Iraqi and Kurdish forces closing in on Mosul said on Tuesday they had secured some 20 villages on the outskirts of the city in the first day of an operation to retake what is Islamic State's last major stronghold in Iraq. With around 1.5 million people still living in Mosul, the...

(The Washington Post)- Russia’s completion this month of an integrated air defense system in Syria has made an Obama administration decision to strike Syrian government installations from the air even less likely than it has been for years, and has created a substantial obstacle to the Syrian...

Rioting inmates beheaded their rivals and bodies were burned in an explosion of violence in two Brazilian jails that left at least 18 people dead on Monday, authorities said. Prisoners also took women visitors hostage, a regional official told Brazilian television. It was the latest...

Russian and Syrian armed forces will pause attacks on the Syrian city of Aleppo for eight hours on Thursday to allow civilians and rebels to leave the city, the Russian Defence Ministry said on Monday. But Moscow ruled out a lasting ceasefire, a step that Western governments have been...