MOSCOW (Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday he will use a visit to Russia to expand military ties with Moscow, whose arms sales to the Middle Eastern state have angered Israel and the United States.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi security forces raided the office of a provincial governor and arrested the son of a leading Sunni Arab politician in separate incidents on Tuesday that could stoke sectarian and political tension.

ISSERS, Algeria (Reuters) – A bomb at an Algerian military academy killed 43 people and wounded 45 on Tuesday, the interior ministry said, one of the bloodiest incidents in years in the OPEC member state.