Eurasia

At least 26 people including seven children were killed and more than 100 wounded in Syrian government air strikes near the capital Damascus today, a monitor said. The raids on the town of Douma, northeast of the capital, came as the conflict entered its fifth year and the death toll …

Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra and his Tunisian counterpart, Tayeb Baccouche, expressed Thursday, in Algiers, their wish to see Libya overcome the ordeal it is going through and preserve its national and territorial unity. Algeria “is searching for a solution to the crisis in Libya and is dealing with all Libyan …

The Nigerian army has asserted that its troops cleared the entire northeastern Adamawa state of Boko Haram militants after the latter were flushed out from Madagali local government area. “Troops today succeeded in clearing terrorists out of Madagali, the last of places held by the terrorists in Adamawa,” the defense …

The European Parliament Thursday adopted a resolution condemning the brutal human rights violations by ISIL and called for those responsible to be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC.) It said that “egregious human rights abuses” of ISIL amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes that “could be called …

US President Barack Obama on Thursday spoke with President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan by video conference, along with Chief Executive Officer Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, the White House announced. Obama “encouraged accelerated Afghan progress toward forming an inclusive national unity government and expressed his expectation that their visit to Washington later …

The strengthening of the “brotherly” relations between Tunisia and Algeria “requires regular and continuous consultations,” said Wednesday in Algiers Tunisia’s Foreign Minister Taieb Baccouche. In a statement to the press upon his arrival in Algiers for a two-day visit, the Tunisian minister said that “the strengthening of the brotherly relations …

Libyan political figures called for an “immediate halt” to military operations, at the end of a UN-backed meeting in the Algerian capital on Wednesday. Envoys of six parties and five activists said their Algiers declaration, after two days of talks, aimed to send “a strong, clear and united message on …

India has stressed on deeper engagement and commitment by the UN Security Council to ensure long-lasting peace in countries torn by civil war and to avoid relapse into conflict. In an an Ambassadorial-level meeting of Organisational Committee, Peacebuilding Commission here yesterday, Deputy Permanent Representative of India Ambassador Bhagwant Bishnoi said …

US President Barack Obama has nominated veteran diplomat David Hale as the next ambassador to Pakistan. A career foreign service official, Hale is currently the US Ambassador to Lebanon, a position he has held since 2013. Obama named him for the post yesterday and if confirmed by the Senate, Hale …

US Defence Secretary and Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said on Wednesday that the fight against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group may take longer than the three year timeline stipulated in President Barack Obama’s force authorisation request. “I cannot tell you that our campaign to defeat ISIL (IS) would be …