Of the new framework accord with Iran over its nuclear program, President Barack Obama said he hopes "that we can conclude this diplomatic arrangement - and that it ushers a new era in U.S.-Iranian relations - and, just as importantly, over time, a new era in Iranian relations with its neighbors."
Turkey green lights Azeri pipeline;
Saudi airstrikes in Yemen ahead of ground op;
Assad says ISIS still expanding;
Syrian rebels capture key town;
Egypt lists brotherhood figures as terrorists
Europeans join new Chinese-led multilateral bank;
Three new Free Trade Zones approved
38 countries to send military personnel to India for training;
Indian, Chinese officials discuss border dispute;
U.S. airstrike kills senior Pakistani Taliban commander;
Hazara seek Taliban protection;
Ghani nominates 16 ministers to round out cabinet
At first glance, Grozny seems like an odd place for a gathering of the world's best fighters. The capital of Russia's restive Chechen Republic, Grozny is in a better place today than it was in the 1990s and early 2000s, when it was ground zero for two brutal wars between Islamist insurgents and the Russian state. But the city, like the region it inhabits, still ranks high on the misery index. Despite a major rebuilding effort on the part of the government, Chechnya's unemployment and poverty rates are among the highest in the Russian Federation, and the region has emerged as a significant source of angry young men who have traveled to the Middle East to join the ranks of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham.