Four months of Russian air strikes in Syria are taking their toll on rebel forces, strengthening the hand of a defiant President Bashar al-Assad as the United Nations struggles to get peace talks off the ground. Insurgents in the west are being hit harder, while in eastern and...

Support for Chancellor Angela Merkel and her conservative bloc has slipped further due to her handling of the refugee crisis and worries about crime and security after assaults on women at New Year in Cologne, a poll showed on Wednesday. Merkel's open-door refugee policy, and...

A Syrian opposition council formed in Riyadh last month said on Wednesday it will not attend peace negotiations if a third party joins the talks, a reference to a Russian bid to include other groups in the process that was due to be launched next week, Reuters reported. Riad Hijab, who heads...

A group of militants stormed a university in volatile northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least 19 people and wounding dozens as the army hunted for any gunmen still holed up on the campus, officials said. A security official said the death toll could rise to as high...