By Luke Baker and Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) – With a deal on Iran’s nuclear program drawing near, Israel is beginning to look at what comes afterwards and how best to position itself for the longer term. Publicly, Israeli officials have not given up trying to influence what appear to be the closing stages of negotiations, although gaps could persist beyond an end-June deadline. Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, Prime Minister
The United States called for a “greater commitment” from Iraq’s government on Wednesday in the fight against Islamic State as it lamented Baghdad’s failure to deliver enough soldiers for training and underscored the need to empower Sunni tribesmen. “As I’ve told Iraqi leaders, while the United States is open to supporting Iraq more than we already are, we must see a greater commitment from all parts of the Iraqi government,”
The Palestinian unity government resigned on Wednesday in a deepening rift with Gaza as the blockaded territory’s de facto rulers Hamas held separate, indirect talks with Israel. An aide to president Mahmud Abbas said prime minister Rami Hamdallah “handed his resignation to Abbas”, but confusion reigned over when the government was likely to dissolve. It was also unclear what the next cabinet might look like, reflecting the chaotic period for
CAIRO (AP) — The Associated Press has named award-winning photographer Muhammed Muheisen, frequently honored for his striking photos of people in their everyday environment, as its chief photographer for the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
ALDEBURGH, England (AP) — English rider Lizzie Armitstead has been taken to a hospital after crashing while celebrating winning the first stage of the Women’s Tour of Britain.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The effort to train Iraqi forces to fight Islamic State militants has been slowed by a lack of recruits and the U.S. will not meet its goal to train 24,000 by this fall, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday.
The former NAACP leader at the center of a controversy surrounding her race says she cried when reading about the transgender former Olympian’s transition.
Russia does not want to enter a costly new arms race with the United States, a top Kremlin aide said Wednesday, after President Vladimir Putin said it was boosting its nuclear arsenal. “Russia is trying to react to possible threats with some sort of means but that’s it,” Yury Ushakov, Putin’s top foreign policy aide, told a briefing. “We are against any arms race because it naturally weakens our economic
After more than 1,200 tips from the public, authorities on Wednesday expanded a manhunt for two killers whose brazen escape from an upstate New York prison was discovered 12 days ago. State police reopened Route 374, a main road from the maximum-security Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, to Plattsburgh, which had been closed since police sniffer dogs picked up the scent of Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat,
