Prominent Syrian philosopher and intellectual Sadiq Jalal al-Azm has passed away in Germany after a long battle with brain cancer, his son said.

Al-Azm was 82.

Moody's on Tuesday dragged its credit rating on Sony back from junk status, saying the Japanese firm's balance sheet has "dramatically improved".

The ratings agency lifted its rating on Sony by one notch to Baa3 -- bringing it back to investment grade -- nearly three years after it cut its view to junk status as Sony wallowed in massive losses.

Turkish media say counterterrorism police have continued to detain members of a pro-Kurdish political party in the wake of deadly suicide bombings.

State-run Anadolu Agency is reporting that two lawmakers of the Peoples' Democratic Party have been taken into custody in Ankara, the capital.

An Afghan official says that at least two Afghan police officers have been killed when a roadside bomb detonated near their patrol in eastern Kunar province.

Abdul Ghani Musamim, spokesman for the provincial governor in Kunar, said on Tuesday that the explosion killed Abdul Wali Khan, a unit commander for the border police, and his bodyguard.

An Iowa man has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to the shipping of guns to Lebanon.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says Bassem Afif Herz was given the punishment Monday in federal court in Cedar Rapids. The 31-year-old Cedar Rapids man pleaded guilty in March to conspiring to deal in firearms without a license and illegally shipping firearms. He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and violating a federal law that limits the exporting of weapons.

Pope Francis is calling for a renewed culture of nonviolence to inform global politics today, saying military responses to conflicts only breed more violence.

Francis cited Mother Teresa, Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. as models of nonviolent peacemakers in his annual message for the Catholic Church's World Day of Peace, which is celebrated each Jan. 1.

Get ready to party all night long with Lionel Richie and Mariah Carey.

The singers announced Monday they are joining forces for the All The Hits Tour, which kicks off in Baltimore on March 15, 2017.

A crowd of men rushed through the narrow hallway of Mosul's al-Zahra clinic carrying a slight 10-year-old boy. Yousef Oday's face was covered in blood.

A team of doctors quickly gathered around his cot. "What happened to you?" one of the men asked.

Norway has expressed concern over a planned Israeli bill that would allow expanded construction in major West Bank settlements.

Marit Berger Roesland of the Norwegian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that the proposed law "cast doubts about Israel's declared support for the two-state solution."

An Iraqi commander says reinforcements have been sent to eastern Mosul after a major Islamic State counterattack drove troops back last week, further slowing a nearly two-month-old offensive to retake the city.

Maj. Gen. Najim al-Jabouri said Sunday that Federal Police and Iraqi army units have moved from the southern front to the city's east, where most of the fighting has been concentrated in recent weeks.