The second round of Syria peace talks has got off to a stormy start against a backdrop of continued rescue of civilians from the beseiged city of Homs. Members of Syria's government and opposition delegations blamed each other in Geneva on Monday for mortar attacks on convoys bringing...

Secular activists arrested last month on the third anniversary of the revolt against Egyptian autocrat Hosni Mubarak say they have been tortured, some with electric shocks, relatives and lawyers who have seen them said. The Interior Ministry denied any abuses. If independently...

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday a draft U.N. resolution on aid access in  Syria  was "detached from reality" and urged the West to refrain from what it called one-sided accusations against Damascus. Australia, Luxembourg and Jordan last week...

  Russia  and  China  on Monday rebuffed the United States,  France  and Britain and other states by failing to attend negotiations on a draft U.N. Security Council resolution to boost aid access in  Syria , diplomats said. Australia ,...