Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan's party took a strong early lead in local elections Sunday, TV channels reported, despite turbulent months marked by mass protests, corruption scandals and Internet blocks. With over 18 percent of the municipal votes nationwide counted by early...

Dozens of troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were killed in two attacks carried out by rebels in Aleppo, opposition sources reported on Sunday. Ziad Hajj Obeid, a commander for the rebel Free Syrian Army, said their forces carried two “special operations’ in the city,...

Two Spanish journalists held hostage in Syria by an al Qaeda-linked militant group for 194 days have been freed and handed over to the Turkish military in good health, one of the men told his employer El Mundo newspaper. El Mundo Middle East correspondent Javier Espinosa called the...

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has selected a new ambassador to represent Tehran at the United Nations, Hamid Abutalebi, a veteran diplomat who has held key European postings in the past, Iranian sources said. Abutalebi, who has served as Iran's ambassador to  Italy ,...