Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan described the leaking on YouTube on Thursday of a recording of top security officials discussing possible military operations in Syria as "villainous" and the government blocked access to the video-sharing site. The anonymous...

  King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia Thursday appointed his half-brother Moqren bin Abdul Aziz as the next heir to the throne, paving the way for him to become a future king.  The move was announced by a royal decree broadcast by state television channel Al-Ikhbariya.  Under...

A Lebanese army officer was shot dead in the country’s second city of Tripoli during fighting between rival sects on Thursday, a security source and state media said. Lebanon’s National News Agency said masked men on a motorcycle had opened fire on the officer, Fadi...

US President Barack Obama has met Pope Francis for the first time to discuss how to fight global inequality and poverty, calling himself a "great admirer" of the pontiff. Obama arrived at the Vatican on Thursday amid the pomp and tradition of the Catholic Church, making his way to...