The head of an international mission to Syria charged with destroying the country's chemical weapons called on President Bashar Assad's government Sunday to ensure it meets a deadline to destroy all its toxic chemicals. Also Sunday, four more candidates announced their candidacy for...

Despite a war, the Syrian government appears determined to go ahead with presidential elections on June 3. It is widely believed that President Bashar al-Assad will easily be elected to a seven-year term. The vote is to be held under new rules that block major Syrian opposition figures...

A French government spokesman denied on Sunday a report that it paid a ransom for the release a week ago of four French journalists held captive in Syria for more than 10 months. Focus, a German magazine, published on its website a report that France paid 18 million dollars for their...

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday he was still ready to extend stalled peace talks with Israel , as long as it met his long-standing demands to free prisoners and halt building on occupied land. Israel suspended the troubled, U.S.-sponsored negotiations with...