Some 200 families are trapped in a shrinking area of Syria controlled by Islamic State, whose forces are stopping many from fleeing, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet says, calling for the families' safe passage.

Jihadists defending their last dreg of territory in Syria have no choice but to surrender, a Kurdish-led force said yesterday, ahead of a victory declaration expected within days.

Iran has summoned the Pakistani ambassador to protest about a suicide bombing that killed 27 of its elite Revolutionary Guards near the border earlier this week, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported yesterday.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad yesterday warned the United States would not protect those depending on it, in reference to Kurdish fighters who control much of the north.

Saudi Arabia on Saturday defended a mobile app that allows men in the kingdom to track female relatives after rights groups and a US lawmaker criticised tech giants for offering it.

A Bangladesh national dies in a road accident in Riyadh of Saudi Arabia.

Egypt's army yesterday said seven suspected jihadists were "eliminated" and 15 soldiers killed or wounded in an attack in the Sinai

Iran yesterday warned neighbouring Pakistan it would "pay a heavy price" for allegedly harbouring militants who killed 27 of its elite

Kurdish-led forces yesterday said they were holding up the announcement of final victory over the Islamic State group for "a few days"

Islamic State group jihadists using tunnels and suicide bombers were mounting a desperate defence yesterday of their last square kilometre in eastern Syria.

President Hassan Rouhani yesterday vowed revenge against the "mercenary group" behind a suicide bombing which killed 27 people in southeastern Iran and accused the US and Israel of supporting "terrorism".

An international court Wednesday ruled Iran can proceed with a bid to unfreeze assets in the United States, rejecting Washington's claims the case must be halted because of Tehran's alleged support for international terrorism.

Washington will not unilaterally withdraw from Afghanistan, the Pentagon chief said yesterday, as Nato said the Kabul government must be urgently brought into US peace talks with the Taliban aimed at ending the country's 17-year war.

Indonesia will host Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for a state visit next week, Jakarta said yesterday, part of an Asian

Acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan arrived in Baghdad yesterday on an unannounced visit for talks on the sensitive issue of a continued troop presence following withdrawal from neighbouring Syria.

Syrian fighters backed up by artillery fire from a US-led coalition pressed their assault yesterday to retake a last morsel of territory from

Food aid in a warehouse on the frontlines of the Yemen war is at risk of rotting, the UN said yesterday. The Red Sea Mills silos, located in

1929: The Lateran Treaty was signed establishing an independent Vatican state in Rome.

Saudi authorities do not know where dissident Jamal Khashoggi's body is despite having in custody the Saudi team that murdered him,

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei yesterday said that Europe "cannot be trusted", a week after the EU launched a trade mechanism to bypass US sanctions on Tehran.