Beirut / AFP Double car bomb attacks killed at least 57 people in Syria’s central city of Homs on Sunday as international efforts to bring about a ceasefire in the war-torn country floundered. More than 100 people were injured in the twin bomb attacks in the Al-Zahraa district, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor. Syrian state …

Ankara / AFP Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has defended his country’s fight against Kurdish fighters in Syria as “legitimate defence”, after international powers urged Ankara to rein in its cross-border bombardments. Turkey has been shelling targets in northern Syria for the past week in a bid to stem the advances of a Kurdish-led coalition that has seized territory in …

Beirut / AFP Moscow pledged to continue backing the Syrian government in its fight against “terrorism”, dashing hopes for a ceasefire the opposition said it would only back if the regime and its supporters hold fire. World powers have been pushing for a so-called cessation of hostilities to pave the way for renewed negotiations aimed at ending Syria’s war nearly …