(Reuters) - An official under former hardline ruler Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali appears set for a close run-off in Tunisian presidential polls with a rival who says he represents the 2011 "Arab Spring" uprising that toppled him. Preliminary results in the country's first...

BEIRUT (AP) — Al-Qaida militants and Syrian rebels launched an attack against two predominantly Shiite Muslim villages in northern Syria that have been under siege for some 18 months, activists and a monitoring group said Sunday. The Local Coordination Committees and the...

QOM, Iran (AP) — Shiite and Sunni clerics from about 80 countries gathered in Iran's holy city of Qom on Sunday to develop a strategy to combat extremists, including the Islamic State group that has captured large parts of Iraq and Syria. Shiite-majority Iran has been helping...

BEIRUT, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Syria's state spending is expected to rise 12 percent to 1.55 trillion Syrian pounds ($9.10 billion) next year, driven by higher social support costs, state news agency SANA reported citing a draft budget presented to lawmakers on Sunday....