BEIRUT / AP Syrian President Bashar Assad said in remarks published on Monday that he was prepared “to negotiate everything” at talks set to begin in later this month in Kazakhstan, seeking to cast himself as a peacemaker after his forces’ recapture of Aleppo last month. However the upcoming talks, brokered by Ankara and Moscow, are still in doubt …

  SINGAPORE / AP Singapore’s defense minister said on Monday that nine armored personnel carriers that are being held in Hong Kong should be returned immediately under sovereign immunity laws. Customs authorities in Hong Kong, a Chinese territory, seized the eight-wheeled Terrex infantry carriers in November. The vehicles were being shipped back to Singapore following military training exercises in Taiwan. …

  ISLAMABAD / AP Two Pakistani research groups have noted that the country saw a significant drop in militant violence last year, crediting the military for the decrease in attacks. The two Islamabad-based groups say that large-scale military operations in the lawless tribal regions bordering Afghanistan, in the chaotic port city of Karachi and the sparsely populated Baluchistan province are …