7 security forces and 10 rebels killed in clashes MANILA, Philippines, June 19, (AP): Philippine security forces battled Abu Sayyaf militants in the south on Thursday in fierce clashes that killed seven troops and 10 rebels in the latest confrontation in the insurgency-wracked region, military officials said. Government forces were …

AMMAN, June 19, (AFP): A Jordanian court Thursday reduced the sentence of a Pakistani man who killed his teenaged wife and her alleged lover last year “to cleanse his honour”, a judicial official said. “Amman criminal court today initially condemned the 28-year-old Pakistani to death by hanging but immediately reduced …

SAUDIS IN APPARENT WARNING TO IRAN BAGHDAD, June 18, (AP): Iraqi security forces battled insurgents targeting the country’s main oil refinery and said they regained partial control of a city near the Syrian borderWednesday, trying to blunt a weeklong offensive by Sunni militants who diplomats fear may have also seized …