Syria has sent the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons an "initial declaration" outlining its weapons program, the organization said Friday. Spokesman Michael Luhan told The Associated Press that the declaration is "being reviewed by our verification division." The...

    Syrian writer Khaled Khalifa's novel "In Praise of Hatred" is in the list of "Top 100 Novels of All Time" with George Orwell, Leo Tolstoy, Albert Camus, William Faulkner, Franz Kafka, James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, John Steinbeck, Emily Bronte, E. M. Forster,...

Progress in reaching a deal to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons helped put downward pressure on oil prices Friday. Benchmark oil for October delivery was down 31 cents to $106.09 per barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell...

Iranian President Hassan Rowhani said Thursday his government was ready to "help facilitate dialogue" between the Syrian government and the opposition. "We must join hands to constructively work toward national dialogue, whether in Syria or Bahrain. We must create an atmosphere where peoples...