Parliamentary speaker Mohamed al-Lahham on Tuesday said that four new candidates had submitted their applications to run for the Presidency in the upcoming elections next month, which President Bashar Assad is widely expected to win. The speaker announced the names of four new candidates, with a Christian and a woman among them, in a parliamentary session in Damascus. With the …

Syrian President Bashar Assad has officially registered to run for President in next month’s polls, which he is widely expected to win despite the widespread conflict in his nation. The poll will be the first multi-candidate presidential vote in Syria, after changes were made to its constitution to accommodate it. The poll has already been widely criticized by much of …

On Monday, heavily armed pro-Russian forces took over another town in Eastern Ukraine by storming into its town hall, setting up barricades and attacking an anti-Moscow billionaire’s bank in the town. Kostyantynivka has a population of 80,000 and is located between Donestsk and the town Slavyansk, both currently under insurgent control. Later in the day, around 300 masked pro-Russian troops, …

The European Union and the United States on Monday placed fresh sanctions on Russia regarding its role in the Ukrainian crisis, with Russia vowing a “painful” response against the measures. The United States imposed the fresh set of sanctions on seven officials and 17 firms connected to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle as punishment for Russia’s failure to ease …

Palestine and Israel on Monday appeared to have accepted that their peace talks are on the verge of collapsing as the deadline for the negotiation expires soon, with a breakthrough nowhere in sight. After a year’s worth of intensive diplomacy by US Secretary of State John Kerry, with the aim of brokering an agreement by April 29, the United States’ …

On Friday, “outlaws” threw several petrol bombs at government buildings in the southern city Ma’an. The violence in the city this week has led to the death of one person and wounded five policemen, according to security sources. The violence began on Sunday, when gunmen fired at policemen guarding a courthouse in the night, seriously wounding one of them. It …