BEIRUT: A lightning assault by the Islamic State group that put the jihadists in control of a southern part of the Syrian capital killed 62 regime fighters, a monitor said yesterday in a new toll, reports AFP. IS launched the surprise attack on Monday night to seize the Qadam neighbourhood of Damascus.…

KIGALI: Forty-four African countries have signed an agreement establishing a free trade area seen as vital to the continent’s economic development, the head of the African Union said yesterday, reports AFP. “The agreement establishing the CFTA (African Continental Free Trade Area) was signed…

SEOUL: North Korea has broken its silence on the diplomatic thaw with Washington and Seoul, saying it is driving the “peace offensive” and rejecting suggestions that sanctions forced it to the negotiating table, reports AFP. The commentary from the state-run KCNA news agency came with a…

GENEVA: China is on its way to becoming the world leader in international patent filings, and should overtake the top spot from the United States within three years, the UN said yesterday, reports AFP. A record 243,500 international patent applications were filed last year, a hike of 4.5 percent from…

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is seeking to purge its school curriculum of any influence of the Muslim Brotherhood and dismiss employees who sympathise with the banned group, the education minister said, reports AFP. The government will “fight extremist ideologies by reviewing school curricula and books…

ABUJA: Boko Haram jihadists have released 76 of the 110 schoolgirls who were abducted from the northeastern town of Dapchi in February, the government said in a statement yesterday, reports AFP. Information Minister Lai Mohammed said “the 76 are those who have been documented”, adding that…