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...

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has expressed his "solidarity" with Russian President Vladimir Putin's position on the crisis in Ukraine, state media reported on Thursday. In a telegram, Assad "expressed... Syria's solidarity with Putin's efforts to restore security and stability to...

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday berated an Islamic cleric he accuses of plotting to wreck his government, as more voice recordings apparently intended to embarrass the Turkish leader were aired on the Internet. Erdogan is locked in a power struggle with U.S.-based Turkish...

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday directly urged Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and to "abandon the fantasy" of flooding Israel with refugees. But his remarks sparked a furious reaction from the Palestinians who denounced his demand...