Islamic State (IS) fighters backed by tanks have captured 16 Kurdish villages over the past 24 hours in northern Syria near the Turkish border, prompting civilians to flee their homes amid fears of retribution by the extremists sweeping through the area, activists said.

Airstrikes pounded the area around Iraq’s largest dam today in an effort to drive out militants who captured it earlier this month, as reports emerged of the massacre of some 80 members of the Yazidi religious minority by Islamic extremists.

Calvin Harris reportedly dumped Rita Ora publicly via Twitter.

Syrian President Bashar Assad announced a general amnesty for prisoners in the country, state media reported, less than a week after he was re-elected to another seven-year term amid a bloody civil war.

Syrian president Bashar Assad has declared a general amnesty for prisoners in the country, state media reported.

Baby-faced pop star Justin Bieber has been charged with assault today – the second arrest in a week for the troubled teenager – after turning himself in to police in Canada.

A judge has set Justin Bieber’s bail at $2,500 (€1,826) after he appeared in court following his arrest in Florida.

The inspectors responsible for tracking down Syria’s chemical arms stockpile and verifying its destruction plan to start work there by Tuesday. They will face their tightest deadlines ever and work right in the heart of a war zone, according to a draft decision.

Well, that's midly embarassing.

Great Britain 3 UAE 1

The beheaded body of a British Red Cross worker held captive in Pakistan since January was found in an orchard, with a note attached saying he was killed because no ransom was paid, police said.

A lawyer for Osama bin Laden's three widows and their nine children said the family is expected to be deported from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia later today.

Osama bin Laden’s three widows and two of his daughters have been convicted of illegally living in Pakistan by one of the country’s courts and jailed for 45 days.

A mobile phone of Osama bin Laden's trusted courier recovered in the US raid that killed both men contained contacts for a militant group that is a long-time asset of Pakistan's intelligence agency, it was reported today.

BAHRAIN’S opposition wants the nation’s rulers to guarantee they will back up their conciliatory words with actions, a Shi’ite leader said yesterday as he and other activists weighed the regime’s offer for talks after nearly a week of protests and deadly clashes that have divided the Gulf nation.

Bahrain's opposition wants the nation's rulers to guarantee they will back up their conciliatory words with actions, a Shiite leader said today.

A painting by Vincent van Gogh valued at £32m (€39m) has been stolen from a Cairo museum, the Egyptian minister of culture said today.

A group of Egyptian fishermen who were kidnapped by pirates off the Somali coast four months ago and managed to overpower their captors sailed home to a hero's welcome today, but some details of their dramatic escape remained a mystery.

A WOMAN and two men have been convicted of murdering a teenager who was doused in petrol and then burned alive in Britain, police said.

The European Union cut off vital funding to a Gaza power plant, forcing it to shut down the last of its generators and darken tens of thousands of Palestinian homes.

A barrister who prosecuted Soham murderer Ian Huntley is set to represent a man accused of murdering five Ipswich prostitutes, a lawyer said today.

Police in a Shiite slum brandished their guns and fired into the air in celebration today as Iraqis welcomed the announcement that terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed last night in a US airstrike.

The chief judge ordered a defence lawyer to be forced out of the Baghdad courtroom and shouted down Saddam Hussein in arguments today at the start of a new session of the trial of the former Iraqi leader and members of his regime.

Israeli aircraft attacked suspected weapons factories throughout the Gaza Strip today, pushing forward with an offensive against Palestinian militants despite a pledge by a top Hamas leader to halt rocket fire against Israel.

Israeli aircraft attacked suspected weapons factories throughout the Gaza Strip early today, pushing forward with an offensive against Palestinian militants despite a pledge by a Hamas leader to halt rocket fire against Israel.

THE Islamic Jihad leader in the Gaza Strip last night said the militant group will no longer honour a ceasefire with Israel after one of the group’s top commanders was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Saddam Hussein has fired his legal defence team excepting an Iraqi lawyer who is the only person authorised to represent him.

A series of explosions shook the house of a top Islamic Jihad leader in the southern Gaza town of Rafah today, wounding five people.

ISRAEL accused Syria yesterday of “directing terrorism” and warned it could face pre-emptive strikes against militants on its territory, but stopped short of saying it killed a Hamas leader in Damascus.

A senior Israeli defence official today accused Syrian President Bashar Assad of direct involvement in terrorism, but refused to confirm Israel was responsible for killing a Hamas leader in Damascus on Sunday.

A CAR bomb killed a suspected Hamas military chief in Damascus yesterday.

A car bomb killed a leader of the Hamas militant group in Damascus today. In Israel, security officials acknowledged the Jewish state was involved in the assassination.

A car bomb ripped through an elegant Baghdad restaurant crowded with diners at a New Year’s Eve party killing five Iraqis and wounding 35 others, including at least one Briton and two Americans.

A large explosion ripped through a restaurant in central Baghdad on New Year’s Eve, killing five people, the city police chief said.

Soham accused Ian Huntley admits setting fire to the bodies of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, the Old Bailey heard today.

An e-mail written by a purported al-Qaida leader has warned the terrorist network is preparing to stage devastating attacks against Americans during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

An al-Qaida commander warned the terror network was about to stage major attacks in Saudi Arabia in an e-mail just a day before the deadly suicide bombings in Riyadh, an Arab magazine has reported.

Osama bin Laden is alive and will appear on a videotape soon, a man who identified himself as a senior al-Qaida member told an Arabic weekly.

FORMER school caretaker Ian Huntley suffers “no form of mental disorder” and is fit to stand trial for the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, a court heard yesterday.

Former school caretaker Ian Huntley suffers “no form of mental disorder” and is fit to stand trial for the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, a court heard today.

Ian Huntley was today declared fit to stand trial for the murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.