AFP, BEIRUT: US-backed fighters on Thursday gave the Islamic State group 48 hours to leave the battleground Syrian town of Manbij, after US-led air strikes nearby reportedly killed dozens of civilians. The raids on Tuesday by the coalition fighting IS in Syria and Iraq have provoked an intense backlash…

AFP, GIBRALTAR: A British nuclear submarine docked in Gibraltar on Wednesday after it collided with a merchant vessel off the coast of the territory located on Spain’s southern tip, Britain’s defence ministry said. “The submarine suffered some external damage but there is absolutely…

AFP, NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar: Muslims make up just over two percent of Myanmar’s population, government census figures showed Thursday, undercutting claims by Buddhist hardliners that Islam poses a threat to the dominance of their faith. Full details from the 2014 count, the first of its kind in decades,…

AFP, BEIJING:Torrential rain lashing northern China in recent days has left nearly 100 people dead or missing, official figures showed. At least 24 people in the provinces of Hebei, which surrounds Beijing, Shanxi, Henan and Shaanxi have been confirmed dead in a rainstorm that has been pounding the…

AFP, ALEXANDROUPOLI, Greece: Eight Turkish military officers who fled to Greece after last week’s failed coup went on trial Thursday for illegal entry in a case that threatens to strain ties between the NATO allies. The eight are being tried in the northern city of Alexandroupoli, where they arrived…

AFP, DUBLIN: French President Francois Hollande on Thursday urged Britain to begin talks to leave the EU “as soon as possible” and ruled out granting access to the EU’s single market without access by EU workers to Britain. “The sooner these negotiations begin the better, and…