A member of Kuwait’s ruling family announced yesterday his candidacy for next month’s parliamentary election, a rare move in the Gulf state where royals normally stay away from polls.

Clashes killed dozens of fighters across Yemen before a UN-brokered ceasefire was to begin yesterday, as warring parties came under mounting pressure to end the two-year conflict.

Abu Youssef is tired. He has already seen his family home destroyed once and now faces a second demolition.

Thousands of Iraqis fleeing fighting in the offensive against Islamic State (IS) in Mosul have taken shelter in northeastern Syria in recent days, an official from the Kurdish-led administration in the area said yesterday.

Militant leaders are fleeing Mosul, a top US general in the coalition battling the Islamic State group said yesterday as Iraqi forces closed in on the northern city.

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri intends to endorse Michel Aoun for the vacant presidency, senior political sources said, and the Hezbollah ally could be elected head of state later this month.

The US-led coalition will not support Shia militia who might seek to participate in the campaign to retake Mosul from Islamic State and it is up to Baghdad to decide their role, a top US general told Pentagon reporters on Wednesday.

The Norwegian military has released pictures taken by surveillance aircraft of a fleet of Russian warships sailing in international waters off the coast of Norway and reported to be heading to Syria.

The Syrian army is observing temporary ceasefires in Aleppo to alleviate the humanitarian situation there and has pulled back to enable rebel fighters to leave the city via two designated corridors, Syria's Foreign Ministry said.

Iraqi forces were making gains as tens of thousands of fighters advanced on Mosul yesterday in an unprecedented offensive to retake the city from the Islamic State group.

As Iraqi forces close in on Mosul, trapped civilians report thick smoke enveloping the city’s empty streets as their militant rulers attempt to shield themselves from intensifying US-led coalition air strikes.

HE the Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani met yesterday in Brussels with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR) Federica Mogherini.