Rafale planes take off as Iraqi forces plan final push in IS stronghold.

Air raids knocked two hospitals out of service in rebel-held parts of the city.

U.S. vows to provide $364m more in humanitarian aid to Syrians.

Former Israeli president, Shimon Peres, who won a Nobel peace prize for his key role in negotiating peace accords with the Palestinians in 1993, passed away at the age of 93 in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.

Thousands sign petition to abolish male guardian's consent system.

At an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council on Sunday, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Power, accused Moscow of committing war crimes in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

The Syrian military announced a fresh offensive in the rebel-held parts of eastern Aleppo and pounded the city with a string of airstrikes, killing at least 13 people on Thursday.

Rescue workers save more than 150 but some 400 migrants still missing.

No deaths or injuries reported in the assault at air base near Iraq's Mosul.

U.S. defense officials said that two Russian planes were involved in the airstrike that killed 12 people and destroyed 18 trucks of an aid convoy near the Syrian city of Aleppo on Monday.