An official says 17 Syrians have drowned after their boat sank off the Turkish coast on its way to the Greek island of Leros, AP reported. Gov. Amir Cicek of Mugla province told the state-run Anadolu Agency that the Turkish Coast Guard rescued 20 other Syrian refugees early Sunday. No one...

Some 500 migrants were rescued in seven operations launched over the weekend in the Mediterranean, the Italian coastguard said. A spokesman told AFP Sunday that four of the rescue operations had already wound up but the others were ongoing. "Saturday was quiet on the whole but now there...

A week-old ceasefire agreement in northwest Syria appeared to hold Sunday after it was violated for the first time overnight, Reuters said. An online statement attributed to Fateh Army, or the Army of Conquest, said rebels shelled Shiite village al-Foua in retaliation for government...

Blame shifted towards Saudi authorities on Friday after a stampede at the hajj killed at least 717 people, in the worst tragedy to strike the annual Muslim pilgrimage in a quarter of a century. The disaster, which also left several hundred people wounded, was the second deadly...