WASHINGTON / AP State Department officials shook up America’s generally obedient diplomatic establishment this week with an internal memo urging US military action against Syria’s government with the goal of pressing President Bashar Assad to accept a cease-fire and gaining the upper hand on him in future talks on a political transition. Reasons abound for why an intervention is ...

  Dhaka / AFP A teenage suspected militant being held in custody in Bangladesh was shot dead on Saturday in a gunfight, police said, days after he allegedly hacked and critically wounded a Hindu lecturer. Police said Golam Faizullah Fahim, 19, who was in custody for questioning, was killed when officers under attack in a farmland area after taking him ...

Jalalabad / AFP A major Afghan-Pakistan border crossing reopened on Saturday after it was closed for several days following deadly clashes between the two countries following the construction of a gate on the Pakistani side to control cross-border movement, officials said. The clash, which erupted along the Torkham border a week ago, left at least three Afghan policemen and a ...