsy rubber dinghies or rickety fishing boats, crowded with migrants who hope to reach European shores to seek asylum.

Tunisian authorities say 20 African migrants have been found dead after their boat, which was trying to reach Europe, sank in the Mediterranean Sea. Five survivors were rescued Thursday, Dec. 24, 2020 and authorities are searching for up to 20 others believed missing. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios, File)TUNIS – About 20 African migrants were found dead Thursday after their smuggling boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to reach Europe, Tunisian authorities said. Five survivors were rescued and the Tunisian navy is searching for up to 20 others still believed missing. According to survivors, the migrant smuggling boat was carrying about 40 or 50 people heading toward Italy, Ben Zekri said.

(AP Photo, File)PARIS – A French court on Thursday convicted an Islamic State operative over a train attack five years ago that was foiled with the dramatic intervention of three American passengers. The special terrorism court sentenced Morocco-born Ayoub El Khazzani to life in prison, with 22 years guaranteed behind bars. The train attack was allegedly organized by Abdelhamid Abaaoud, portrayed as the coordinator of the November 2015 attacks in Paris. He told the court that Abaaoud concocted the plan for the train attack and he followed it to the letter — until he changed his mind. The court convicted Bilal Chatra and Mohamed Bakkali of complicity and sentenced them to prison terms of 27 years and 25 years, respectively.

FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2015, file photo, an injured person is transported to an ambulance after a shooting at the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo's office in Paris, France. The verdict ends the three-month trial linked to the three days of killings across Paris claimed jointly by the Islamic State group and al-Qaida. Patrick Klugman, a lawyer for the survivors of the market attack, said the verdict sent a message to sympathizers. The Jan. 7-9, 2015, attacks in Paris left 17 dead along with the three gunmen. Boumeddiene, the only woman on trial, fled to Syria days before the attack and appeared in Islamic State propaganda.

He said a solution must come from a joint effort by diplomatic, security and humanitarian organizations. The U.S. also has about 3,000 troops still in Iraq; on Tuesday the Pentagon announced that Trump had ordered a drawdown to 2,500 in Iraq with no change for Syria. Trump has pushed for the repatriation of foreign fighters in Syria, but their home countries have largely refused to take them back. In the short run, McKenzie said, IS is in no position to pose a major security threat to the United States. The al-Qaida extremist group and like-minded militants also are severely hobbled but not eliminated, he said.

ANKARA – Turkey’s parliament on Tuesday granted President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government permission to deploy peacekeepers to Azerbaijan to monitor a cease-fire deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia that aims to end the conflict in the region. Last week, the defense ministers of Russia and Turkey signed a memorandum to create a joint monitoring center in Azerbaijan, although technical details of the mission are still being worked out. Russian officials have said that Ankara’s involvement will be limited to the work of the monitoring center on Azerbaijani soil, and Turkish peacekeepers wouldn't go to Nagorno-Karabakh. The motion for the deployment in Azerbaijan was backed by four out of five parties in Turkey's parliament. Erdogan's government said the Turkish peacekeepers were crucial for the region's peace and welfare and for Turkey's national interests.

DUBAI – President Donald Trump's national security adviser promised a “very professional transition” to the administration of President-elect Joe Biden in an interview broadcast Monday, even as Trump continues to falsely claim he won the November election. “If the Biden-Harris ticket is determined to be the winner — obviously things look that way now — we'll have a very professional transition from the National Security Council. The federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency also says: “The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history.”O'Brien, Trump's fourth national security adviser, previously served as his special envoy on hostage affairs. A top Lebanese security official said Saturday that he visited Syria for two days to speak with officials there about Tice. However, there's been no public sign of tensions easing between Doha and Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The heavily-armed and bare-chested El Khazzani wounded a French-American who managed to briefly yank a Kalashnikov from his hands before the three vacationing Americans took him down. Their probe showed that Abaaoud and El Khazzani traveled together from Syria to Belgium and holed up with Chatra in a Brussels apartment. The alleged train attack plot went awry when passengers moved in on El Khazzani. Once aboard the train, El Khazzani lingered in a restroom between cars and emerged bare-chested with the Kalashnikov. He jumped in after a French banker, who has asked to remain anonymous, wrestled unsuccessfully with El Khazzani.

LYON – A Paris criminal court sentenced a 29-year-old Algerian man Thursday to life in prison for killing a woman and trying to bomb a church near the French capital in a failed 2015 attack that investigators said was plotted by Islamic State group extremists in Syria. He expressed regret over choosing that path, but denied killing the woman outside the church in the Paris suburb of Villejuif. Seven other defendants found to have helped him in the attack were sentenced to between three and 30 years in prison. The Paris court also convicted in absentia two operatives who were accused of orchestrating the attack, Abdelnasser Benyoucef and Samir Nouad, and sentenced them to life in prison. Another French terrorist trial is opening later this month, involving an attempted IS attack on a high-speed Amsterdam-to-Paris train.

BERLIN Prosecutors said Monday a German woman who allegedly joined the Islamic State group in Syria was arrested upon her return to the country. She is accused of membership in a foreign terrorist group, war crimes against property and other crimes. Federal prosecutors said in a written statement that the woman, identified only as Nurten J. in line with local privacy laws, was arrested Friday at Frankfurt Airport. After IS lost its territories in Syria, J. and her family were captured by Kurds and were eventually taken into deportation custody in Turkey. It was not clear if she was returned to Germany in custody and and the fate of her children was not known.

This image taken from a video shows amphetamines pills that were seized at the Salerno harbor, southern Italy, Wednesday, July 1, 2020.Italian police have seized 14 tons of amphetamines, allegedly produced in Syria by Islamic State group to fund terrorist activities and destined for the European illegal drug market. Customs Police Col. Domenico Napolitano on Wednesday called the discovery of three shipping containers crammed with some 85 million pills, in the southern port of Salerno, the biggest amphetamine seizure ever made worldwide. (Guardia di Finanza via AP)ROME Italian police have seized 14 tons of amphetamines, allegedly produced in Syria by the Islamic State group to fund extremist activities and destined for the European illegal drug market. The amphetamines were labeled captagon, the street name for a drug whose chemical base is fenethylline. The 14 tons of amphetamines would have raked in about 1 billion euros ($1.15 billion) in street sales had they ultimately made it to consumers, customs police said.

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell waits for the start of a meeting, Supporting the future of Syria and the Region, in videoconference format at the European Council building in Brussels, Tuesday, June 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, Pool)