WASHINGTON: The United States on Tuesday welcomed the election of a long-time Texas resident as the Syrian rebel prime minister, voicing hopes he can foster "unity and cohesion among the opposition.

CHARDON, United States: A teenager was given three life sentences without parole Tuesday for opening fire last year in an Ohio high school cafeteria in a rampage that left three students dead and three others wounded.

KHARTOUM: Almost 1,000 South Sudanese left their squalid Khartoum camp to return home by convoy on Tuesday but there is little immediate hope for tens of thousands who remain, officials say.

BRUSSELS: The European Union signed an aid deal Tuesday with the Palestinian prime minister to bolster ties and promote economic development against a backdrop of a stalled peace process with Israel.

TUNIS: Tunisian troops clashed with Islamist militants near the border with Algeria on Tuesday, a security source said, in an area where the army is hunting Al-Qaeda-linked fighters.

CAIRO: An Egyptian security official says the military is investigating whether the Palestinian group Hamas is linked to a batch of confiscated fabric that could have been used to make counterfeit uniforms.

PARIS: Fifteen Islamist fighters have been killed in recent days in the northern Mali region of Gao, the French army said Tuesday, announcing the seizure of a large cache of arms and ammunition.