President Mohamed Mursi offered opponents a say on Wednesday in amending a controversial new constitution and a forum to seek "national reconciliation", as he sought to avert a violent showdown in the streets. In a televised address lasting more than two and a half hours, the Islamist...

Susan Rice has called the UN Security Council's inaction on the Syrian war "a stain" on the body, in final remarks as US ambassador to the organisation. She criticised Russia and China for vetoing three resolutions that would have increased pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad....

 Millions of Syrians have been displaced internally by their civil war or fled abroad, but few have gone as far as Ahmed to escape the violence. Now he is a refugee in Bogota, learning Spanish so he can support himself in Colombia. Ahmed, aged 25, had a normal life in Syria with a job,...

When historians look back on the American path to war in Syria, two comments by President Obama will stand out. The first was his statement—repeated as a sort of sideline cheer for the Arab Spring—that “Assad must go.” This was a diplomatic error that could not be walked back: it...