As rebels infiltrated Damascus in a surprise attack, defense of the city was joined by Hezbollah al-Nujaba, an Iraqi Shi'ite militia under command of Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
The US military plans to station ground troops in Libya to help local forces fight the ISIS faction there, and also seeks greater scope to target insurgents in Somalia.
Iraqi security forces suspended military operations to retake western Mosul from ISIS due to the increased number of civilian casualties after a series of deadly coalition air-strikes.
An Under Secretary of State issued a permit for the Keystone Pipeline, after State Department chief and ex-Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson recused himself from the decision.
Israel imposed movement restrictions at al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem after a sit-in was held at the site to demand release of the bodies of slain Palestinians.
The high court in India's Uttarakhand state ruled that the Ganges and Yamuna are "living entities," giving a legal voice to these rivers that have seen years of ecological damage.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization warned that the Middle East and North Africa risk becoming uninhabitable in a few decades, with water reserves falling dramatically.
The US air-lifts Kurdish fighters into ISIS territory in preparation for a final assault on Raqqa—while bombing the city, deepening the growing enmity between Kurds and Arabs.
Are the "false flag" theories on the anti-Semitic threats vindicated by the bust of a confused Israeli youth? Or is a Jew exploiting anti-Semitism to score points still anti-Semitic?
As the commentariat debates whether the London SUV attack was terrorism or the work of an apolitical loner, both sides will overlook the critical factor of car culture.
Human Rights Watch accused the Libyan National Army—actually controlled by the unrecognized government in the country's east—of committing war crimes in Benghazi.
The Kurdish YPG militia says it has agreed to establishment of a Russian military base in its territory, although Moscow calls it a "reconciliation center."
