As bright spring days gradually turn hot and muggy, the consensus in Damascus is that the protest movement has been badly burnt. The activist Facebook group Syrian Revolution 2011 put out an order for a general strike across Syria on Wednesday calling for "mass protests" and the closure of all schools, universities, shops and restaurants, "not even taxis." But there was no apparent strike on Wednesday morning in central Damascus. The mucky market was bustling with veiled women ...

Israeli officials say it so often they've taken to apologizing for using the example, acknowledging it's become a clich: Israel and Hamas can lob shells into and out of the Gaza Strip indefinitely without risking actual war, the explanation begins. Each side wants to appear tough, and over four years the call and response has grown as delicately calibrated as a minuet. But should one of Hamas' hastily fired, unguided rockets happen to land on a kindergarten, ...

As President Obama navigates his way through a series of issues as controversial as they are vital, he's getting a yellow flag from the American people. For the first time since Obama took office, fewer than half of Americans agree with the president on issues important to them, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Tuesday. A majority, 51 percent, disagree -- a jump of 10 percentage points since April. Despite the majority disagreement on issues, the poll also ...

Sevket Sahintas works the night shift driving his taxi around Istanbul Turkey from midnight until dawn. His route takes him past symbols of wealth old and new: the ornate carved stone gates of a 19th-century Ottoman sultan's palace, the gleaming high rises in the city's rapidly growing financial district. Periodically, Sahintas stops his yellow cab not for customers, but for photos. Under a roaring overpass, he steps out of his vehicle and walks across the street to two ...

Manchester United's eight-game winning run came to an abrupt end as they salvaged a fortunate 2-2 home draw against Sunderland in the English Premier League on Saturday. Sunderland took the lead in the early first half through Darren Bent before Dimitar Berbatov equalized with a stunning volley just after the break. But Kenwyne Jones headed the visitors in front and they looked to be holding on for a deserved victory until Anton Ferdinand deflected Patrice Evra's shot past his ...

Former Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian and his wife, former first lady Wu Shu-chen, were convicted Friday on corruption and money laundering charges and sentenced to life in prison, according to officials at Taipei City Court. They also were fined 200 million New Taiwan dollars (U.S.$6.1 million). Last week a court sentenced Wu to a year in prison for lying to prosecutors in her husband's corruption case. She was convicted on charges that she helped her son, daughter and son-in-law provide ...

Every political coalition needs a catchy name. The 1840s had the Know-Nothings, the 1980s had the Boll Weevils, and now there are the Blue Dogs, a group of 52 fiscally conservative Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives whose staunch resistance to the White House's health-care legislation efforts might delay a vote well past President Obama's August deadline. When the Democrats lost Congress in 1994, some Representatives blamed the defeat on a party they felt had ...

Alberto Contador is on the verge of winning his second Tour de France in three years after finishing fourth to fellow-Spaniard Juan Manuel Garate in the arduous 20th and penultimate 167km stage to the top of Mont Ventoux. Contador came home alongside his rivals for overall victory as the stage turned into a tactical battle between the race leaders while the two remnants of an early 16-man breakaway group, Garate and Germany's Tony Martin, battled it out for the glory ...

Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong has announced that he will race for a new U.S.-based team next year. The legendary Texan cyclist will form a new franchise in partnership with American electronics retailer RadioShack. The 37-year-old made his cycling comeback this year with the Kazakhstani Astana team to raise awareness about cancer through his LiveStrong Foundation charity. His title hopes in this year's Tour faded further when he lost another 90 seconds to leader and teammate Alberto Contador ...

Alberto Contador destroyed his rivals in the first Alpine stage of the Tour de France, taking over the yellow jersey with an impressive victory in the 207.5km 15th stage from Pontarlier to Verbier. The 2007 Tour de France winner launched a devastating attack on the slopes of the final ascent of the day, leaving his rivals standing to finally cross the line 43 seconds ahead of Luxembourg's Andy Schleck, with Italian Vincenzo Nibali third another 20 seconds behind. The Spaniard's ...