Ankara / AFP Turkey’s prime minister ruled out talks with the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) after a spate of attacks blamed on the militants killed at least 17 people this week. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said the outlawed group had made a bid for dialogue after almost a year of renewed violence that ended a two-and-a-half year truce, …

  ANKARA / AP Turkey’s state-run news agency said US-led coalition airstrikes and Turkish artillery fire against IS group targets in Syria have killed 18 militants. Anadolu Agency, quoting unnamed security officials, said on Thursday that the IS targets were attacked after Turkish authorities on Wednesday determined that the extremist group was preparing to strike Turkey from northern Syria. It …

  Aleppo / AFP Syrian rebels have reopened a vital supply line by capturing two villages from the IS extremist group as it came under pressure on a range of fronts in Syria and Iraq. IS has controlled large areas of both countries since declaring its self-styled “caliphate” in 2014 but is losing territory in the face of separate assaults. In …