Sarin, a deadly nerve gas which the United States now says the Syrian regime has used against rebel forces, was developed by Nazi scientists in 1938. Originally conceived as a pesticide, sarin was used by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime to gas thousands of Kurds in the northern town...

 American and European intelligence analysts now believe that President Bashar al-Assad’s troops have used chemical weapons against rebel forces in the civil war in Syria, an assessment that will put added pressure on a deeply divided Obama administration to develop a response to a...

Among the consequences facing U.S. President  Barack Obama  if he decides against arming Syria's rebels is that Arab and European states may step in more aggressively, perhaps further fracturing rebel forces. Having watched government forces seize the strategic town of Qusair...

More must be done to stop the "outrageous" loss of life in Syria, William Hague has said after talks with his US counterpart in Washington. Diplomatic efforts would be intensified amid reports that the Syrian government was planning "new assaults" on rebel groups, the UK Foreign Secretary...