Rabat / AFP A Moroccan court sentenced the younger brother of suspected Paris attacks ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud to two years in prison on charges including justifying terrorism, state media reported. According to his lawyer, Yassine Abaaoud was unaware of the activities of his brother, who was killed in a French police raid just days after the November 13 attacks …

  Washington / AFP The Pentagon acknowledged for the first time that it has deployed US troops to Yemen since the country’s collapse last year to bolster government and Arab coalition forces battling Al-Qaeda. Spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said the US military has also stepped up air strikes against fighters with Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). A “very …

  Gaza City / AFP Israeli aircraft hit two Hamas targets in Gaza early on Saturday in response to rocket fire as the worst flare-up of violence since a 2014 war entered a fourth day. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket launch and most such fire since 2014 has been carried out by fringe extremist groups but …