SEOUL / AP North Korea on Monday fired four banned ballistic missiles that flew about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) on average, with three of them landing in waters that Japan claims as its exclusive economic zone, South Korean and Japanese officials said. The test-launches appeared to be a reaction to huge US-South Korean military drills that those countries consider …

  BEIRUT / AP US-backed Syrian fighters on Monday cut the main road between the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, which is controlled by the IS group, and the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, which is partially held by IS, as they press against the extremists’ territory in Syria. But despite the fresh blockade on the Raqqa-Deir el-Zour road, IS …

  PESHAWAR / AP Militants attacked several Pakistani military posts in tribal regions along the Afghan border, killing six soldiers, the army said on Monday. Pakistani troops repulsed the attackers, who had crossed overnight from Afghanistan into the Mohmand tribal region where three military posts were ambushed, the army statement said. It added that 10 of the attackers were believed …