Syrian activists say rebels have attacked the village of the country’s defense minister and captured parts of it. Activists say the attack began Friday with a suicide bombing that targeted a checkpoint in the village of Rahjan in the central province of Hama.

Turkey condemned the five year entrance ban to Crimea which was made to the head of the National Assembly of the Crimean Tatar People. Refat Chubarov was slapped with a five-year entrance ban by the peninsula’s pro-Russian administration.

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian headed to the Central African Republic (CAR) on Monday for a two-day visit to take stock of the situation after a rise in violence involving the French deployment in that country. Defence Ministry sources said that Le Drian will be visiting troops serving in …