(BBC)- Islamic State (IS) militants have raided government buildings in and around the Iraqi city of Kirkuk. Iraqi media reported that suicide bombers had attacked police stations and a power station, but that security forces had repelled the assaults. A news agency affiliated to IS...

(middle east eye)- The United Nations hopes to carry out the first medical evacuations from Aleppo on Friday, if the "humanitarian pause" in the Syrian army's Russian-backed assault on the city holds. Russia announced the ceasefire earlier this week as a "goodwill gesture," amid growing...

British American Tobacco said on Friday it had launched a $47-billion bid for control of rival Reynolds American, eying rapid expansion into US and emerging markets and e-cigarettes. The deal, worth the equivalent of 43 billion euros, would create the world's largest listed tobacco company...

There is little doubt that walking many streets in Syria is a life-threatening experience. Syrian people experience bombing raids on a regular basis as news outlets provide the rest of the world with horrific images of war and suffering. The death toll is continuously rising and...