Lebanon

Clan threatens Turkish hostage

Lebanese Shiite gunmen who kidnapped more than 20 people said on Thursday they would kill a Turkish hostage first if their kinsman captured by rebels in Syria was hurt and said they were looking to seize more Turkish citizens.

The Meqdad clan said it is seeking to put pressure on the Free Syrian Army to release Hassan al-Meqdad by targeting both Syrians it said are part of the rebel force and citizens of Turkey, one of the rebels' regional sponsors. The clan is holding one Turk and the rest of its captives are Syrians.

The kidnapping has evoked memories of Lebanon's own civil war, reinforcing fears that the Syria conflict could trigger more instability in a much smaller neighbor.

Australia

Ship diverted over asylum fear

The captain of a merchant ship bound for Singapore changed course for Australia this week, fearing that desperate asylum seekers he had rescued in Indonesian waters posed a threat to his crew, officials said on Thursday.

News of the high seas drama broke as Australia's Senate was due to pass strict new laws on Thursday aimed at deterring the waves of asylum seekers from across Asia and the Middle East who have been making the dangerous journey to Australian shores.

One of the asylum seekers fell overboard before the rescue and is believed to have drowned, while the surviving 67 have been in an Australian immigration detention center since Tuesday.

Pakistan

20 Shiites ambushed

Gunmen on Thursday pulled 20 Shiite Muslims from a bus and shot them dead in northwestern Pakistan, the second such incident in six months, police said.

The bus was traveling from the city of Rawalpindi to the northern city of Gilgit, and was ambushed in the hills of Babusar Top, around 160 km north of the capital Islamabad.

Iraq

Attacks claim at least 22

A wave of insurgent attacks killed at least 22 people and wounded dozens in central and northern Iraq on Thursday, the latest series of persistent strikes aimed at undermining the government's authority.

One of the bloodiest blows came around midday, when a car bomb struck near the local security forces headquarters in the northern city of Daqouq. As police rushed to the scene, a roadside bomb exploded, killing seven policemen. Another 35 people were hurt.

More than 100 people have been killed in violence across the country since the start of August, showing that insurgents led by al-Qaida's Iraqi franchise remain a lethal force eight months after the last US troops left the country.

Afghanistan

7 US troops killed in crash

Seven US troops and four Afghans died in a Black Hawk helicopter crash on Thursday in southern Afghanistan, the NATO military coalition said.

The Taliban claimed their fighters shot down the aircraft.

The crash marked another deadly day for the US In Afghanistan, less than a week after six US service members were gunned down, apparently by two members of the Afghan security forces they were training to take over the fight against the insurgency as international combat troops prepare to exit the country by the end of 2014.

AP-Reuters-AFP