French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and his British counterpart Boris Johnson called Thursday for the Syrian regime and its allies to end their "disastrous" siege on the city of Aleppo.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday rebuffed calls to reverse her welcoming stance toward refugees in the wake of a series of brutal attacks in the country.

French investigators have formally identified the second jihadist who attacked a church and killed a priest, a young man who was known to authorities after having tried to travel to Syria, a source in the prosecutor's office said Thursday.

Syrian state media are reporting that government forces have taken another neighborhood from rebels in the contested northern city of Aleppo.

The Tunisian army killed two suspected militants on Wednesday in the northwest of the country, the Ministry of Defence said Thursday.

Turkey should show proportionality in its pursuit of those behind a failed military coup, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday, adding that she was following developments in the NATO partner country with concern.

The United States has slammed as "provocative" Israeli plans to build hundreds of new settlement homes in annexed east Jerusalem, saying they seriously undermined the prospect of peace with the Palestinians.

Human Rights Watch accused the Syrian regime and its ally Russia on Thursday of extensively using banned cluster munitions in their offensive against rebels in the war-torn country.

Chancellor Angela Merkel interrupted her vacation on Thursday to face down accusations at home and abroad that her open-door refugee policy allowed Islamist terrorism to take hold in Germany.

A massive bomb blast claimed by the Islamic State group killed at least 44 people and wounded dozens on Wednesday in the Kurdish-majority Syrian city of Qamishli.

Turkish authorities have detained more than 15,000 people, including more than 10,000 soldiers, following the July 15-16 failed coup attempt, broadcaster CNN Turk on Wednesday cited interior minister Efkana Ala as saying.

A Kuwaiti court on Wednesday sentenced a Shia lawmaker to 14 years and six months in absentia for remarks deemed highly offensive to fellow Gulf states Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

The United Nations called for a humanitarian truce in the Yemeni province of Taiz after government forces captured a town from Iran-allied Houthi militia in heavy fighting that has spurred allegations of war crimes.

Greek authorities on Tuesday postponed hearings for eight Turkish soldiers who sought asylum after they fled Turkey following an abortive coup attempt, a case that has underscored lingering tensions between the two NATO allies.

An Iraqi provincial council has approved a decision that would allow local authorities to demolish homes of convicted militants and banish their families from the province.

President Francois Hollande sought Wednesday to head off divisions between France's religious communities after the militant-claimed murder of a Catholic priest in his church, as calls mounted for tougher security measures.

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday condemned "in the strongest terms" the attack on a church in France that saw a priest killed by Islamic State group followers.

Syria's state TV has raised the death toll from a car bombing in a predominantly Kurdish town in the country's north, saying 22 people died and dozens were wounded.

Julianne Moore, Bryan Cranston, Kerry Washington, Mark Ruffalo, Neil Patrick Harris, Lena Dunham, Shonda Rhimes, and Macklemore are among more than 100 celebrities joining a campaign to urge Americans to deny Donald Trump the White House.

Libya's chief of staff on Tuesday threatened to target foreign oil tankers if they entered territorial waters, after a controversial deal was struck between the United Nations envoy and a militia commander in control of the oil terminals.

Israeli troops early Tuesday destroyed 11 Palestinian homes in an area on the outskirts of Jerusalem divided from the city by Israel's separation wall, residents and an NGO said.