US, Russia aiming for cooperation on Syria

DAMASCUS - The heightened tension between Moscow and Washington after last week's US missile attack on a Syrian air base appears to be easing, according to analysts.

Dozens missing after boat sinks off Libya

TRIPOLI - At least 97 migrants were missing on Thursday after their boat sank off the coast of Libya, a navy spokesman said.

'Mother of all bombs' stirs criticism

KABUL - The US military on Thursday dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb used in combat to strike an Islamic State target in Afghanistan.

Thais soak in new year with nationwide water fight

BANGKOK - Hordes of revelers armed with plastic water guns poured onto Thai streets on Friday for a second day of watery warfare to ring in the kingdom's traditional new year.

IN BRIEF (Page 8)

Turkey vote will decide direction of governance

ISTANBUL - As soon as school is over, Burcu and Ece take a bus to Besiktas Square in central Istanbul. The moment they are there, the bosom buddies, both aged 15, pick up "No" flyers from tents set up for a referendum campaign and start passing them out.

Greek prisoners kick their way to rehab

ATHENS - Behind the concrete walls and barbed wire of Greece's largest maximum security prison complex at Korydallos, a suburb of Piraeus port near the capital Athens, a friendly soccer game was hailed by inmates and their rivals from the "outside world" as a step on the road to rehabilitation.

Switzerland an oasis for cannabis converts

LAUSANNE, Switzerland - A gray-haired woman in her early 60s daintily lifts small trays topped with different varieties of marijuana to her nose, sniffing each of them carefully.

Lack of fueling sites hinders hydrogen cars

DETROIT - Hydrogen fuel cell cars could one day challenge electric cars in the race for pollution-free roads - but only if more stations are built to fuel them.

Britain to research soldiers' hip problems

LONDON - A major research project to discover why so many members of Britain's military suffer from hip problems was announced Thursday. Almost one-in-five of the trained armed forces in Britain have a diagnosed Musculoskeletal (MSKI) injury, with soldiers in the army the most likely to be medically downgraded, says the Ministry of Defense (MOD)

China calls for political solution on Syria issue

China has made arduous efforts to push forward consensus on the Syria chemical weapon issue at the United Nations Security Council and regrets that the attempts have not yet paid off, the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

Steam train up to speed in passenger service railway test

LONDON - A steam train clocked 161 kilometers per hour on Britain's mainline railway network for the first time in almost 50 years on Wednesday.