AFP, OTTAWA: Canada welcomed 163 Syrian refugees late Thursday, taking in the first of a planned 25,000 in a matter of months and promising them a better life as they flee their country’s horrific war. The refugees arrived just weeks after Canada’s newly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau…

AFP, YAOUNDÉ: At least seven civilians were killed Friday in a suicide attack in Kolofata, northern Cameroon, a region where Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamists are highly active, local officials said. “We’ve registered eight deaths at the site, including the suicide bomber,”…

AFP, BRUSSELS: Angela Merkel may have won praise from the world for Germany’s open-door policy on refugees, but a confused and divided Europe is feeling the fallout from the decision, analysts said. The German chancellor’s sudden move in early September to welcome asylum seekers from Syria…

AFP, ISLAMABAD: Pakistan test-fired a nuclear-capable ballistic missile on Friday, the military said, two days after the government confirmed it would resume high-level peace talks with arch-rival India. The test is the latest in a series carried out by India and Pakistan since both demonstrated nuclear…

AFP, ANKARA: Turkey on Friday vowed to address the central Iraqi government’s concerns over a deployment of Turkish troops at a camp close to an Islamic State-held area in northern Iraq. “It is our duty to address the Baghdad government’s concerns,” Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu…