Hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews held a mass prayer in Jerusalem on Sunday in protest at a bill that would cut their community's military exemptions and end a tradition upheld since Israel's foundation. Ultra-Orthodox leaders had called on their men, women and children...

An al Qaeda splinter group in  Syria  has denied it was behind the killing of a prominent al Qaeda figure last week and appeared to reject an ultimatum from rival fighters to accept mediation or face all-out assault. The Islamic State in  Iraq  and the...

 Veteran Spanish journalist Marc Marginedas, kidnapped in Syria in early September last year, has been freed, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Sunday. "I am very happy...I spoke to him early today, he is in reasonable shape, he is happy," Rajoy told Radio 5, Spain's public...

 Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded and won his parliament's approval on Saturday to invade Ukraine, where the new government warned of war, put its troops on high alert and appealed to NATO for help. Putin's open assertion of the right to send troops to a country of 46...