President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday appointed Faisal Mekdad as Syria's new foreign minister, replacing Walid Muallem who died almost one week ago, the presidency announced in a statement. Mekdad will be replaced as deputy foreign minister by Syria's ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar...

Tens of thousands of Belarus opposition protesters took to the streets on Sunday, the latest large-scale rally against President Alexandre Lukashenko's contested re-election. For more than three months Belarus has been gripped by historic weekly opposition rallies following Lukashenko's...

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday defended his tour of Gulf Arab states and the Trump administration's continued efforts to squeeze Iran, even as a new U.S. administration led by Joe Biden prepares to enter the White House in January. Although Pompeo has not taken questions from...

Iraq's Salahaddin province declared three days of mourning from Sunday over a deadly attack blamed on the Islamic State group, as some criticised authorities for failing to fight back jihadists. Late Saturday, a roadside bomb hit a civilian car on an open road near Mt. Makhoul, about 200...