Mortar rounds on Thursday hit an upscale district of Damascus where President Bashar Assad attended prayers to mark the start of a major Muslim holiday in a rare attack in the high security area, AP reported. A Syrian rebel brigade claimed it fired mortar shells that hit Assad's motorcade in...

   Saudi Al Watan newspaper quoted its sources in the Syrian opposition as saying that “the authorities of Damascus have been granting Lebanese Hezbollah members and Iraqi militia Shiites the Syrian nationality , and has been registering them as residents of the city of Sweida,...

   No official procedures to restrict Syrians entry to Lebanon or to control their residency, a well-informed source in the Syrian refugee affairs in Lebanon, told Eqtsad via phone interview.  Large number of families keeps entering Lebanon without any problem,...

Secretary of State John Kerry has recommended that Robert S. Ford serve as the next American ambassador to Egypt, American officials said Sunday, a critical role at a time of rising turmoil and anti-Americanism in the traditional Arab ally. Mr. Ford, a longtime Middle East hand and fluent...