Syrian government rockets hit two villages in the last rebel stronghold in northwestern Syria on Thursday, killing at least nine civilians, including three children, rescue workers and a war monitor said.

The U.N. Children’s agency confirmed three children were killed, calling it a “terrifying sign” that violence is returning to the area that has been under a cease-fire for over a year.

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A Taliban attack was repulsed at an Afghan town near the country’s border with Uzbekistan, a top police official said.

The attack took place on Sunday in Hairatan town, Balkh province.

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The Taliban now controls nearly 80 percent of Afghanistan, a spokesperson for the Taliban politburo told Rudaw on Friday.

“Before the recent events, we had around 70 percent of the land in our hands. Right now, around 80 percent of the area is under our control,” Mohammed Naeem told Rudaw’s Bestoon Khalid. “Previously we had many areas under our control, just not the centers of the districts, but now we are slowly controlling the centers as well.”

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Full-throated they belt out songs of victory, their boots adding the drumbeat as ranks of new recruits jog in formation through their jungle training camp.

There’s no doubting the shining eyes of these young people united by an ideal — freedom from the junta that’s smothered democracy in Myanmar.

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Armed gunmen have murdered Haiti President Jovenel Moïse and severely wounded First Lady Martine Moïse in a coordinated attack on their home, marking the most high-profile act of violence to hit the Caribbean nation amid significant unrest recently.

Prime Minister Claude Joseph confirmed the targeted killing in a press release. The attackers - some of whom reportedly spoke English and Spanish - ambushed the president’s private residence in the capital city of Port-au-Prince in the early morning hours of July 7, shooting and killing him, while the first lady is in the hospital in critical condition.

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