Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region has called a referendum on independence to be held on Sept. 25, an official said on Wednesday, moving ahead with a plan for full statehood that is likely to be opposed by Baghdad. Hemin Hawrami, assistant to Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani, tweeted: "big...

Turkish authorities detained 60 soldiers Wednesday and issued detention orders for another 128 people in operations targeting the network of a Muslim cleric the government blames for last year's failed coup, local media reported. Some 50,000 people have been arrested since the failed putsch...

 ISIS claimed responsibility for attacks on Iran's parliament and Ayatollah Khomeini's shrine Wednesday, the group's state news agency AMAQ said. "Fighters from Islamic state attacked Khomeini's shrine and the Iranian parliament in Tehran," the news agency said. Read...

( The Guardian )- The UN’s top human rights official has marked the 50th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories by calling for its quick end, insisting that such an outcome would benefit both sides. Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the Jordanian prince who heads the UN...