Libyan security forces captured a second town from in as many days from Islamic State, a spokesman said, pushing the militant group back toward its stronghold of Sirte and away from positions near to key oil terminals.

• May 31, 2016

At least 23 people were killed in Russian air strikes overnight in the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, the heaviest bombardment there since a cessation of hostilities was agreed in February, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

• May 31, 2016

The Iraqi army stormed to the southern edge of Falluja under U.S. air support on Monday and captured a police station inside the city limits, launching a direct assault to retake one of the main strongholds of Islamic State militants.

• May 30, 2016

Servicemen from the U.S.-led coalition were seen near the front line of a new offensive in northern Iraq launched on Sunday by Kurdish peshmerga forces that aims to retake a handful of villages from Islamic State east of their Mosul stronghold.

• May 29, 2016

Forces loyal to Libya's U.N.-backed unity government say they aim to encircle Sirte, Islamic State's stronghold in Libya, having moved to within 15 km (10 miles) of the city center.

• May 29, 2016

Europe's bold intentions to support Libya's new U.N.-backed government are faltering as France and Germany resist a bigger role to rebuild the failed state, scarred by the West's 2011 air campaign to help topple dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

• May 25, 2016

Pakistan's interior minister said on Tuesday he could not confirm that Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour had been killed in a U.S. drone strike, and described Washington's justification for the attack as "against international law".

• May 24, 2016

The leaders of Russia and Ukraine discussed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the French President preparations to hold elections in an eastern Ukrainian area hit by a pro-Russian insurrection, according to the german government.

• May 24, 2016