Islamic State militants breached the security perimeter around Iraq’s largest refinery in Baiji early on Monday but were beaten back by security forces and coalition air strikes, local officials said. The refinery was under siege for five months after Islamic State militants tore through Iraq last summer. Security forces drove the militants out of the nearby town of Baiji in November.
By Gabriela Baczynska MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday paved the way for long-overdue missile system deliveries to Iran and Moscow started an oil-for-goods swap with Tehran, showing the Kremlin’s determination to boost economic ties with the Islamic Republic. The moves come after world powers, including Russia, reached an interim deal with Iran on curbing its nuclear programme and signal that Moscow may have a head-start in
By Gabriela Baczynska MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday paved the way for long-overdue missile system deliveries to Iran and Moscow started an oil-for-goods swap with Tehran, showing the Kremlin’s determination to boost economic ties with the Islamic Republic. The moves come after world powers, including Russia, reached an interim deal with Iran on curbing its nuclear programme and signal that Moscow may have a head-start in
By Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese authorities have unexpectedly decided to release three women activists, two lawyers said on Monday, after an unprecedented vocal campaign against their detention by the West and China’s rights community. Wei Tingting, 26, Wang Man, 32, Zheng Churan, 25, will be released on bail, Liang Xiaojun and Wang Qiushi, two lawyers involved in the case, told Reuters, citing accounts from family members. Their detention
By Sui-Lee Wee BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese authorities have unexpectedly decided to release three women activists, two lawyers said on Monday, after an unprecedented vocal campaign against their detention by the West and China’s rights community. Wei Tingting, 26, Wang Man, 32, Zheng Churan, 25, will be released on bail, Liang Xiaojun and Wang Qiushi, two lawyers involved in the case, told Reuters, citing accounts from family members. Their detention
By Raushan Nurshayeva ASTANA (Reuters) – Iran on Monday urged the formation of a new Yemeni government and offered to assist in a political transition, comments likely to anger Saudi Arabia, which is backing Yemen’s president against a rebel force allied with Iran. The Houthi advance towards the Yemeni city of Aden forced President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee to Riyadh last month and triggered a Saudi-led campaign of air
By Raushan Nurshayeva ASTANA (Reuters) – Iran on Monday urged the formation of a new Yemeni government and offered to assist in a political transition, comments likely to anger Saudi Arabia, which is backing Yemen’s president against a rebel force allied with Iran. The Houthi advance towards the Yemeni city of Aden forced President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee to Riyadh last month and triggered a Saudi-led campaign of air
By Mirwais Harooni KABUL (Reuters) – Dozens of Taliban fighters aided by foreign militants seized Afghan government checkpoints in a previously stable northeastern province, officials said on Monday as the annual spring fighting season began in the 13-year-old war. Afghan officials said government forces later took back the district of Jorm in Badakhshan province but said they need reinforcements from the central government in Kabul. Fighting this year is being
By Mirwais Harooni KABUL (Reuters) – Dozens of Taliban fighters aided by foreign militants seized Afghan government checkpoints in a previously stable northeastern province, officials said on Monday as the annual spring fighting season began in the 13-year-old war. Afghan officials said government forces later took back the district of Jorm in Badakhshan province but said they need reinforcements from the central government in Kabul. Fighting this year is being
By Adrian Croft BARCELONA (Reuters) – Europe, North Africa and the Middle East need to cooperate more to confront illegal immigration and “terrorist barbarism”, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Monday. Rajoy made the call at a meeting of foreign ministers from the 28 European Union countries and eight countries on the southern rim of the Mediterranean. The meeting comes as southern European countries such as Spain and Italy
