Syria’s foreign minister Walid Muallem dies

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, a stalwart of Bashar al-Assad’s regime who held his job through a decade of conflict and several reshuffles, died Monday at the age of 79. Muallem had replaced Faruq al-Shara, a fellow Sunni who was foreign minister for over two decades and came from the Daraa governorate, which is considered the birthplace of the revolt that erupted against the regime nearly 10 years ago.