CARACAS- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hailed the battle against capitalism as a "key role" shared by Caracas and Damascus on Saturday during a visit with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad....

RAMALLAH- Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Saturday he would hold direct negotiations with Israel if there was progress in US-led indirect talks in the coming months. He appeared to ease...

CARACAS- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrived Friday in Caracas to meet with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, on his first visit to Latin America aimed at reinforcing economic ties with the...

ALEXANDRIA, Mona Salem- Mohamed ElBaradei, the ex-atomic watchdog chief turned Egyptian dissident, led thousands of protesters in the northern city of Alexandria on Friday demanding an end to police...

BAGHDAD- The Baghdad offices of Al-Arabiya television closed on Friday after the interior ministry warned the Saudi-funded satellite network was under surveillance by insurgents, a staffer said....

WASHINGTON- The United States on Thursday condemned Syria for jailing an award-winning Syrian human rights lawyer and urged Damascus to release him as well as other Syrian activists. Syrian rights...

DAMASCUS- Syria's President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday urged the formation of a new Iraqi government to restore security, in a meeting with the head of Iraq's main conservative Shiite political...

JERUSALEM, Jean-Luc Renaudie- An Israeli plan to raze 22 Arab homes to make way for an archaeological park in annexed east Jerusalem has infuriated the Palestinians, with president Mahmud Abbas...

MOGADISHU- Somalia's Islamist movement Hezb al-Islam has ordered men in Mogadishu to grow their beards and trim their moustaches, officials said Monday, further imposing the strict Sharia form of...