DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Against a backdrop of civil war, tens of thousands of Syrians voted in government-controlled cities and towns Tuesday to give President Bashar Assad a new seven-year mandate, with some even marking the ballots with their own blood. The carefully...

(Writing by George Hadad; Translation by Dani Murad) (Zaman Alwasl-Leaked documents)- Under the pretext of non-availability of suitable premises to be classrooms and despite the thousands of buildings related to the ministry which are distributed...

Russia said Tuesday it would not shirk efforts to find a political solution in Syria during its month-long presidency of the UN Security Council, calling for a new mediator to be appointed without delay. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, under fire from Western colleagues for...

It was in Baba Amr, in Syria's Homs, that the armed uprising against Bashar al-Assad erupted, but with people turning out to vote Tuesday as the president sought re-election, the spirit of revolution seemed to have vanished. A loudspeaker outside the Hassan al-Sabet school, the...