Forces loyal to Libya’s internationally backed government say they are close to retaking Sirte from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group after capturing a key neighbourhood in the heart of the coastal city, reports Al jazeera. The fighters, mainly from the nearby city of Misrata,…

AFP, SEOUL: South Korea said Wednesday that North Korea’s deputy ambassador to Britain had defected to Seoul, in what amounts to a major loss of diplomatic face for Pyongyang. The Unification Ministry said Thae Yong-Ho—the number-two at the North’s mission in London—had defected…

AFP, RAMALLAH: Israeli troops arrested the Hamas representative on the organising committee for October Palestinian municipal elections on Wednesday, the Islamist movement said. Hamas condemned what it called an “attempt to influence” the outcome of the elections, the first in the Palestinian…

AFP, TOKYO: Japan lodged a fresh diplomatic protest with China on Wednesday, accusing the country of again sending its coast guard ships into waters surrounding contested islands in the East China Sea. The two countries are locked in a long-running dispute over the uninhabited islets and tensions over…

AFP, RIYADH: Gunmen have shot dead a Saudi policeman in the kingdom’s east where most minority Shiites live, police said on Wednesday. The drive-by attack happened early on Tuesday in Qatif, a Shiite-dominated district on the Gulf coast. Four masked men opened fire, wounding the officer who died…

AFP, NEW DELHI: Two children and a man have died in the Indian capital after their throats were slit by glass-covered strings used for flying kites during Independence Day celebrations, police said Wednesday. The tragedies prompted the Delhi government to this week issue an immediate ban on the production,…