Russia has deployed a naval unit to the Mediterranean Sea, it said on Thursday, a move President Vladimir Putin said was to defend Russian security but which comes as Moscow faces off with the West over Syria. In what is Russia's first permanent naval deployment in the Mediterranean since...

A proposed conference in Geneva is gaining traction with the US and Russia throwing diplomatic muscle behind the plan. United Nations    New chances that international peace talks will take place in Geneva in the next month hang in the balance of ongoing diplomatic...

  Assad is clearly looking to exploit sectarian fault lines in his favor. Months of bloodshed have heightened sectarian tensions and ripped apart communities in ways that are reminiscent of Iraq, where violence in 2006-2007 effectively turned into real attempts at sectarian...