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Civil wars

High-ranking Syrian general defects from army
One of the highest-ranking military officers yet to abandon Syrian President Bashar Assad defected to neighboring Jordan and said in an interview ...
AP PHOTOS: A look at 2 years of conflict in Syria
Syrians marked the second anniversary of the revolt against President Bashar Assad on Friday, holding small protests and vigils inside the ...
Few protests on 2nd anniversary of Syrian uprising
On the second anniversary of Syria's uprising, there were only small protests and a few firecrackers defiantly popping in the capital of Damascus — ...
EU leaders fail to agree on arming Syrian rebels
On the second anniversary of the uprising that evolved into Syria's brutal civil war, leaders at a European Union summit Friday found themselves ...
France ready to arm Syrian rebels
France and Britain are pushing the European Union to lift its arms embargo on Syria as soon as possible so that they can send weapons to rebel ...
Syrian opposition pushes for interim government
The main Syrian opposition group is pushing to form a breakaway interim government to rein in chaotic rebel-held areas in the north. But it faces ...
UN: Syria refugee numbers jump 10 percent in week
The U.N. said Thursday that the number of registered Syrian refugees jumped 10 percent in the past week alone, part of what the U.N. commissioner for ...
Rights groups: Syrian rebels often kill captives
Syrian rebels routinely kill captured soldiers and suspected regime informers, human rights monitors said Thursday, warning of mounting war crimes ...
US yet to provide meals, medicine to Syrian rebels
The Obama administration said Wednesday it has yet to begin shipping meals and medical supplies to Syria's armed opposition, a key pledge of Secretary ...
Mortar shells in Damascus kill 3, wound 50
Mortar shells struck a residential area in central Syria Wednesday, killing three people and wounding more than 50, including a number of women and ...
Russia: Arming Syria rebels would breach int'l law
Russia's foreign minister warned Thursday that arming Syria's rebels would be a breach of international law, hitting back at recent suggestions for ...
EU representative killed in rocket attack in Syria
A European Union staff member has been killed in a rocket attack near Damascus, the Syrian capital, the EU announced Wednesday. Ahmad Shihadeh, a ...
Dutch government raises terror threat level
The Dutch government raised its terror threat Wednesday amid concerns that Dutch citizens traveling to Syria to fight in the civil war could return ...
Syria's war affects generation of children
Mohammed works at a Beirut supermarket where he waits on customers and carries their groceries home for a small tip that the 14-year-old saves to send ...
Erratic North Korea poses serious threat
An erratic North Korea, with its nuclear weapons and increasingly belligerent tone, poses a serious threat to the United States and East Asia nations, ...
UK's Cameron may veto EU arms embargo on Syria
Britain may consider vetoing an extension of the European Union's arms embargo on Syria if the situation does not improve there, Prime Minister David ...
Syrian army eroded by defections, battle deaths
A top Syrian cleric's appeal to young men to join the army raised the question of whether President Bashar Assad is running out of soldiers, prompting ...
Mortar shells hit Damascus neighborhood, killing 6
Mortar shells struck a predominantly Christian neighborhood and a football stadium at game time in Damascus on Monday, killing six civilians and ...
Al-Qaida says it killed 51 Syrian soldiers in Iraq
Al-Qaida's Iraq branch claimed responsibility Monday for the deaths of 51 Syrian soldiers and nine Iraqis killed in a well-planned assault in western ...
UN panel investigating 20 massacres in Syria
A U.N.-appointed commission is collecting evidence on 20 massacres in Syria, a reflection of the civil war's growing brutality, the panel's chairman ...
French official: Syrian rebels need arms
The European Union will soon have to consider allowing munitions to be funneled to the outgunned Syrian rebels fighting to overthrow the regime of ...