International Committee of the Red Cross chief Peter Maurer said in Damascus on Friday he had asked the Syrian authorities to allow ICRC visits to more detention centers. “For the duration of the conflict, we have been talking with the Syrian authorities to have access to detention centers, and in the past we have visited the nine main prisons,” Maurer ...

Long lines formed and voting was extended Friday as Iranians cast ballots in an election test for moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who hopes to curb conservative dominance in parliament and deliver domestic reforms. With the polls coming just one month after sanctions were lifted under a nuclear deal between Rouhani’s government and world powers, the outcome will be seen as ...

Saudi Arabia upped its pressure on Lebanon and Hizbullah on Friday by blacklisting several companies and individuals over their alleged ties with the Shiite party. The Saudi authorities designated four companies and three individuals as “terrorists.” The Interior Ministry identified the firms as Vatech SARL, Le-Hua Electronic Field Co. Limited, Aero Skyone Co. Limited and Labico SAL Offshore. It said ...

Explosions and gunfire echoed around Somalia’s capital on Friday night, evidence of another spate of violence in the East African nation. A large blast rocked central Mogadishu followed by the rattle of bullets, according to a Somali official nearby. Another, smaller explosion — not to mention continued gunfire — could be heard about 30 minutes later. Somali security forces, meanwhile, ...

South Sudan president Salva Kiir met and held a high profile talk Thursday with the visiting secretary General of the United Nations, resulting in outlining more than a general six -point to rescuing the war stricken country.President Kiir, according to his foreign affairs and international cooperation Minister, has agreed with Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of United Nations to immediately conclude ...

The Republican presidential contender admits he supported the invasion but changed his mind by the time the war started Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump, who frequently touts his opposition to the Iraq war, appeared to support the idea in a newly unearthed 2002 interview, but said on Thursday he became an opponent by the time the invasion occurred. In the ...

Wildlife rangers in Nairobi hunting for up to six lions who escaped from nearby national park Wildlife rangers in Nairobi on Friday hunted for up to six lions who escaped from Nairobi’s national park and meandered into “highly populated” areas of the Kenyan capital. Armed rangers, as well as Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) vets with dart guns, scoured bush and ...

Up to 5,000 jihadists could be at large in Europe after training with Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil), the EU’s police chief has warned. Europol estimates the number of EU citizens who have slipped back after training in the Middle East as between 3,000 and 5,000, Rob Wainwright, the British head of Europol, the EU’s police agency, ...

US ‘targets Tunisia beach massacre organiser’ in strikes against Islamic State in Libya Noureddine Chouchane, one of the organisers of last year’s massacre of British tourists, is believed to have been killed One of the masterminds behind last summer’s massacre of British tourists in Tunisia is believed to have been killed in a US bombing raid on an Islamic State ...

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told the interior minister on Friday to crack down on police abuse and to submit proposals to parliament to achieve this goal, the presidency said, as anger mounts over alleged police brutality. Their meeting came a day after a police officer shot dead a man in the street, angering hundreds of people who protested in ...