The leader of al-Qaeda has ordered the re-organization of jihadist efforts in Syria and Iraq by abolishing the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) and giving the Nusra Front sole responsibility for activities in war-torn Syria.   In an audio tape...

  Troops backed by Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah fighters and other pro-regime militiamen on Thursday retook Sbeineh, a major rebel enclave south of Damascus, a monitoring group and state television said.   "Sbeineh was one of the most important...

  World powers failed Tuesday to set a date for a long-delayed Syria peace conference, as deep divisions persisted between rival camps over the conditions for their participation. "We were hoping that we'd be in a position to announce a date today, unfortunately we're not," UN-Arab...

Deep in the desert and far from his former base of power, ousted President Mohammed Morsi is being held in a sprawling penitentiary that is notorious as one of Egypt's highest-security prisons. The move appears aimed not only at isolating him from other Muslim Brotherhood leaders who...