Opposition sources said ISIS, deemed the most powerful Al Qaida franchise in the Middle East, has captured a swathe of territory from the northern city of Aleppo to the Iraqi border. They said the corridor would enable a flow of fighters and weapons from Syria to Iraq. “We plan to establish an Islamic emirate in the Levant,” ISIS commander Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi said.
The British government has announced that schools will be required to teach “British values.” The news comes after Islamists took over several schools in the United Kingdom. This alleged plot to turn British faith-based schools into Muslim training academies has been dubbed “Operation Trojan Horse.”
A top Iranian defense official’s claim that a U.S. military base in the Indian Ocean is now within missile range served both as a threat to American interests and a revelation that, if true, Tehran has doubled its striking distance.
Two of the United States’ most recognizable military aircraft — a pair of B-2 stealth bombers — caught the eyes of residents as they arrived in Europe this week for training.
The Conservatives are cracking down on johns and pimps because legalizing their activities would be unacceptable to Canadians, says Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Militants affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a splinter al Qaeda group, launched an overnight attack on Mosul seizing control of the governor’s headquarters, television stations, as well as freeing hundreds of prisoners held in jails.
Pakistan’s Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for an attack on a security academy at Karachi’s airport on Tuesday, less than 48 hours after an all-night siege by Taliban gunmen at Pakistan’s busiest airport that killed more than 30 people.
Russia and China are continuing to work closely to strengthen the BRICS economic bloc, which has made notable progress in many aspects in the last year, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev said in Beijing.
Ukrainian border guards stand grim-faced and nervous at the remote Marynivka checkpoint on the frontier with Russia, fearing an attack by pro-Moscow separatists at any time.
Global equity markets edged higher on Monday, boosting a gauge of world stock performance to near an all-time high, as low interest rates bolstered sentiment even as U.S. Treasury yields rose.
Suspected Boko Haram gunmen have reportedly kidnapped 20 women from a nomadic settlement in northeast Nigeria near the town of Chibok, where the Islamic militants abducted more than 300 schoolgirls and young women on April 15.
Eighty percent of the opposition fighters in Syria have “a clear Islamist agenda,” a senior Israeli intelligence officer said on Monday, noting that Iran continues to aspire to nuclear weapons despite abiding by a provisional agreement signed with the superpowers.
Iran’s negotiations with six global powers regarding its nuclear program may need to be extended for another six months if no agreement is reached by a July 20 deadline, a senior Iranian official said on Monday.
Boko Haram targeted several villages in Nigeria this week, which has reportedly killed at least 110 people in recent attacks. Boko Haram has killed thousands over the past five years in its efforts to create an Islamist state in the region.
Pope Francis hosted the Israeli and Palestinian Presidents at the Vatican for an unprecedented prayer meeting among Jews, Christians and Muslims.
The Pakistani Taliban on Monday claimed responsibility for a brazen five-hour assault on the country’s busiest airport that saw gunmen disguised as police guards storm the international terminal in Karachi, set off explosions and kill 18 people.
Russian companies are preparing to switch contracts to renminbi and other Asian currencies amid fears that western sanctions may freeze them out of the US dollar market, according to two top bankers.
Pope Francis invited Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority Leader Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday to pray together in the hope that the gesture would help relaunch the Middle East peace process. The following is the full text of Pope Francis’ speech on Sunday.
For the first time in history, Islamic prayers and readings from the Quran will be heard at the Vatican on Sunday, in a move by Pope Francis to usher in peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
A series of car bombs exploded across Iraq’s capital Saturday night, killing at least 52 people in a day of violence that saw militants storm a university in the country’s restive Anbar province and take dozens hostage, authorities said.