DAMASCUS - It was too late when air raid sirens wailed at one of Syria’s most fortified military compounds. Israeli jets were already attacking the Hameh complex and civilian employees in nearby housing were scrambling for cover with their families.
 Around Damascus the warplanes staged a series of raids in the early hours of Sunday including […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama says Israel is justified in protecting itself from advanced weapons shipments to terrorist groups like Hezbollah.
 In an interview Saturday with the Spanish-language network Telemundo, Obama did not directly comment on reports of an Israeli airstrike against a Syrian missile shipment believed bound for Hezbollah.  He said he would let […]

DAMASCUS - The Syrian opposition is condemning what it calls a “large-scale massacre” by government forces and loyalist militias that reportedly left dozens dead in a northwest city.
 The Syrian National Coalition alleged that forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad “were directly involved in the execution and burning of at least 150 people, including women and […]

JERUSALEM - Israel says Syria has used chemical weapons against rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad.
 The head of research and analysis for Israel’s military intelligence, Brigadier General Itai Brun, told a security conference Tuesday that the weapons were “probably” the nerve agent sarin.
 Syria’s government and the rebels have traded accusations about the use of chemical […]

WASHINGTON - An international human rights group says Syrian forces are expanding their use of banned cluster bombs in residential areas, causing mounting civilian casualties. 
 Cluster bombs open in flight, scattering smaller bomblets.  They pose a threat to civilians long afterwards, since many do not explode immediately.
 Human Rights Watch said Saturday it has identified at least […]

DAMASCUS - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says he is ready to negotiate with the opposition, but will absolutely not step down as the country’s leader.
 
 In a rare interview, Assad told Britain’s Sunday Times that any notion his continued role as president is linked to the nearly two-year conflict that has torn the country apart is […]

WASHINGTON - The United States is providing $60 million in immediate aid to the Syrian opposition, including food, medical supplies and direct non-lethal aid to the opposition’s Supreme Military Council.
 Secretary of State John Kerry announced the move after meetings Thursday in Rome, saying the international community is committed to working with the Syrian opposition “with […]

CAIRO - A Cairo court ruled on Tuesday the government must destroy all tunnels between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, removing a route for smuggled weapons but also a lifeline for Palestinians.
       
 Egypt’s ruling Muslim Brotherhood has close ties with the Hamas Islamists that run Gaza, but many Egyptians fear the enclave is a security risk […]

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets with Syrian opposition leaders Thursday in Rome, where he could announce new aid for Syrian rebels.
 The talks come amid a wider Friends of Syria meeting, bringing together mostly European and Middle Eastern nations that back those opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
 Kerry said Wednesday the U.S. […]

LONDON - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has sent a stern warning to both Iran and Syria, telling the governments of both countries they will have to embrace change or suffer the consequences.
 Kerry spoke Monday during a news conference with British Foreign Secretary William Hague in London, the first stop of his first foreign trip […]

CAIRO - Syrian activists say at least 31 people have been killed in a car bombing near the headquarters of the country’s ruling Ba’ath Party in central Damascus.
 The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Thursday most of the dead were civilians.
 Syrian state media called the blast a “terrorist bombing” that struck a densely populated […]

ISTANBUL - Six batteries of U.S. made, but NATO-backed, missile defense systems have been set up in southeastern Turkey to protect against aerial attacks from war-torn Syria.
 U.S. soldiers are maintaining Patriot Missiles. Since January, the missiles have been stationed at a Turkish military base outside Gaziantep. The city is 50 kilometers from Syria, where an […]

MOSCOW - Russia says it is sending two planes to Lebanon to evacuate its citizens who wish to flee the conflict in Syria.
 A spokeswoman for Russia’s Emergencies Ministry (Irina Rossius) said more than 100 Russians were expected to board the planes after traveling overland from Syria.  She said Russia is sending the planes so that […]

BEIRUT - The Lebanese government plans to keep its border with Syria open to refugees, but it wants more aid from other Arab states and the international community. To that end, the Lebanese government has called for an urgent meeting of the Arab League in Egypt.
With some 200,000 Syrian refugees, Lebanon has the most people […]

CAIRO - Looking tired, but sounding confident, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told a crowd of supporters at the Damascus opera house Sunday that he is prepared to hold a dialogue with the opposition, if it observes a cease-fire first.
 Opposition leaders dismissed the offer, saying it was devoid of substance.
 Assad’s supporters gave him a lengthy ovation […]

CAIRO - Tens of thousands of Palestinians from the Fatah faction held a mass rally in Gaza Friday for the first time since the rival Islamic militant group Hamas seized control of the territory in a brief civil war in 2007.
 The more moderate Fatah rules the West Bank, but as peace talks with Israel have deadlocked, […]

CAIRO - Egypt’s Islamist Muslim Brotherhood says voters have approved the country’s new controversial constitution.
 The Brotherhood said about 64 percent of the voters cast a “yes” ballot for the charter over two days of voting. The first round was held on December 15 and a second round took place Saturday.  Voter turnout was reported to […]

WASHINGTON - Russia has sent warships to the Mediterranean after some of its senior diplomats said last week that Moscow may call for the evacuation of Russian citizens in Syria if the government in Damascus falls.
 The Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday that ships from its Baltic Fleet would replace other vessels that have been patrolling […]

WASHINGTON - During a visit to a U.S. base in Turkey, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he is ordering the missiles and 400 military personnel be sent to Turkey. The Patriot missile units will be sent from Germany and the Netherlands. 
 
“We are deploying two Patriot batteries here to Turkey, along with the troops that are […]

CAIRO - Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi gave the writers of Egypt’s new constitution an extra three months to complete their task.  But with a possible court challenge to their legitimacy looming, the mainly Islamist drafters pushed through the document in an extraordinary all-night session late last month.
 
With liberal and secular lawmakers boycotting the process, critics […]

WASHINGTON - As U.S. officials raise the alarm about perceived Syrian government preparations to use chemical weapons in the country’s civil war, some analysts see those weapons playing other roles in the conflict.
 
They say the United States and its allies also are weighing several options and risks in planning their response to the threat of […]

CAIRO - Egypt’s top court said it has suspended its work “indefinitely” after Islamist protesters supporting President Mohamed Morsi surrounded the courthouse Sunday.
 
The Supreme Constitutional Court said the suspension of the court sessions was in protest of what it called “pressures.”
The court was due to examine the legality of the Islamist-dominated constituent assembly that drafted […]

CAIRO - Protests in Egypt over President Mohamed Morsi’s decision to grab sweeping powers have entered their third day. The president’s decrees put him above judicial oversight and protect his Islamist supporters in parliament.
 
Protesters in Cairo in the iconic Tahrir Square, the site of the 2011 uprising that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak, threw rocks […]

WASHINGTON - Palestinian officials say the remains of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will be exhumed Tuesday so that scientists may take samples as part of an investigation into his death. Authorities say a reburial ceremony will be held later the same day.
 
French prosecutors opened a probe into the death of Mr. Arafat earlier this […]