New York: All 17 miners rescued from rural elevator shaft

Seventeen salt miners who had been trapped in an elevator shaft at an upstate New York mine have been rescued, officials said on 7 January and the mines owner said it would inspect the property to see what had caused the incident. Jan 7, 2016

Isis territory shrinks by 30% in Iraq and Syria

Islamic States (Isis) territory shrank by 40 percent from its maximum expansion in Iraq, and by 20 percent in Syria in 2015, as international forces pushed it out of several cities, the US-led coalition fighting it said on 5 January. Jan 6, 2016