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By Orhan Coskun and Ercan Gurses ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey faced the prospect of weeks of political turmoil after the ruling AK Party lost its parliamentary majority in weekend polls, dealing a blow to President Tayyip Erdogan’s ambitions to acquire sweeping new powers. Instead of the two-thirds majority he had wanted to change the constitution and create a new presidential republic, the AK Party, while remaining the biggest party, failed
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A Syrian army air strike killed 49 people in Idlib province in northwest Syria on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. The Britain-based monitoring group, which gathers information from sources inside Syria, said the raid was on the town of al-Janudiyah and the dead included six children and four women. Syrian officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The Observatory said the death toll
KRUEN, Germany (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack said on Monday he was confident Islamic State militants would be driven out of Iraq and defeated but there would be setbacks along the way. In a meeting with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi at the G7 summit in Germany, Obama said the militants’ success in Ramadi would be a short-term tactical one. Abadi urged the international community to help prevent the group, also
By Shadia Nasralla VIENNA (Reuters) – Any possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear past can be clarified if the details of a preliminary deal sealed in April between Tehran and six world powers are implemented, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Monday. Iran has been stalling an investigation by the International Atomic Energy Agency into its nuclear program. The investigation is running in parallel with political talks
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s one-year tenure in office has witnessed human rights abuses and an escalation in violence by armed groups and the government, Human Rights Watch said on Monday. The New York-based rights group called on Western governments to stop overlooking government abuses that it said included mass detentions, military trials for civilians and mass death sentences. “The al-Sisi government is acting as though to restore stability Egypt
War-torn Syria has asked the UN atomic watchdog for help in converting a nuclear facility and shipping abroad potentially dangerous nuclear material, the head of the watchdog said Monday. “We have received a request from Syria early this year… We are studying the request,” International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano told reporters. The assistance would entail converting a small reactor near Damascus so that it can be fuelled with
A foul-mouthed rancher nicknamed “El Bronco” shook up Mexico’s midterm elections, riding a wave of discontent with political parties to become the first independent to win a governorship. The victory of Jaime Rodriguez Calderon in the industrial northern state of Nuevo Leon was the biggest surprise in Sunday’s elections for the lower chamber of Congress, hundreds of mayors and nine governors. “Nuevo Leon will be the beginning of a second
U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday that Russian forces continue to operate in eastern Ukraine despite Moscow’s denials and the world’s major industrial democracies stood ready to impose significantly tougher sanctions if necessary. Obama told a news conference after a Group of Seven industrial nations’ summit in Germany that existing sanctions would remain in place until Moscow and Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine fully respected a ceasefire agreement negotiated
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s new list of parties that kill or injure children in armed conflict does not include Israel, as some U.N. officials had recommended.
The Supreme Court struck down a disputed law Monday that would have allowed Americans born in Jerusalem to list their birthplace as Israel on their U.S. passports in an important ruling that underscores the president’s authority in foreign affairs.
