AFP, OTTAWA: Canadian police shot dead an alleged Islamic State sympathizer armed with an explosive device on Wednesday, media reports said, as police confirmed they thwarted a “potential terror threat”. There was no immediate confirmation from Canada’s federal police that anyone had…

AFP, VITROLLES: Firefighters tamed wildfires on the northern edge of the French port city of Marseille overnight as strong winds and dry conditions threatened…

AFP, KANDAHAR: Fighting raged Thursday in Helmand after Afghanistan rushed military reinforcements to beat back Taliban insurgents advancing on the besieged…

AFP, ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government will face a grilling in the senate over its continued use of bogus bomb-detectors to secure high-value facilities, a lawmaker said Thursday, claiming the devices “endangered the lives of millions”. A Pakistani government agency has built and sold…

AFP, RIYADH: A trial is underway for 14 people over a deadly crane incident in Saudi Arabia that killed more than 100 people at Islam’s holiest site, local media reported Thursday. They are accused of “negligence leading to death, damaging public property and ignoring safety guidelines”…

AFP, JAKARTA: Indonesia said Thursday there was “no room” for the gay community in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country, as activists blasted officials for an unprecedented series of LGBT attacks. A wave of angry rhetoric directed at homosexuals earlier this year—including…

AFP, TRIPOLI: Pro-government forces battled Thursday to clear the Islamic State group from its main Libyan stronghold of Sirte, after dealing a major blow to the jihadists by seizing their headquarters. IS fighters still control several areas of the Mediterranean city, whose capture in June last year…