Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati would not rule out Thursday Lebanon taking part in the expected Geneva 2 conference aimed at a political settlement to the crisis in Syria. “I do not rule out the possibility that Lebanon may take part in the Geneva II conference on Syria,” Mikati told reporters following a security meeting at …

Syrian forces seized a suburb of Damascus on Thursday from rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad in a push that has shored up government control of the capital’s outskirts, state television reported.

French, UN and Malian forces were engaged in a major operation aimed at preventing a resurgence of Islamist rebels in Mali, the French military said Thursday. “We have engaged, with the Malian army and (UN mission) MINUSMA, in a large-scale operation” in the north of the country, French general staff …