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"The Taliban on Tuesday defended their suicide bombing against an international compound in the Afghan capital that killed at least 16 people and wounded 119, almost all local civilians, just hours after a U.S. envoy said he and the militant group had reached a deal “in principle” to end America’s longest war."

Thousands of jihadis are set to seek sanctuary in Turkey with Damascus' forces laying siege to Idlib, the last Syrian rebel enclave. With Damascus determined to take control of all of Syria, analysts warn it's only a matter of time before Turkey faces an exodus of not only refugees, but also the arrival of extremist fighters, posing a significant security threat to the country.

"The UK, US, France and Iran may be complicit in possible war crimes in Yemen over their support for parties to the conflict there, UN experts say. A new report warns the countries they could be held responsible for aiding or assisting the commission of violations."

"The U.S., its European allies, and its Strategic Partners in the Middle East achieved a significant victory in breaking up the ISIS protostate – or “caliphate” – in Syria and Iraq. This break up has sharply reduced the fighting against ISIS in Iraq, and in Eastern Syria."

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the Western security alliance "fully supports" U.S. efforts to clinch a peace deal in Afghanistan.

"A fragile cease-fire in northwest Syria held Monday, months after the United Nations warned of a humanitarian crisis developing in the last rebel stronghold fighting against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad."

"The most recent clash between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon may or may not be over, but the signs still point to a potentially catastrophic conflict ahead."

Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he was “right up front” in frank policy discussions with President Trump, but never blocked or delayed actions the president wanted him to take.

The United States has reached a draft framework agreement with the Taliban that will require American troops to vacate five military bases in Afghanistan within 135 days of the signing of the document.

"The United States will pull 5,400 troops from Afghanistan and leave five military bases in 20 weeks, the American special envoy told Afghan leaders on Monday, to initiate a gradual withdrawal from the country as part of an agreement being finalized with the Taliban."

"India believes that the accession of Jammu and Kashmir is final, and any unfinished business regarding partition of the greater Kashmir region only concerns areas occupied by Pakistan. Reorganizing Jammu and Kashmir made no territorial changes, but sought to more closely integrate the state with the rest of India."

"A military judge on Friday set a date in early 2021 for the start of the long-stalled war crimes trial of five men being held at the Guantanamo Bay prison on charges of planning and aiding the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks."

Afghan officials say U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Monday in Kabul to share details of a draft U.S.-Taliban peace agreement, but did not hand a copy of the deal to the president.

"New details have emerged about information warfare tactics and battlefield secrets used in the effort to defeat the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group."

"Senior White House advisers have proposed secretly expanding the C.I.A.’s presence in Afghanistan if international forces begin to withdraw from the country, according to American officials. But C.I.A. and military officials have expressed reservations, prompting a debate in the administration that could complicate negotiations with the Taliban to end the war."

"With a landmark deal with the Taliban nearly completed, the U.S. diplomat overseeing peace talks with the insurgents arrived in Kabul on Sunday to brief top Afghan officials on the accord and to discuss next steps on a comprehensive settlement of the nearly 18-year Afghan war."

"The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen staged multiple airstrikes on a detention center operated by the Houthi rebels in the southwestern province of Dhamar, killing at least 100 people and wounding dozens more Sunday, officials and the rebels’ health ministry said."

The pro-Iranian Lebanese group Hezbollah fired several anti-tank missiles at an Israeli army base and a military ambulance, but there were no casualties, according to the Israeli army. The army said several of the missiles struck their targets and Israel fired dozens of mortars at Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.

The Taliban has launched an attack on a second Afghan city in two days, even as a ninth round of negotiations with the United States on ending the war wind down. Officials in Baghlan province said the insurgents were on the outskirts of the capital.

"The US says it has carried out an attack on leaders of a group it calls al-Qaeda in Syria, in the country's rebel-held Idlib province."

"Turkey's president threatened Saturday to launch a unilateral offensive into northeastern Syria if plans to establish a so-called safe zone along Turkey's border fail to meet his expectations, including a demand that Turkish soldiers control the corridor."

"Taliban fighters stormed the northern Afghan city of Kunduz on Saturday, U.S. and Afghan military officials said, even as negotiators for the hard-line Islamist militia seek to finalize a U.S. troop withdrawal deal with American negotiators in Qatar."

The Taliban have staged a “large-scale” predawn attack on an important city in northern Afghanistan, even as leaders of the insurgent group are engaged in marathon peace talks with the United States on ending the deadly war.

"The protracted shadow war between Israel and Iran has spilled beyond the borders of Syria following a series of attacks in Iraq and Lebanon blamed on Israel, and threats of Hezbollah retaliation that reporters in Israel and Lebanon say has prompted the Israel Defense Force (IDF) to station dummy soldiers in jeeps along its northern border."

"U.S. and coalition troops fighting the anti-ISIS campaign in Iraq have a new process for getting flights approved daily, following an Aug. 15 order from that country’s prime minister that all use of Iraqi airspace would have to be pre-approved or else be considered hostile."