Beirut / AFP Syrian regime forces bolstered by Russian air strikes recaptured territory overnight in the southwest suburbs of the battleground city of Aleppo, rolling back the short-lived gains of a rebel offensive. Rebels and their extremists allies launched an assault on Sunday in a bid to ease a more than two-week government siege of opposition-held districts of the …

  London / AFP Coalition warplanes bombed one of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s palaces which was being used as a training base by the IS extremist group, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday. The palace in the IS stronghold of Mosul in northern Iraq was attacked in a joint operation by the US-led coalition on Monday, with British Tornado …

  Istanbul / AFP Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday asked forgiveness over his past alliance with US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen whom Ankara blames for last month’s attempted coup. In a rare show of public humility, Erdogan said he had failed to see the “true face” of Gulen, who cooperated closely with the Turkish strongman while he was mayor …