Lebanon's parliament gave a newly-formed cabinet a vote of confidence on Thursday, ending almost a year of political deadlock during which the country has been pulled further into the civil war in neighboring  Syria . The approval - by 96 of the 101 parliamentarians who...

Israel has progressed with plans for more than 2,000 new homes in six West Bank settlements, an official said Thursday, in a move likely to further endanger peace talks.   Guy Inbar, a spokesperson for the Defense Ministry unit responsible for civilian affairs in the...

Syrian soldiers have raised the national flag on the battlements of a 900-year-old Crusader castle after a three-month siege that ended on Thursday when rebel fighters fled. The recapture of Crac des Chevaliers, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a real and symbolic victory over...

Nearly half of Syria's declared chemical weapons have been shipped out of the country after two more cargoes were loaded onto vessels in the Mediterranean over the last week, the international team overseeing the disarmament process said. The joint mission of the  United...