Armenia arrests five over foiled anti-government 'terror attack' to seize government buildings

Armenia's National Security Service (NSS) said on Thursday it had arrested five suspects over what it said was a foiled "terror attack" aimed at government institutions, Armenian state news agency Armenpress reported.

Fire at security building in Russia's Rostov-on-Don

At least one person has been killed and two injured in a fire at a building used by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, Russian media say.

Iran keeps offices, educational institutions shut amid winter gas shortage

Most government offices, universities and schools across Iran remained closed Sunday amid an intense cold wave sweeping the country and a shortage of gas supplies.

New Libya Government Creates "Presidential Guard"

Libya's government of national unity on Tuesday announced the creation of a new military force to protect government buildings, border posts, vital installations and VIPs, a statement said.

ISIS/ISIL car bombs kill at least 14 in Iraq

Two car bombs claimed by Islamic State killed at least 14 people and wounded 37 others in the centre of the southern Iraqi city of Samawa.

UN: Destruction of Ramadi worse than anywhere in Iraq

Destruction in Ramadi is "staggering" and worse than anywhere else in Iraq, according to a UN team that concluded the first assessment visit to the city since Iraqi forces recaptured large parts of it from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.

Afghanistan: 'Dozens of Taliban killed' in battle for Sangin

A local Taliban commander and 50 fighters have been killed in overnight fighting in Sangin in Helmand province, the Afghan interior ministry says.

Libya's city of Sirte falls to Islamic State group

Militants of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) took full control of government buildings and sites in Libya's Sirte city — 450 kilometres (280 miles) east of the capital Tripoli in western Libya — the Libyan Bawabet Al-Wasat news website reported Friday.

‘Terror threat:’ U.S. boosts security at govt buildings

The United States said Tuesday it was stepping up security at government buildings in Washington and other major cities in response to “calls by terrorist organizations for attacks on the homeland and elsewhere.”

“The reasons for this action are self-evident: the continued public calls by terrorist organizations for attacks on the homeland and elsewhere, including against law enforcement and other government officials, and the acts of violence targeted at government personnel and installations in Canada and elsewhere recently,” Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said in a statement.

Ukraine military holds exercise in Kiev. Turchinov signs decree reviving military conscription.

Ukraine’s military staged an exercise in the capital, Kiev Thursday morning. Head of the State Guard, Valery Heletei told the media that the exercise aimed to test the mobilization response time in protecting a government building.

"We checked how quick we are in getting to one of the governmental buildings, how fast we can deliver our crews, working in real time. That was planned by the Head of Department. Other units worked in cooperation with us in an urgent situation. We performed the task well."

Ukraine separatist leader rejects Geneva deal. -"Lavrov did not sign anything for us, he signed on behalf of the Russian Federation"

Leader of pro-Russian armed groups occupying buildings in eastern Ukraine says he will press ahead with May referendum...

The self-declared leader of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, Denis Pushilin, has said that he does not consider his men to be bound by an agreement between Russia and Ukraine to disarm and vacate occupied buildings.
" Lavrov did not sign anything for us, he signed on behalf of the Russian Federation," Pushilin, head of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic, told journalists in Donetsk on Friday.

Pro-Russian separatists attack police HQ in Ukraine city of Horlivka

At least 100 pro-Russian separatists attacked the police headquarters in the east Ukraine city of Horlivka on Monday, a witness told Reuters.
Video footage on Ukrainian television showed an ambulance treating people who were apparently injured during the attack on the main police building in the Donetsk region city, which has a population of around 300,000 people.


Ukraine's acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, says he is not against a national referendum on what kind of country Ukraine should be.