Middle East

Russia has reacted angrily to criticism from the U.S. about its air attacks in Syria. Moscow says its planes have been hitting fighters of the Islamic State. Any suggestion otherwise is part of a propaganda war carried out by the U.S., Russia says.

Activists say the government has stepped up prosecutions for alleged morality offenses. Hundreds of gay and transgender people have been targeted, and now the campaign has moved on to dancers.

Saudi Arabia's U.S.-backed airstrike campaign in Yemen was supposed to quash advances by Houthi rebels in short order. But the conflict is grinding on and the humanitarian crisis is growing worse.

Europe is desperate to stop the flow of refugees from Syria, and that means countering ISIS and also ousting Bashar al-Assad. Russia's military action to prop up Assad is making things difficult.

Russia carried out some 20 air strikes in Syria on Wednesday. Now the U.S. military is scrambling to make sure American and Russian war planes steer clear of each other over the skies of Syria.

At the United Nations, Iran's President has come and gone, and the wife of one jailed American is losing hope of pleading her case to the Iranian delegation. Naghmeh Abedini's husband is a Christian pastor, and she says his life in prison has only gotten worse since the nuclear deal with Iran.

For U.S. leaders, the Russian airstrikes have stoked concerns that they would be used against not only ISIS, but also against moderate rebel groups.

Richard Barrett, the former director of global counterterrorism operations at the British intelligence service MI6, talks about what Russia is trying to achieve in Syria.

The Taliban overran the Afghan city of Kunduz earlier this week. This comes just a few months after a new leader took over the Taliban and a year after President Ashraf Ghani took power of the Afghan government.

Russia carried out a series of airstrikes in Syria Wednesday, giving short notice to the U.S. that it also has planes in the air nearby and is calling out for more coordination.