From the Lebanese border town of Arsal, you can see the smoke as  Syria n government warplanes bomb rebel positions across the frontier. But its problems are even closer. Arsal is Sunni Muslim and the neighbouring town of al-Labwa is Shi'ite. Their fate shows just how dangerous...

The Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church Ignatius Zakka Iwas, the leader of one of world's oldest Christian sects, has died. He was 80. Syrian state news agency SANA said Iwas was admitted into a German hospital for treatment Feb. 20. He died on Friday in Germany after...

Gun battles have erupted again in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, with gunmen firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades. At least three people were killed in clashes overnight linked to the civil war in neighbouring Syria, Lebanese police sources said. Two gunmen...

Lebanon's parliament gave a newly-formed cabinet a vote of confidence on Thursday, ending almost a year of political deadlock during which the country has been pulled further into the civil war in neighboring  Syria . The approval - by 96 of the 101 parliamentarians who...