Chaos in Syria following the fall of the Assad regime could lead to a “serious spike” in the threat posed by Islamic State (IS) to Europe, the former head of MI6 has said. Sir Alex Younger said IS fighters were currently being held by Kurdish groups in the east of the country,

European countries put asylum applications from Syrians on hold until further notice on Monday after rebels seized the Syrian capital and President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia following 13 years of civil war.

Britain, Germany, France, Italy and several other European countries said Monday they would freeze all pending asylum requests from Syrians, a day after the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad.The Italian government said late Monday after a cabinet meeting that it too was suspending asylum request "in line with other European partners.

The decision affects tens of thousands of open claims and reflects rising support across Europe for right-wing parties opposed to immigration