middle east

A Marine who was declared a deserter nearly 10 years ago after disappearing in Iraq and then returning to the U.S. claiming he had been kidnapped, only to disappear again, is back in U.S. custody, officials said Sunday. Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, 34, turned himself in and was being flown Sunday from an undisclosed location in the Middle East to Norfolk, Va...

President Obama says U.S. officials are looking at all options on Iraq, which may be headed for a bloody civil war. In comments at the White House, Obama said some short-term military options may be necessary, including U.S. airstrikes. He called the situation in Iraq an emergency and said nothing has been ruled out...

A new global analysis says almost a third of the world is fat, and no country has been able to curb obesity rates in the last three decades.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Boston College graduates to take the values of service instilled in their education and pass them on to the world. The 1976 Boston College Law School graduate told the packed stadium at the 138th commencement Monday that a world-class degree comes with the ``profound responsibility to be leaders of change within these borders and beyond...

The Drug Enforcement Administration is cracking down on synthetic drugs. DEA officials say a nationwide operation on Wednesday targeted the distribution and trafficking of synthetic drugs in roughly two-dozen states. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy says synthetic drugs, or designer drugs, pose tremendous health risks and represent a rapidly emerging threat...

The State Department is renewing its global terrorism alert for U.S. citizens following the attack by al-Qaida linked extremists on an upscale shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya. In a new ``worldwide caution'' issued Wednesday, the department said it continued to be concerned about threats to U...

Dozens of Roman Catholic worshippers joined members of the clergy in Boston for a 4-hour prayer vigil for peace in Syria, joining those who answered Pope Francis' call and massed at the Vatican to push for an end to the bloodshed in the Middle East nation.

Iran's top leader lashed out at the United States on Friday, saying that America is not a good mediator in Mideast peace talks because it allegedly always sides with Israel. The comments by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei came ahead of the second round of U...

Iraqi authorities say bomb and mortar attacks across the country have killed eight people, including a judge.

A 7.8 Magnitude earthquake hit Iran on Tuesday, near the Pakistan border.