– Russia says too early to confirm Syria talks in New York
– Suspected US-led Syria raids kill dozens of civilians
– Syrian opposition seeks unified front in Riyadh; Kurds plan summit after exclusion from meeting
– UNICEF appeals for $1.1 billion for Syria, neighboring countries
– Turkey halts troop deployment to Iraq but will not withdraw
– Iraqi forces seize neighborhood on outskirts of ISIS-held city

Russia says too early to confirm Syria talks in New York
Russia’s foreign ministry on Tuesday said it was too early to confirm a new round of international talks on ending the war in Syria that are expected in New York later this month. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week announced fresh negotiations on Syria that diplomats said are likely to be held on December 18. Russia however said that a failure by participants to make progress on lists of rebel groups considered “terrorists” and who should represent the opposition in talks meant that is was “premature” to announce talks for that date. “Not having a collective understanding of who in Syria is a terrorist and who is an opposition member, it is impossible to hold talks on the internal Syrian political process or on such an important and urgent matter as the ceasefire,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. [AFP, 12/8/2015]

Suspected US-led Syria raids kill dozens of civilians
Suspected US-led coalition air strikes killed at least twenty-six civilians in a Syrian village Monday, increasing pressure on the alliance after allegations that another bombing raid left regime soldiers dead. According to a monitoring group, strikes on Monday on the village of Al-Khan in northeastern Syria left only civilians dead. The US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) said Tuesday it was “assessing the credibility” of reports. “Every time we get information about the possibility of a civilian casualty incident, we always do a credibility assessment on that information,” Colonel Steve Warren said. “If the information is found to be credible, we’ll conduct an investigation, and we’ll release the results of that investigation.” [AFP, 12/8/2015]

Syrian opposition seeks unified front in Riyadh; Kurds plan summit after exclusion from meeting
Syrian opposition representatives are gathering in Saudi Arabia to seek a common position from which to negotiate with the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Most of the main rebel factions, such as Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham, are taking part in the conference in Riyadh. Meanwhile, Syrian Kurdish factions will host a two-day conference starting Tuesday on a vision for Syria’s future, after being excluded from the meeting of opposition groups in Saudi Arabia. Kurdish conference organizer Sihanuk Dibo said the conference would be held in northeast Syria and include Kurds, the Assyrian Democratic Party, Arab figures, and religious leaders from various parts of Syria. A spokesman for Syria’s leading Kurdish political faction the Democratic Union Party (PYD) confirmed that they had still not received an invitation to Riyadh. [BBC, 12/8/2015]

UNICEF appeals for $1.1 billion for Syria, neighboring countries
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Monday launched a $1.1 billion fundraising drive to provide relief in Syria and neighboring countries including Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, and Jordan. “We launched a $1.1 billion appeal for UNICEF for its Syria operations which includes our response to help children impacted by the crisis inside Syria and in neighboring countries,” UNICEF spokeswoman Juliet Toma said. Toma said that the UN agency faces a huge funding shortfall. “We have a huge gap [in funds], this is one of the biggest appeals in the history of UNICEF…Our needs [have] continued to grow and the number of children in need continues to increase,” she said. Toma said there are currently more than 8 million Syrian children in need of assistance. [Al-Arabiya, 12/7/2015]

Turkey halts troop deployment to Iraq but will not withdraw
Turkey has halted the deployment of troops to northern Iraq for now but will not withdraw those already there, Turkey’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday, after Baghdad demanded the withdrawal of soldiers sent near the ISIS-held city of Mosul. In a phone conversation with his Iraqi counterpart late on Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reiterated Ankara’s respect for Iraq’s territorial integrity, Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Tanju Bilgic told reporters. Turkey says its latest deployment of soldiers to northern Iraq is part of a mission to train and equip Iraqi forces. The Iraqi government says it never invited such a force and will take its case to the United Nations if they are not pulled out. Seperately, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said he wanted to visit Baghdad as soon as possible to try to calm the row over the troop deployment. On Tuesday, Bilgic rejected remarks made by Arab League Chief Nabil al-Arabi, who claimed that Turkish military had “intervened” in Iraqi territory. Meanwhile, a UN Security Council diplomat says Russia plans to raise Turkey’s military action in Syria and Iraq at a closed meeting of the council on Tuesday. [Reuters, 12/8/2015]

Iraqi forces seize neighborhood on outskirts of ISIS-held city
Iraqi officials say troops have retaken a neighborhood on the outskirts of Ramadi, a provincial capital west of Baghdad that was captured by ISIS earlier this year. The retaking of the area on Tuesday comes just over a week after Iraqi forces announced the capture of the Palestine Bridge, completing the encirclement of the city. ISIS captured Ramadi in May, dealing the biggest blow to Iraqi forces since the fall of Mosul nearly a year before. The government soon announced a counter-offensive, but progress has been sluggish. [AP, 12/8/2015]