Syria says ready to enter new peace talks
Beirut: Syria's regime said on Thursday it was ready to take part in new talks in Geneva aimed at ending the war but appeared to make its participation conditional on which opposition groups will attend. It came as the ISIS group pushed further into a key city in eastern Syria in fighting that left more than two dozen regime loyalists reported dead.
US strikes in Af dist under Taliban siege
Kabul: The US launched air strikes to bolster Afghan forces scrambling on Thursday to beat back Taliban insurgents who seized large swathes of a key opium-rich district, following the first British deployment to the volatile region in 14 months. The Islamists claim to have captured nearly the entire district of Sangin after storming its frontlines on Sunday, tightening their grip on the southern Helmand province.
Indonesia boat tragedy: 40 more bodies found
Makassar: Rescuers say they have recovered 40 more bodies from waters in central Indonesia, raising the confirmed death toll from the weekend sinking of a passenger boat to 63. Fifteen other people are still missing. The Marina Baru 2B, carrying 118 passengers and crewmen, sank in the Gulf of Bone on Saturday while on its way from Kolaka to Siwa in South Sulawesi province.
Putin critic may seek asylum in britain
london: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin who was once the country's richest man, may seek asylum in Britain following the declaration in Moscow that he had been arrested in absentia for possible involvement in a 1998 murder.