The global chemical-weapons watchdog has for the first time directly blamed the Syrian government for three chlorine and sarin nerve-gas bomb attacks in late March 2017 on the central town of Lataminah.

Iraqi President Barham Saleh has officially tasked prime minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi with forming a government after the intelligence chief received the endorsement of the majority of the country’s top political figures.

The land border between China and Russia has been closed, leaving an unknown number of Chinese nationals stranded on the Russian side of the border, China’s foreign ministry said on Thursday.