Tripoli / AFP The designated head of Libya’s UN-backed unity government has met the country’s controversial army chief, retired General Khalifa Haftar, as he prepares to submit a new cabinet lineup. Fayez Al Sarraj’s official Facebook page said he met Haftar on Saturday as part of a series of meetings to assess “the opinions, fears and worries of influential sides …

Tokyo / AFP Japan has doubled the number of F-15 fighter jets deployed on the southern island of Okinawa, near disputed islands in the East China Sea, the defence ministry said Sunday. Japan’s Air Self-Defence Force now has about 40 F-15s on Okinawa’s Naha base, according to the defence ministry. The move comes as Japan and China have routinely clashed …

Justin Sink / Bloomberg President Barack Obama will visit a US mosque for the first time in his presidency next week, when he travels to Baltimore Feb. 3 to meet with Muslim community leaders. Obama will hold a round-table with community members and “reiterate the importance of staying true to our core values—welcoming our fellow Americans, speaking out against bigotry, …