Saudi Arabia's appointment of Prince Muqrin as deputy crown prince is a first step towards addressing its biggest dynastic challenge for 50 years and forestalling a possible succession crisis in the world's top oil exporter. The ruling al-Saud family is fast approaching the moment when...

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks on Sunday about ways to defuse the crisis over  Ukraine , with Kerry telling Moscow that progress depended on a Russian troop pullback from Ukraine's borders. "Both sides made...

  Amid Syria’s ongoing war woes, the upcoming launch of a new Syrian airline has attracted a wave of criticism over the regime’s apparent ability to weather the three-year conflict. But this hasn’t been the only type of criticism. The private carrier’s launch announcement...

Syrian government forces captured two villages near the border with Lebanon on Saturday, continuing a weeks-long advance that has cut a major supply route for weapons and fighters into the country from eastern Lebanon, said activists and state TV. The villages of Flita and Ras Maara were...