AFP, TRIPOLI: Fighters of Libya’s unity government, backed by US air strikes, have recaptured more ground from jihadists holed up in the centre of the coastal city of Sirte, loyalist forces said Monday. “Our forces have retaken the internal security building used as a prison by the Islamic…

AFP, BANGKOK: Most of those behind a string of bombings in Thai tourist towns are Muslims from the kingdom’s insurgency-plagued southern provinces, the country’s police chief said Monday. It was the first clear indication that police believe a group of southern Muslims played some sort of…

AFP, GENEVA: An arms watchdog on Monday urged major weapons exporters, including the United States and France, to cut sales to Kingdome of Saudi Arabia (KSA) over its actions in Yemen, as a conference on global arms trade opened in Geneva. The World Trade Organisation is hosting the second conference…

AFP, THE HAGUE: A Malian jihadist sought forgiveness as he pleaded guilty Monday to the 2012 attacks on the fabled city of Timbuktu, and urged Muslims not to follow such “evil” ways at his unprecedented war crimes trial. “Your honour, regrettably I have to say that what I heard so…

AFP, HASAKEH: New fighting broke out overnight between Kurdish and regime forces in the flashpoint northern Syrian city of Hasakeh, a monitor said on Monday, as Russian officials pursued mediation efforts. The fresh violence came amid conflicting reports on whether a truce had been agreed on Sunday,…

AFP, LONDON: Voting starts Monday to decide if veteran leftist Jeremy Corbyn will remain leader of Britain’s Labour party, with an ill-tempered…

AFP, YANGON: United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon will attend a landmark peace conference in Myanmar this month, an official and a rebel group said Monday, bolstering Aung San Suu Kyi’s drive to end decades of fighting. Several complex ethnic conflicts are rumbling across Myanmar’s borderlands,…