Ise-Shima / AFP The Taliban is unlikely to come to the table for peace talks with the government of Afghanistan ‘anytime soon’, despite the organisation’s new leadership, US President Barack Obama said on Thursday. Obama told reporters in Japan, where he is meeting with other leaders of the Group of Seven nations, that he expected the extremist movement to ...

  Hasakeh / AFP Before extremists seized his hometown and turned his school into a prison, Syrian teenager Ahmad Mohammad never imagined he would be excited about sitting his final exams. After a long wait, the 17-year-old and around 650 other teenagers were bussed into the northeastern Syrian city of Hasakeh this month to finally try to obtain their school ...

  Geneva / AFP Syria was the most dangerous place for health care workers to operate last year, ahead of other conflict zones like the Palestinian territories, and Yemen, the World Health Organization said on Thursday. For the first time, the UN health agency provided comprehensive statistics on attacks on health care facilities and other violence directed at health workers ...