More than 150 IS militants handed over to Iraq from Syria

OUTSIDE BAGHOUZ, Syria (AP) — U.S.-backed Syrian forces fighting the Islamic State group handed over more than 150 Iraqi members of the group to Iraq, an Iraqi security official said Thursday, marking the biggest repatriation from Syria of captured militants so far. The official said the IS militants were...

The Latest: Officials try to verify French IS member's death

BEIRUT (AP) — The Latest on developments in Syria (all times local): 6:30 p.m. Two officials say they are trying to verify reports that Fabien Clain, a Frenchman who is one of Europe's most-wanted members of Islamic State group, has died in an airstrike in Syria. A French diplomatic official and an...

Iraqi security official: U.S.-backed Syrian militia hands over more than 150 Iraqi Islamic State group members to Iraq

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi security official: U.S.-backed Syrian militia hands over more than 150 Iraqi Islamic State group members to Iraq.

Iraqi rapper gives angry youth in city of Basra music outlet

BASRA, Iraq (AP) — A youth-led protest movement in the southern Iraqi port city of Basra, which saw riots last summer over failing services and soaring unemployment, has found an artistic outlet in the words and beats of homegrown rapper Ahmed Chayeb. The 22-year-old rapper, also known as Mr. Guti, says...

Civilians, including many children, leave IS-held enclave

BAGHOUZ, Syria (AP) — Young girls and boys stared out of the back of trucks, their faces dirty, their eyes filled with terror, exhaustion and uncertainty, as hundreds of men, women and children were evacuated from the Islamic State group's last enclave in eastern Syria on Wednesday. The evacuation may...

Pressure builds to get civilians out of last IS-held enclave

AL-OMAR OIL FIELD BASE, Syria (AP) — Dozens of trucks arrived Tuesday at the outskirts of a besieged enclave held by the Islamic State group in eastern Syria, signaling renewed efforts to evacuate hundreds of civilians trapped in the militants' last patch of territory along the Euphrates River. A spokesman...

The Latest: Germany recorded more asylum requests last month

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — The Latest on migrants and asylum-seekers in Europe (all times local): 3:40 p.m. German authorities say they recorded an uptick in asylum requests in the first month of 2019. The interior ministry said Tuesday that authorities received 17,051 asylum requests in January, an increase...

Iraqi man convicted in Sweden of war crimes

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Swedish court has convicted a man who fought against the Islamic State group in Iraq of war crimes for posting macabre pictures and videos on Facebook. The Orebro District Court on Tuesday sentenced 38-year-old Kurda Bahaalddin H Saeed H Saeed to 15 months in jail. The court...

Tense standoff spells endgame for IS militants in Syria

BAGHOUZ, Syria (AP) — The collection of tents was largely silent on a sunny winter Monday afternoon. Few people were visible, but the few out and about were calm: Two men in long robes and pants walked slowly together through the grass, a woman leisurely came out of her tent to look around, a man on a...

EU states mixed on Trump demand to take back IS fighters

BRUSSELS (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump's demand that European countries take back their citizens fighting in Syria received a mixed reaction Monday, as nations voiced concerns about how to bring home-grown Islamic State extremists to trial. The question of such foreign fighters has been a conundrum...