U.S.-backed forces in Syria declare Islamic State defeated and 'caliphate' eliminated
The Islamic State group has been defeated at its final shred of territory of Baghouz in Syria, the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Saturday, announcing the end of its self-declared "caliphate" that once spanned a third of Iraq and Syria. The SDF declared ...
U.S.-backed Syrian forces were sweeping on Thursday through the final enclave that had been held by Islamic State fighters, and said they would declare the group defeated once a search for hidden mines and jihadist holdouts was complete. "Our forces are still conducting combing and ...
New Zealand marks one week since mosque massacre with prayers, scarves
New Zealanders prepared for nationwide prayers on Friday to mark one week since a mass shooting at two mosques in Christchurch killed 50 worshippers. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will lead thousands of mourners expected to gather at a park in front of the Al Noor ...
Dutch populist party wins provincial elections after Utrecht attack
An upstart populist party shocked the Dutch political establishment by winning the most votes in provincial elections after a preliminary count in the early hours of Thursday, boosted by a possible terrorist attack this week in the city of Utrecht. The result shows the enduring ...
Indian court acquits four men in 2007 India-Pakistan train blast case
An Indian court on Wednesday acquitted four Hindu men accused of bombing a train between India and Pakistan in 2007 that killed 68 people, mostly Pakistanis, citing a lack of evidence, defense lawyers said. Pakistan's acting foreign secretary described the ruling as a "travesty of ...
The operation to take Islamic State's last enclave in eastern Syria looked close to an end on Wednesday, with no sign of clashes as U.S.-backed fighters said they were combing the area for hidden jihadis. Reuters reporters overlooking Baghouz from a hill on the bank ...
Turkey's Erdogan calls on New Zealand to restore death penalty over Christchurch shooting
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday called on New Zealand to restore the death penalty for the gunman who killed 50 people at two Christchurch mosques, warning that Turkey would make the attacker pay for his act if New Zealand did not. Australian Brenton ...
Dutch police capture Turkish man suspected of killing three in tram shooting
Dutch police arrested a Turkish man suspected of shooting dead three people and wounding five on a tram in the Dutch city of Utrecht on Monday. Utrecht police announced the suspect, 37-year-old Gokmen Tanis, had been taken into custody. The city was put into lock-down after ...
'I'm an Aussie': Refugee soccer player Hakeem al-Araibi granted Australian citizenship
A refugee soccer player who fled Bahrain and was held in a Thai prison for months during a tense extradition standoff between Australia and the Gulf state was granted Australian citizenship on Tuesday. Hakeem al-Araibi, 25, left Bahrain in 2014 after he was accused of ...
U.N. says 2018 deadliest year yet for Syrian children, with 1,106 killed
Last year was the deadliest yet for children in Syria, with more than 1,100 killed by fighting, the United Nations said on Monday, ahead of the bloody conflict entering its ninth year. U.N. children's agency UNICEF said it had been able to verify 1,106 child ...
U.S.-backed fighters are moving slowly into Islamic State's final pocket in eastern Syria to avoid losses in the face of sniper fire and land mines, a commander said on Monday. Warplanes flew above Baghouz, a cluster of houses on the banks of the Euphrates at ...
Two Belgian women, renouncing Islamic State, fear they will never go home with their six kids
Two Belgian women who joined Islamic State in Syria said on Sunday they were losing hope they will ever go home after a Belgian court overturned a ruling to repatriate them with their six children. Tatiana Wielandt and Bouchra Abouallal, each 26, said that as ...
