BEIRUT / AP The Russian Defense Ministry says a 48-hour cessation of hostilities has been declared in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. In past months, Aleppo has been witnessing fierce fighting and bombardment, which has claimed the lives of hundreds of people on both sides of the contested city. Russia says the truce went into effect after midnight ...

  BAGHDAD / AP An aid organization says a two-year-old boy has been killed while fleeing Fallujah with his family amid a government offensive to retake the Iraqi city from the IS group. The Norwegian Refugee Council, which works with refugees and internally displaced Iraqis, cited a relative on Thursday as saying that an IS fighter shot the boy as ...

  Lubumbashi / AFP Several people were killed in clashes between the army and former rebels at a military base in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday, officials said. Tension had been mounting for days at the military base in Kamina, in the southeast, where more than 2,000 former rebels from various groups are stationed as part of a ...