Beirut / AFP Islamists and rebels captured strategic military positions on the edges of Syria’s second city Aleppo on Saturday, turning the tables on Russian-backed regime forces besieging the city. To the northeast, a Western-backed alliance of Arab and Kurdish fighters scored a major victory against the IS group in the town of Manbij after a fierce two-month battle. …

  Tokyo / AFP Japan on Saturday marked 71 years since the city of Hiroshima was destroyed by a US atomic bomb, as its mayor urged the world to unite in abolishing nuclear weapons. The annual ceremony came just months after Barack Obama became the first sitting US president to visit the western Japanese city, paying moving tribute to victims …

  United Nations / AFP UN peacekeepers abandoned their posts and questioned an order to use force to repel heavily armed soldiers who stormed their base in South Sudan six months ago, according to the findings of a UN board of inquiry. The board set up by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon found that the mission “failed to manage the crisis …