Long after his teammates left the ice on a line change, one boy continued to chase the puck with dogged determination and a beaming glow across his face. "Yamen, Yamen!" his coach called out. "Change up!" The boy, caught up in childlike glee over the game, turned his attention to the bench,...

Families of detainees in Syrian prisons are routinely forced to bribe officials to be allowed to visit them or to win their release, according to a report that reveals the vast scale of extortion in the detention system. The sums involved – rising as high as £2m in one jail - are likely...

Britain began vaccinating its population with the COVID-19 shot developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca on Monday, touting a scientific "triumph" that puts it at the vanguard of the West in inoculating against the virus. Britain, which is rushing to vaccinate its population faster...

 Militants ambushed buses traveling down a highway in central Syria late Sunday, killing nine people, including a 13-year-old girl, state media reported. The ambush is the second this week to target buses traveling between government-controlled areas and to be blamed on suspected...