A dozen bombings in central Iraq and two shootings in the north killed 22 people Thursday, officials and doctors said, as the country suffers its worst violence in years. Iraq has been hit by a year-long surge in bloodshed that has reached levels not seen since 2008, driven by...

 After three years of grinding conflict, the destruction of whole city districts and an exodus of refugees all triggered by an uprising against his rule, Bashar al-Assad is quietly preparing to be re-elected. The Syrian president has not yet announced whether he will stand for a...

Fierce clashes raged around the town of Morek on the strategic road between Hama and Idlib, which the army needs in order to supply a base in the province. The army has been trying to capture Morek and secure the road, but the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human...

At least five people were killed and more than 20 wounded on Thursday in a bomb blast near a security headquarters in central Syria's city of Hama, a monitor said. "A truck packed with explosives detonated... near a branch of the military intelligence, killing at least five people and...