Smuggling is a way of life in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, just over the border from Syria. Driving along it, you see pale smugglers' trails snaking through mountain passes, and the guys who run touristy little antiques stores here say they can get you anything. "Everything that...

Beirut (AFP) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is expected to clinch re-election effortlessly next week, believes he has saved his regime from a brutal three-year insurgency, despite international isolation and calls for his departure. Assad, 48, came to power in 2000 with...

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  (AFP)- The death toll from Syrian air raids on rebel-held areas in the northern city of Aleppo has topped 40 over a 24-hour period, a monitoring group said Wednesday. Barrel bombs killed 22 people Tuesday in the eastern districts of Hay Qataneh, Tariq al-Bab, Bustan...