Syrian War: Rebels threaten to boycott peace talks - BBC

Syrian rebel groups say they are suspending participation in the preparations for peace talks planned by Russia and Turkey for later this month. A statement, signed by a number of groups, cited "many and large violations" of the ceasefire by the Syrian government as the reason.

Turkey and Russia brokered the ceasefire deal last Thursday, and it has mostly held since then.

The peace talks are due to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan.

"The regime and its allies have continued firing and committed many and large violations," the statement issued on Monday said.

How ISIS jihadist group crucified 9 people in Syria

The jihadist group, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has publicly executed and crucified nine men in Syria, eight of them rebels fighting both President Bashar al-Assad's regime and the jihadists, a monitor said on Sunday.

The report comes amid fierce clashes on the outskirts of Damascus between the ISIS, which is spearheading a major offensive in Iraq, and rebels, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"ISIS executed eight men in Deir Hafer in the east of Aleppo province" on Saturday because they belonged to rebel groups that had fought against the jihadists as well as Assad's forces, it said.

Jordan Fears Iraq Jihadist Fight May Spill over

The Sunni militant offensive in Iraq has sparked fears in Amman that they will take the fight to Jordan, which is already struggling with its own home-grown Islamists. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a powerful jihadist group that controls key areas of Syria, has seized a swathe of Iraqi territory in a lightning offensive Baghdad's forces seem powerless to halt.

Experts fear Jordan could be one of ISIL's next targets, with YouTube videos purporting to show the group threatening to take jihad there. Already reeling under the impact of hosting more than 600,000 Syrian refugees, Jordan has long faced security challenges in dealing with its own jihadists, many of whom have joined ISIL and other Al-Qaida-linked groups in Iraq and Syria.

Exclusive: Nigerian Girls 'alive' and Deal is 'within reach'

A hostage negotiator in direct contact with the kidnappers of more than 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria tells Channel 4 News their safe release is "within reach", but that their fate rests on a knife-edge.

"The girls, we believe, are alive but they have been moved from the location to which they were originally taken," the intermediary told Channel 4 News. "It would not be hard to engineer a deal. It looks like they want to release them."

The kidnappers have warned, however, that attempts by the military to launch a rescue attempt "may result in the deaths of many of the captives".

"They want a way out," said the negotiator, who has long experience of dealing directly with the Islamist group Boko Haram in previous hostage crises.