Russia's air strikes in Syria are in part designed to extract concessions from the West over Ukraine by making Moscow a key player in any attempts by world powers to hammer out a post-conflict settlement in Damascus, some Western officials believe. While the Syrian capital lies...

Hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria to join a major ground offensive in support of  Bashar al-Assad's government, Lebanese sources said on Thursday, a further sign of the rapid internationalization of a civil war in which every major country in the region has a...

 U.N. refugee agency UNHCR expects 1.4 million refugees to flee to Europe via the Mediterranean this year and next, it said in a revised appeal seen by Reuters Thursday, a sharp rise from initial estimates of 850,000. "UNHCR is planning for up to 700,000 people seeking safety and...

World trade will grow by 2.8 percent this year and could fall back further by a U.S. interest rate rise, China’s economic slowdown or Europe’s refugee crisis, the World Trade Organization said Wednesday. The forecast, revised down from a 3.3 percent forecast made in April, means 2015 will be...