US forces shoot down armed drone in Syria

AMMAN/WASHINGTON • The US military said it has shot down an armed, Iranian-made drone that had been bearing down on its forces near a garrison in Syria's south-east, in the latest sign of increasingly frequent confrontation with Damascus and its allies.

The Pentagon said a US F-15 aircraft flying over Syrian territory fired on the drone on Tuesday after it displayed hostile intent and advanced on coalition forces. On Sunday, the US downed a piloted Syrian Army jet in the southern Raqqa countryside after it dropped bombs near US-backed forces.

REUTERS

Man jailed for dangling child from 15th storey

ALGIERS • A man has been sentenced to two years' jail by an Algerian court for dangling a child from the 15th floor to get Facebook "likes".

The unnamed man posted a photo of himself holding the child out of a window in a high-rise building with the caption: "1,000 likes or I drop him", BBC reported.

He was arrested on Sunday and charged with endangering the baby's safety. The man, a relative of the child, claimed he was on a balcony with protective barriers. He said the photo had been altered by social media users but the judge ruled against him on Monday.