AFP, KANO, Nigeria: Boko Haram’s elusive leader Abubakar Shekau appeared in a new video on Thursday to dispute a claim that the jihadist group had been routed from its Sambisa Forest stronghold. “We are safe. We have not been flushed out of anywhere. And tactics and strategies cannot reveal…

AFP, BAGHDAD: Baghdad shopkeeper Anwar offers Saddam Hussein photos, coins and postage stamps that keep the ousted president alive 10 years after his…

AFP, RIYADH: Oman, which generally stays neutral in the face of regional disputes, has joined a Saudi-led military coalition aimed at “fighting terrorism,” official media in Riyadh said Thursday. The Gulf sultanate, which maintains good ties with rival powerhouses Iran and Saudi Arabia,…

AFP, ISTANBUL: Turkish authorities on Thursday detained a prize-winning journalist over a succession of tweets and articles for an opposition daily, state media said, as alarm grows over press freedom in the country. Ahmet Sik was detained on accusations of making “terror propaganda” and…

AFP, BEIJING: Chinese police have shot dead three people who allegedly attacked a Communist Party office in the restive Xinjiang region on Wednesday, state media said, in the bloodiest such incident in months. The three “rioters” drove up to a local party office in Moyu County and “detonated…

AFP, WASHINGTON: A key military commander for the Islamic State group in Syria has been killed in an air strike carried out by the US-led coalition, the Pentagon said Thursday. Abu Jandal al-Kuwaiti died Monday near Tabqa Dam, west of the IS stronghold of Raqa, according to a statement from Centcom,…

AFP, PALM BEACH, United States: US president-elect Donald Trump lamented complications from “the age of computer” Wednesday, as he responded to questions about Russia’s alleged hacking of the US election. Asked about possible sanctions against Moscow, Trump said “I think we ought…