Iran was set to sign preliminary agreements with Total and Shell Wednesday to develop major oil and gas fields as it seeks to boost its output, an oil official said. The deals include a $10-12 billion expansion of the South Azadegan oil field and another project at the Yadavaran oil field,...

 Syrian rebels in besieged eastern Aleppo called for an immediate five-day ceasefire, negotiations about the future of the city and for medical and civilian evacuations, in a humanitarian plan published on Wednesday. A Turkey-based rebel official told Reuters the plan had been sent to...

Syrian regime forces control all of Aleppo's historic Old City after rebel fighters withdrew in the face of army advances overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday. The army and allied forces hold more than 75 percent of east Aleppo, a rebel bastion since 2012,...

The death toll from a strong earthquake that hit northern Indonesia's Aceh province on Wednesday has doubled to at least 50, Indonesia's disaster agency said, as rescuers searched dozens of collapsed buildings for trapped survivors. Search and rescue teams used earth movers to clear rubble...