Syrian rebels counter Islamic State offensive

BEIRUT — Syrian rebels retook two villages from Islamic State militants Sunday as they fought to undo gains made by the extremist group in a surprise offensive days earlier, activists said.

Rebels retook the villages of Kafr Shoush and Braghida on Sunday, expanding their buffer around the rebel-held town of Azaz, home to tens of thousands of people displaced by war, according to the Local Coordination Committees, an activist network inside the country.

Islamic State militants took Syrian rebels by surprise on Sunday when they launched an offensive that threatened to seize Azaz and isolate Marea, another rebel-held town north of the contested city of Aleppo.

More than 160,000 civilians have been trapped by the fighting. The international medical organization Doctors Without Borders evacuated one of the few remaining hospitals in the area.

The rebel pocket around Azaz, which connects to the Turkish border, is surrounded by Islamic State militants to one side and the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces to the other. Syria's Turkish- and Saudi-backed rebels accuse the SDF of colluding with the government in the country's grinding civil war.

The Islamic State advance prompted a rare deal between the SDF and rebels Saturday, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group. It said that the rebels surrendered control of a village near Marea to an SDF division in exchange for allowing 6,000 civilians to evacuate to areas under Kurdish control.

Extremists kill 5 U.N. peacekeepers in Mali

BAMAKO, Mali — The United Nations mission in Mali says at least five Togolese peacekeepers have been killed in an attack by extremists in central Mali.

Radhia Achouri, spokeswoman for the mission, said another peacekeeper was injured in Sunday's attack about 20 miles west of Sevare on the road to Tenenkou.

A U.N. secretary-general special representative condemned the attack on the International Day of Peacekeepers, saying the killings amount to crimes against humanity.

Turkey leader criticizes U.S. for Syria presence

Turkey's president on Sunday criticized the United States, Russia and Iran for their presence in Syria.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “What business have Russia and Iran (in Syria)? What business do the U.S. soldiers dressed up with the so-called patches of a terror organization have there?”

He was referring to images showing American troops wearing the insignia of a militia in Syria that Turkey considers to be a terror organization because of links to Turkey's outlawed Kurdish rebels.

Israeli police could bring Sara Netanyahu to trial

JERUSALEM — Israeli media reported Sunday that a police investigation has recommended indicting the wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over misuse of state funds and inflated household spending.

Channel 2 TV, and other outlets, reported that police believe they have enough evidence to bring Sara Netanyahu to trial. In a statement, police offered few details.

Benjamin Netanyahu denied the allegations in a Facebook post.

Mexican police hunt for kidnapped soccer star

CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico — Federal and state forces mounted an operation Sunday to find kidnapped Mexican soccer star Alan Pulido, who was abducted in the crime-plagued northern border state of Tamaulipas.

Pulido, 25, is a forward for Olympiakos of Greece and was part of Mexico's 2014 World Cup team.

Reporters in the city saw an unusual deployment of troops and police in the streets, while at least two police or military-style helicopters flew overhead.

The Newsmaker

Pope Francis rules out an early retirement

Pope Francis says he has no intention of quitting. The pope, responding to a question at a Vatican event, said Sunday: “I never thought of quitting being pope or of leaving because of the many responsibilities.” The pope had previously said he envisioned a short papacy.

U.S. man charged in Paris attack on police

A 27-year-old American man has been given preliminary charges of attempted murder in a violent May 18 attack on police in their patrol car that drew national attention, the Paris prosecutor's office said Sunday.

The suspect is among five people given various preliminary charges in the incident, in which masked protesters were caught on video smashing and torching the car while two officers were inside.

The man has no fixed address and is in custody, authorities said.

Deaths in Yemen

69

?

The number of people killed in two days of fighting in Yemen between rebels and forces loyal to the internationally recognized government, according to Yemeni security officials on Sunday.

The officials said government-allied forces have taken control of several areas previously controlled by the rebels, known as the Houthis, between the central provinces of Marib and Shabwa.

Package explodes when N.Y. prison guard opens

A suspicious package left by a prison guard's mailbox exploded and seriously burned him when he opened it, authorities said Sunday as they worked to determine who sent it and why.

The 52-year-old officer was severely injured, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said, in an explosion that stunned the small central New York town of Floyd. Cuomo called the blast “horrific,” and local, state and federal agencies were investigating and trying to determine whether the blast was related to the victim's work.