
Ignatius IV (Hazim), the Greek Orthodox patriarch of Syria, has died in neighboring Lebanon at the age of 92. Syria’s state news agency, Sana, reported that Patriarch Ignatius died in Beirut’s St George’s hospital on Wednesday after suffering a stroke. His remains would be brought from Lebanon to Syria for burial, it added. Ignatius had [...]

Fighting in Syria has become so widespread that the conflict is now in effect a civil war, says The Red Cross (ICRC). The change in status means combatants will now be officially subject to the Geneva Conventions, leaving them more exposed to war crimes prosecutions. The Red Cross had previously regarded only the areas around [...]

Syrian activists say at least 70 people have been killed in an attack on a house in Hama. They said several houses in the Mashaa at-Tayyar district in southern Hama were destroyed by a big explosion. State media said 16 people died in the blast in a house used as a bomb factory by “armed terrorist [...]