Damascus (AFP) – Families of prisoners held for years in Syrian jails gathered Wednesday, hoping their loved ones were among the "hundreds" the government said had been released in a mass amnesty. A crowd of hundreds waited in the centre of the capital Damascus, with dozens camping out...

CAIRO (AP) — For the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr, the smell of freshly baked orange biscuits and powdered sugar-dusted cookies typically fills the air in Mona Abubakr’s home. But due to higher prices, the Egyptian housewife this year made smaller quantities of the sweet treats, some of...

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus police on Friday detained two men on suspicion of helping two dozen Syrian asylum-seekers reach the east Mediterranean island nation aboard a rigid-hulled inflatable boat. A court ordered the two men — aged 30 and 28 — held in police custody for eight days...

The U.N. special envoy for Syria announced Tuesday that he has sent invitations to the Syrian government and the opposition for an eighth round of talks starting in late May, aimed at revising the constitution of the conflict-torn country. Geir Pedersen told the U.N. Security Council that...