An Egyptian court said it will deliver its verdict in the murder trial of Hosni Mubarak on 27 September, in a session on Wednesday in which the ousted strongman passionately defended his 30-year rule.

At least 70 civilians were killed in clashes between government forces and independence-seeking insurgents in Ukraine’s Donetsk region over the past three days, authorities said Thursday. According to the press service of Donetsk City Council, another 116 people were wounded as a result of fighting since Monday.

Syrian government troops captured a fiercely contested suburb of the capital Thursday after five months of heavy fighting, flushing rebels from their last hideouts and quickly moving to crush pockets of resistance in the surrounding countryside, activists and state media said. The fall of Mleiha, located some 10 km southeast …