AFP, CAIRO: An Egyptian court upheld on Tuesday a death sentence against ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi for plotting jailbreaks and attacks on police during the 2011 uprising. The court had initially sentenced Morsi and more than 100 other defendants to death last month. Tuesday's ruling…

AFP, DUBAI: Al-Qaeda has confirmed that its second-in-command, the chief of its powerful Yemeni branch, was killed in a US drone strike, in the heaviest blow to the jihadist network since the death of Osama bin Laden. Already struggling with the rise of rival jihadists from the Islamic State group,…

MOSCOW: Russia would swiftly respond to any moves by the United States to build up military resources in Eastern Europe by fortifying its western border with more troops, tanks, planes and missile systems, a defence official told the Russian press on Monday. The Pentagon is considering plans to store…

AFP, GENEVA: Iran-backed Yemeni rebels on Tuesday accused Saudi Arabia of trying to sabotage UN peace talks in Geneva and ruled out negotiations with the exiled government saying it lacked legitimacy. The rebels were finally set to join proximity talks on Tuesday afternoon as they arrived a day late…

AFP, JUBA: A quarter of a million children face starvation in war-torn South Sudan, with an end to the 18-month conflict as distant as ever, the expelled UN aid chief warned yesterday. "Six months ago, we thought that violence and suffering had peaked and that peace was on the horizon. We were…

AFP, BEIRUT: Rebel rocket fire killed at least 34 civilians in Aleppo in one of the bloodiest days of the conflict for government-held areas of Syria's second city, a monitoring group said Tuesday. Twelve children were among the dead as Islamist rebel factions pounded western neighbourhoods of the…