Under King Salman, Saudi Arabia is expanding its confrontation with Iran well beyond the Middle East, no longer relying heavily on Western allies to smother Tehran's ambitions outside the Arab world.

• June 5, 2016

The Syrian army pushed into Raqqa province, home to the de facto capital of Islamic State, after a major Russian-backed offensive against the militants, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday.

• June 5, 2016

China hopes to establish counter-terrorism intelligence sharing with France as the Asian giant seeks greater international support for its anti-terror fight, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported citing an exchange between officials of the two countries.

• June 5, 2016

The Syrian army backed by Russian air strikes has advanced toward Islamic State-held Raqqa province in a new offensive, a group monitoring the war said, nearing a region where U.S.-backed militias have also attacked the jihadist group.

• June 3, 2016

A two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict may soon be impossible, France warned on Friday as it held an international conference to revive the quest for a deal despite Israel's warning that the effort is doomed to failure.

• June 3, 2016

Thousands of U.S.-backed fighters opened a major new front in Syria's war, launching an offensive to drive Islamic State out of a swathe of northern Syria it uses as a logistics base, and were reported on Wednesday to be making swift progress.

• June 1, 2016

Benjamin Netanyahu has turned to a 14-year-old Arab peace plan in trying to project a softer image internationally for a new governing coalition in Israel widely seen as more hardline toward Palestinian statehood.

• May 31, 2016

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