Iraqi Kurdish forces launched a broad offensive on Wednesday aimed at recapturing areas near the Syrian border that have been held by the Islamic State group for months, officials said.

Among the goals is the Sinjar area, which was home to many members of the Yazidi minority before IS jihadists attacked in early August and forced most of them to flee.

Tunisians vote in the second round of a presidential election on Sunday, capping off four years of a sometimes chaotic transition since their country sparked the Arab Spring.

Incumbent Moncef Marzouki faces political veteran Beji Caid Essebsi in the vote -- the first time Tunisians will be allowed to freely elect their president since independence from France in 1956.

Swedish police have arrested two Egyptian men and a Lebanese woman for illegally transporting asylum seekers into the country aboard a private jet, the police said Tuesday.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale highlighted on Tuesday the international support for Lebanon in the security field and in coping with the burden of Syrian refugees.

He said: “With such broad support, there should be no question that the Lebanese can and should elect a president, away from foreign agendas or interference.”

Nearly 200 combatants on both sides were killed in 24 hours when the Syrian branch of Al-Qaida took two regime bases in Idlib province, a monitoring group said on Tuesday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is based in Britain but gleans its information from a wide network of activists and medics on the ground, said Al-Nusra Front attackers also captured more than 100 regime soldiers.

Seven people were arrested in Spain and Morocco on Tuesday for allegedly recruiting young women via the Internet to join the jihadist Islamic State group fighting in Iraq and Syria.

Ninette Kelley, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) representative in Lebanon, stressed on Tuesday that the United Nations is looking forward to a Lebanese plan that supports the refugees with the necessary humanitarian aid, in addition to the hosting communities.

“Lebanon has launched a seventh plan to support refugees and it is not only seeking humanitarian aid but also a development fund to help the country cope with difficult times it is passing through,” Kelley said in an interview with An Nahar newspaper.

Washington has reportedly warned the Lebanese army against cooperating with Hizbullah in its war against terrorism and takfiris, hinting that any cooperation could impact the U.S. aid to the military.

According to a report published in al-Akhbar newspaper on Tuesday, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy Matthew Spence, who visited Beirut last week, warned in his meetings with Lebanese officials, in particular with Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji, of cooperating with Hizbullah as an partner in the war against terror.

The front of the northeastern border town of Arsal and the various Syrian refugee encampments pose a danger to Lebanon, said a security source to As Safir newspaper on Tuesday.

It said that the encampments are a threat given the recent firing against a military helicopter, revealing that aerial footage confirm the existence of arms caches there.

One of the bouquets left on Tuesday in a sea of flowers at the site of the Sydney siege read "I will ride with you." It was as much a wholehearted message to Australia's Muslim community as to the incident's victims.

Those words are the theme of a Twitter campaign of solidarity, offering to accompany any Muslims who fear venturing onto public transport at this time, in case of a public backlash after Monday's deadly cafe siege by an Iranian-born extremist.