Gabriel Garcia Marquez was an enormous influence on a huge number of writers worldwide, in particular through his 1967 novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude". Far beyond South America and the wider Hispanic world, Garcia Marquez's influence was felt by and played out in the work...

Iraqi Kurds are digging a 17-km (10-mile) trench on their border with Syria, reinforcing a political faultline between the two rival parties that dominate on either side of the frontier. Iraqi Kurdish authorities say the ditch, which is approximately 3 meters deep and 2...

International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Thursday that a deal between trapped fighters and civilians in Homs city and the Syrian authorities had broken down, as government forces appeared close to retaking the besieged opposition area. Homs, a religiously-mixed city,...

Syria has submitted a "more specific" list of its chemical weapons to the global regulator overseeing the destruction of its stockpile after discrepancies were reported by inspectors on the ground, officials said. Damascus agreed to give up its chemical arsenal after Washington...