BEIRUT / AP A misdirected airstrike by the US-led coalition earlier this week killed 18 allied fighters battling the IS group in northern Syria, the US military said on Thursday. US Central Command said coalition aircraft were given the wrong coordinates by their partner forces, the predominantly-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces, for a strike intended to target IS militants south …

  CAIRO / AP At least 97 African migrants are missing and believed drowned after their Europe-bound boat sank in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday, the Libyan coast guard said. Spokesman Ayoub Gassim said 23 migrants were rescued around 6 miles (10 kilometers) off the Libyan coast after authorities received a distress call. Fifteen women and five children are among …

  Riyadh / WAM The workings of the second group of the UAE-KSA Joint Determination Retreat, organised by the UAE-Saudi Co-ordination Council, were launched in Riyadh on Thursday, with the attendance and participation of ministers, high officials and general managers from both countries. The retreat came from the directives of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and his …