Bloomberg Egyptian aircraft struck IS hideouts in the Sinai peninsula, killing 19 militants, the military said, part of a stepped-up campaign against the group’s local affiliate since it bombed two Coptic churches on Palm Sunday. At least one senior member of the Ansar Beit al-Maqdis movement died in the strikes in north and central Sinai, according to a statement ...

  BEIRUT / AP Aid agencies have not been able to reach as many besieged Syrians this year as they did over the same period last year, the UN’s chief humanitarian adviser for Syria said on Thursday. Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Jan Egeland said the front lines have shifted but civilian suffering has “remained the same” in 2017. Of ...

  DUBAI / Reuters Profit-taking and weak first-quarter earnings weighed on Gulf stock markets on Thursday, with Saudi Arabia’s index pulled lower by petrochemical shares after oil prices fell sharply, but Dubai’s Union Properties and Abu Dhabi’s TAQA bucked the trend. Dubai’s index lost 1.0 percent as financially troubled builder Arabtec, which had jumped almost 11 percent on Wednesday after ...