AFP, LAUSANNE: US Secretary of State John Kerry was trying to build momentum behind a new drive to end the Syrian civil war Sunday after high-level talks with Russia and the country’s neighbours. Kerry was due to fly to London to brief Washington’s European allies after “brainstorming”…

AFP, WASHINGTON: Killer satellites, blinding lasers, sophisticated jammers: the world’s military powers are quietly readying for a war in outer…

AFP, BAGHDAD: Iraqi aircraft dropped “tens of thousands” of leaflets, some bearing safety instructions for Mosul residents, ahead of an operation to retake the city from jihadists, the military said. Iraq has dropped leaflets over Mosul before, and has also done so as part of operations…

AFP, KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait’s parliament speaker Marzouk al-Ghanem has called for snap elections in the face of mounting security and economic challenges in the oil-rich Gulf emirate. Ghanem’s remarks came after lawmakers filed three requests to grill ministers over a decision to hike petrol…

AFP, MANILA: Typhoon Sarika lashed the main Philippine island of Luzon on Sunday, flattening homes and toppling trees and power pylons as more than 12,000 people fled to safer ground, officials said. Minor landslides and flooding were also reported a day after the cyclone brushed past the remote eastern…

AFP, PARIS: A European lander is to separate from its mothership Sunday for a million-kilometre (621,000-mile) descent to Mars, testing vital technology ahead of a mission to explore the Red Planet for signs of life. The high-stakes operation comes nearly 13 years after European ambitions were dealt…