By Louis Charbonneau and John Irish VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran and six world powers appeared close to a deal on Monday to give Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for limits on its nuclear program, but Iranian officials said talks could run past their latest midnight deadline and success was not guaranteed. There were no concrete signs of a breakthrough as diplomats in Vienna continued to struggle over sticking points such
By Dominic Evans BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi troops and Shi’ite Muslim militia forces attacked Islamic State fighters on several fronts on Monday in Anbar, the country’s largest province, at the start of what is likely to be a long and fiercely contested offensive. A spokesman for the joint operations command said the campaign, which began at dawn, brought together the army, mainly Shi’ite Hashid Shaabi militias, special forces, police and
By Dominic Evans BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi troops and Shi’ite Muslim militia forces attacked Islamic State fighters on several fronts on Monday in Anbar, the country’s largest province, at the start of what is likely to be a long and fiercely contested offensive. A spokesman for the joint operations command said the campaign, which began at dawn, brought together the army, mainly Shi’ite Hashid Shaabi militias, special forces, police and
A third hearing in the trial of jailed Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian on espionage charges took place behind closed doors in Tehran on Monday, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported. The first and second hearings of Iranian-U.S. citizen Rezaian were held behind closed doors on May 26 and June 8 respectively at the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. Rezaian has been in Tehran’s Evin prison since his arrest in July
A third hearing in the trial of jailed Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian on espionage charges took place behind closed doors in Tehran on Monday, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported. The first and second hearings of Iranian-U.S. citizen Rezaian were held behind closed doors on May 26 and June 8 respectively at the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. Rezaian has been in Tehran’s Evin prison since his arrest in July
By Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s state media last month accused Wang Yu, the country’s most prominent female human rights lawyer, of “blabbering about the rule of law and human rights”. Wang has defended Wu Gan, an online free speech advocate, Li Tingting, a prominent rights activist, and Cao Shunli, an activist who died in detention after being denied medical treatment. In doing so, Wang became the focus of
By Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s state media last month accused Wang Yu, the country’s most prominent female human rights lawyer, of “blabbering about the rule of law and human rights”. Wang has defended Wu Gan, an online free speech advocate, Li Tingting, a prominent rights activist, and Cao Shunli, an activist who died in detention after being denied medical treatment. In doing so, Wang became the focus of
By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) – Poor intelligence and porous borders with Southeast Asia are stymieing China’s efforts to stop the flow of ethnic minority Uighur Muslims heading to Turkey, where China says many of them end up fighting for Islamists in Syria and Iraq. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Uighurs keen to escape strife in their far western Chinese homeland of Xinjiang have traveled clandestinely via Southeast Asia to Turkey.
By Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) – Poor intelligence and porous borders with Southeast Asia are stymieing China’s efforts to stop the flow of ethnic minority Uighur Muslims heading to Turkey, where China says many of them end up fighting for Islamists in Syria and Iraq. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Uighurs keen to escape strife in their far western Chinese homeland of Xinjiang have traveled clandestinely via Southeast Asia to Turkey.
By Margarita Antidze TBILISI (Reuters) – Georgia accused Russia on Monday of violating its sovereignty by placing border markers on the edge of the South Ossetia region, leaving part of an international oil pipeline in territory under Russian control. Tbilisi has not controlled South Ossetia or its fellow breakaway region of Abkhazia since fighting a brief war with Moscow in 2008. Russian troops have been installing barbed wire and fences
