INTERNATIONAL

The Islamic State (IS) group is the prime suspect in the Ankara bombings that killed nearly 100 on Saturday, Turkish PM Ahmet Davutoglu has said. No group has said it carried out the attack, but the government believes that two male suicide bombers caused the explosions, hitting a peace rally. The official death toll is 97, but one of the ...

President Vladimir Putin has defended Russia’s military operations in Syria, saying the aim is to “stabilise the legitimate authority” of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Mr Putin told Russian state TV Moscow also wanted to “create conditions for a political compromise” in Syria. He denied that Russian air strikes were hitting moderate opposition groups rather than Islamic State militants. Syrian forces ...

President Vladimir Putin has defended Russia’s military operations in Syria, saying the aim is to “stabilise the legitimate authority” of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Mr Putin told Russian state TV Moscow also wanted to “create conditions for a political compromise” in Syria. He denied that Russian air strikes were hitting moderate opposition groups rather than Islamic State militants. Syrian forces ...

Iraq’s air force has hit a convoy of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a military statement says. The fate of the IS leader was unknown, it said. Hospital sources told Reuters news agency that several IS figures were among the casualties but there was no sign of Baghdadi. There have previously been reports that the IS leader has been ...

Turkey is beginning three days of mourning after two blasts at a peace rally in the capital, Ankara, killed at least 95 people on Saturday, the deadliest ever such attack in Turkey. The attack left 245 people injured, with 48 of them in a serious condition. TV footage showed scenes of panic and people lying on the ground covered in ...

Two explosions at a peace rally in the Turkish capital Ankara have killed at least 86 people and injured 186, according to officials. TV footage showed scenes of panic and people lying on the ground covered in blood, amid protest banners. The blasts took place near the city’s central train station as people gathered for a march organised by leftist ...

Two explosions at a peace rally in the Turkish capital Ankara have killed at least 30 people and injured 126, the interior ministry says. TV footage shows scenes of panic and people lying on the ground covered in blood, amid protest banners. The blasts took place near the city’s central train station as people gathered for a march organised by ...

Russia has agreed to resume talks with the US on air safety during Syria bombing campaigns, says the Pentagon. The talks “are likely to take place as soon as this weekend,” said press secretary Peter Cook. There have been concerns that there could be an accidental clash as the two countries pursue separate bombing campaigns over Syria. The US and ...

The US is to end its efforts to train new Syrian rebel forces and says it will shift to providing equipment and weapons to existing forces. Its $500m programme was heavily criticised after it emerged that US-trained rebels had handed vehicles and ammunition over to extremists. It emerged last month that only four or five of the fighters were in ...

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Tunisia’s National Dialogue Quartet for helping the country’s transition to democracy. The Nobel committee said the group of civil society organisations had made a “decisive contribution” to democracy after the 2011 revolution. It said it helped establish a political process when the country “was on the brink of civil war”. Tunisia’s uprising ...