Russia's military on Tuesday said that a soldier had killed himself while on duty in Syria, the first confirmed death of a serviceman in the war-torn country since Moscow launched its bombing campaign last month. 

The defense ministry in Moscow did not identify the soldier who it said committed suicide but said the serviceman appeared to have taken his life due to problems with his girlfriend.

A spike in the number of Iranian military officers killed in Syria has started a rare debate back home about the country's increased efforts to prop up President Bashar Assad.

In Tehran, where war dead are revered and remembered in giant public murals, newly erected memorials are a sign of the human cost that Iran is paying in Syria, amid worries of what is to come.

An Iranian official says the Revolutionary Guard has sent more military advisers to Syria to help President Bashar Assad in the fight against insurgents.

Gen. Hossein Salami, the Guard's deputy leader, says this has led to more Iranian deaths in the conflict. Salami didn't give any specifics for the Iranian death toll or for the number of troops dispatched.

Just a few weeks ago, economics student Firas Kiwani was planning to leave his home in the Syrian capital Damascus, convinced there was no future in his war-torn country.

But the launch last month of a Russian air campaign in support of the Syrian government has changed the 20-year-old's mind.

Syria has netted more than $500 million from passport fees this year, after raising charges for those obtained abroad to bolster foreign exchange reserves, the government said in a report Monday.

The boost in fees comes amid soaring demand for passports, and with Syrians attempting to flee their war-ravaged country for Europe in record numbers.

Kurdish fighters in northern Syria have accused the Turkish military of attacking their positions near a border town at the weekend.

There was no immediate confirmation from Turkey, where an official said the government was investigating the claims.

An Arab Israeli has crossed into Syria using a paraglider with the apparent goal of joining rebel fighters there, the Israeli army said on Sunday.

"A surveillance post identified an Israeli civilian entering Syrian territory using a paraglider" late on Saturday, an army statement read. 

Syrian President Bashar Assad said Sunday his country must "eradicate terrorism" to find a political solution to its civil war, as he reportedly expressed a willingness to hold new elections.

Meeting with a Russian parliamentary delegation as Moscow steps up efforts for a political deal, Assad emphasized the need for greater security.

For two years, Syrian teenager Ibrahim scraped together a paltry living selling lottery tickets and tissues on the crowded streets of Beirut, but that seems like a lifetime ago now.

The 18-year-old's life turned around after three months' training at a flower shop as part of an apprenticeship program for vulnerable Lebanese and Syrian youths organized by an international humanitarian group.

The Kremlin said Friday Moscow has not yet found any moderate rebels it could support in Syria, after Bashar Assad reportedly told Russia he was ready to talk to armed rebels.

This week President Vladimir Putin hosted Syria's embattled leader for a surprise summit at the Kremlin, Assad's first known foreign trip since unrest erupted in his country in 2011.