Norway has taken exceptional security measures after being informed of a possible imminent "terrorist attack" by militants who have fought in Syria, the country's intelligence chief said Thursday.

An onslaught on a convoy transferring inmates north of Baghdad left at least 60 dead Thursday, even as politicians and diplomats stepped up efforts to end Iraq's worst crisis in years.

Most of those killed in Taji, 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of Baghdad, were prisoners whose escort was attacked and were described by police as being mostly Sunni militants charged with terrorism.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi lauded on Thursday the roadmap established by al-Mustaqbal leader Saad Hariri, calling on parties to abide by it.

Al-Rahi described in remarks published in al-Mustaqbal newspaper Hariri's initiative as “excellent,” pointing out that it “should be implemented.”

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced terrorism charges Wednesday against a 25-year-old Canadian for allegedly traveling to Syria to fight alongside Islamist fighters.

The charges against Hasibullah Yusufzai, 25, are the first ever laid against a Canadian under a new law passed last year that criminalized travel abroad for the purpose of terrorist activities.

Four rockets landed Wednesday evening in several northern Bekaa towns after being reportedly fired from the Eastern Mountain Range which straddles the Lebanese-Syrian border.

According to state-run National News Agency, the rockets hit the outskirts of the towns of al-Bzaliyeh, Hrabta and al-Labweh.

Damascus on Wednesday said it welcomes the nomination of Staffan de Mistura as new U.N. peace envoy, while demanding he show "objectivity and integrity" in pursuing his Syria mission.

The Italian-Swedish diplomat was on July 10 named to replace hugely respected Algerian Lakhdar Brahimi, who resigned in May after two frustrating rounds of peace talks between the regime and rebels ended in failure.

Six children from the same family were killed in an air strike by government forces on a village in the northern province of Aleppo, a monitoring group said Wednesday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, citing local residents, said three boys and three girls from the Muslim family died in Tuesday's raid on Wahshiyeh.

An Australian convert to Islam arrested in the Philippines for allegedly urging people to join "jihad" in Iraq and Syria was deported to his homeland Wednesday, but police said he would not be charged.

A corporal in the Lebanese army defected and joined the ranks of al-Nusra Front and released a video slamming the military as a Hizbullah tool.

“I am a soldier and I know the assault against the Sunni sect,” Corporal Atef Mohammed Saadeddine said in a Youtube video published on Jul 23, 2014.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat visited Beirut's Southern suburbs recently in a first-of-its-kind move after Hizbullah engaged in the war raging in the neighboring country Syria.

Jumblat visited Dahiyeh to offer condolences to Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's political adviser Hajj Hussein Khalil on the death of his mother, As Safir newspaper reported on Wednesday.