Middle East, President | featured news

Security forces in the Syrian capital of Damascus intensify checkpoints and patrols to keep an overnight surge of protests from spreading into the heart of the city, a stronghold for President Bashar Assad.

A global campaigning organization says that almost 3,000 people have gone missing in Syria since the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad more than four months ago. A survey by the online activist group Avaaz.org estimates that one person is disappearing in Syria every hour. The group released the survey results in a statement on Thursday.

Syrian forces shot dead at least 11 people during mass protests on Friday against President Bashar al-Assad, rights activists and witnesses said.

The first U.S. troops have left Afghanistan as part of President Barack Obama's planned drawdown of about a third of the 100,000 U.S. forces there during the next year.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s burns may require months to heal, an official said, pointing to an extended absence.

Syrian troops opened fire Friday during an anti-government demonstration that appeared to be one of the biggest yet, reportedly killing dozens of protesters and wounding many more in the central town of Hama as Syrians around the country poured onto the streets in a renewed effort to force the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was not hurt Tuesday after an explosion at an oil refinery that he was visiting, Iran's FARS news agency reported.

Gunmen surrounding an embassy are angry about efforts by Arab mediators to ease Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh out of power.

Witnesses report hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in Sanaa, Yemen, to protest a deal that would give the country's president immunity from prosecution.

A source in the office of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad confirmed that the Iranian president's motorcade had come under an attack on Wednesday.