Syria freed only 25 prisoners, not 150 as had been reported, in exchange for a group of kidnapped nuns, the country’s information minister Omran al-Zohbi has said. The statement came despite mediators and the opposition saying nearly 150 female detainees had been freed in exchange...

   Syrian regime has issued a new law which is to ban Syrian citizens from leaving their country without permission (exit visa). Syrian News Agency (SANA) said Bashar al-Assad Tuesday issued a new law prohibiting entry into or departure from Syria for persons who do not hold valid...

Protesters clashed with police in Turkey's two biggest cities on Tuesday after the death of a 15-year-old boy who was hit in the head by a tear-gas canister during anti-government demonstrations last summer. Police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse crowds in Istanbul and...

A homemade bomb exploded in a Shi'ite Muslim village in Bahrain on Tuesday, wounding two policemen, the interior ministry said, nine days after another blast in the Gulf Arab kingdom killed three police officers. Bahrain has been grappling with unrest by majority Shi'ites over the...