By Mohammed Ghobari SANAA (Reuters) – Air strikes by a Saudi-led force hit military bases across Yemen on Friday, residents told Reuters, and the country’s foreign minister was quoted as saying there was no need to convene another peace summit after the first round of talks failed. Talks in Geneva last week ended without a resolution to the conflict, which has claimed more than 2,800 lives, as the Iran-allied Houthi
By Tom Perry and Sylvia Westall BEIRUT (Reuters) – Islamic State fighters launched simultaneous attacks against the Syrian government forces and Kurdish militia, moving back onto the offensive after losing ground in recent days to Kurdish-led forces near the capital of their “caliphate”. After losses to the Kurds backed by U.S.-led air strikes, Islamic State sought to retake the initiative with incursions into the Kurdish-held town of Kobani at the
By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As talks on an Iran nuclear deal enter the final stretch, U.S. lawmakers are sharpening warnings against a “weak” agreement and laying down red lines that, if crossed, could prompt Congress to trip up a carefully crafted international pact. Several influential lawmakers said they do not want to see any sanctions lifted before Tehran begins complying with a deal, and want a tough verification
By Adrian Croft and Phil Stewart BRUSSELS (Reuters) – NATO’s head warned on Thursday of a risk of a return to heavy fighting in Ukraine but said it would be unwise to declare a ceasefire agreement dead, despite repeated violations, because it remained the best hope for peace. “The conflict in Ukraine has already cost over 6,000 lives.
By Louis Charbonneau and Parisa Hafezi VIENNA (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry telephoned Iran’s foreign minister in recent days to tell him that Tehran must answer questions about whether its past atomic research was arms-related if it wants a nuclear deal, officials said. The telephone calls came after Kerry raised eyebrows among some Western officials by saying the U.S. was “not fixated” on any past Iranian work,
Islamic State militants detonated a car bomb and then opened fire on Iraqi troops in the western province of Anbar on Thursday, killing 14 soldiers, security sources said. Iraqi government forces and their Shi’ite militia allies are hoping to recapture Anbar’s provincial capital Ramadi, which was seized by the ultra-hardline Sunni insurgents last month. Islamic State swept through northern Iraq last year and has since taken control of a third
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are edging higher in midday trading as investors were encouraged by a big jump in U.S. consumer spending last month.
Norway’s government proposed on Thursday that children as young as seven should be allowed to change their legal gender with parental support, among the lowest ages in the world for transgender rights. “Today’s rules in this area are unacceptable and have been unchanged for almost 60 years,” Health Minister Bent Hoie said in a statement on the plan, to be debated by experts before any formal bill goes to parliament.
By John Irish and Elizabeth Pineau PARIS (Reuters) – France summoned the U.S. ambassador on Wednesday to explain allegations by transparency lobby group WikiLeaks of what President Francois Hollande branded “unacceptable” spying on successive French leaders. The latest revelations of espionage among Western allies come after it emerged the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) had spied on Germany and that Germany’s own BND intelligence agency had cooperated with the NSA
By Adrian Croft and Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The head of NATO said on Wednesday the alliance would not be forced into a new arms race with Russia but that what he called Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine had compelled it to strengthen its defenses. The United States announced plans this week to station tanks and heavy weapons in NATO member states on Russia’s border, shortly after President Vladimir Putin