Islamabad / AFP In the corner of a pristine park in an upmarket district of Islamabad, an open-air classroom run by an aging rescue-worker offers a beacon of hope to the city’s poorest. For the past 30 years, “Master” Muhammad Ayub, whose day job includes defusing bombs and putting out fires, has cycled from his office to the makeshift …

  MOSCOW / AP The entire territory of Syria must be “liberated,” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said in remarks televised on Saturday, dismissing demands for Syrian President Bashar Assad’s departure as “thoughtless.” Dmitry Peskov said Assad needs to stay in power to prevent the country from falling into the hands of extremists. “There are just two options: Assad sitting in …

YaoundE/ AFP Sixty people were killed and almost 600 injured when a packed Cameroon passenger train derailed, leaving debris strewn across nearby tracks as carriages swung off the rails. The train, travelling from the capital Yaounde to the economic hub Douala, was crammed with people due to road traffic disruption between the two cities and came off the tracks just before …