Pakistan appointed a new ambassador to the United States on Friday, at a time of tense relations between the two countries over drone strikes in the country’s tribal belt. Senior diplomat Jalil Abbas Jilani — 58 and most recently foreign secretary — has been named to the role, according to …

The Syrian National Coalition ( SNC), the main opposition group based in Istanbul, said on Monday that it agreed to join the Geneva II conference preconcondition that President Bashar al-

Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in the United Arab Emirates Sunday to brief the US ally on talks with Iran on its nuclear programme and efforts to hold Syria peace talks. He flew in from Geneva where three days of marathon talks which stretched into early Sunday failed to produce an