Islamic State

Secretary of Defense Ash Carter says the increase, which brings the American total to about 5,000, anticipates a major operation to retake the Islamic State-held city of Mosul.

The planned halt in hostilities began at sundown local time on Monday. Just hours before nightfall, President Bashar Assad said he intends to "reclaim every area" of Syria.

The U.S. went to war after Sept. 11 and has now been fighting for 15 years, the longest unbroken period in its history. Despite disappointing results, there's broad consensus it should continue.

Anjem Choudary was one of the U.K.'s most famous radical Islamic voices. But for years, police say, he carefully kept his public comments legally defensible. Then an oath in his name appeared online.

Abu Mohammed al-Adnani was in charge of propaganda and was one of the first to oppose coalition forces in Iraq. The Islamic State's semi-official news agency announced his death.

Using interviews and photos, the wire service has mapped the locations of 72 mass graves in territory once occupied by the Islamic State — including five at the foot of Iraq's Mount Sinjar.

The bombing struck the southern city of Aden, the temporary home of Yemen's government. An ISIS-affiliated news outlet says the attack targeted a military recruitment center.

Police say two other suspected militants were killed in the standoff. They say Tamim Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi-born Canadian, returned to the country in 2013 and supplied guns and arms to militants.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack that killed at least 54 people, but Turkish officials say the device used suggests the Islamic State.