Italy appeals for help to deal with migrant problem after deaths of more than 100 African migrants, including three children More than 100 people were dead and about 200 missing on Thursday night after a migrant boat caught fire on the perilous sea crossing from Africa...

When radical Islamists tore down a cross and hoisted a black flag above a church in the northern Syrian city of Raqqah last week, it underscored the increasingly hostile environment for the country’s Christians. Although Syria is majority Sunni Muslim, it is one of the most religiously and...

A group of powerful rebel brigades in northern Syria is struggling to defuse an armed standoff pitting insurgents against an affiliate of Al Qaeda for control of a strategic town near the Turkish border.   The conflict over the town, Azaz, has shuttered a Turkish...

 International inspectors racing to meet a mid-2014 deadline to eliminate Syria's chemical stockpile said Thursday they have made "encouraging initial progress" in their mission, and hope to start onsite inspections and begin disabling equipment within the next week. An advance team of...