By Tom Perry, Mariam Karouny and Laila Bassam BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Syrian army made big advances against insurgents in mountains north of Damascus on Wednesday, Hezbollah and Syrian state media said, shoring up President Bashar al-Assad’s grip on a crucial border zone. The gains in the Qalamoun region close to Lebanon against groups including the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front come at a time when Assad has
Iraq’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday the second most senior member of Islamic State had been killed in a coalition air strike on a mosque where he was meeting with other militants in the north of the country. “Based on accurate intelligence, an air strike by the coalition forces targeted the second in command of IS, Abu Alaa al-Afari,” the ministry said in a statement on its website. Abu Alaa
By Syed Raza Hassan KARACHI, Pakistan (Reuters) – Gunmen on motorcycles boarded a bus and opened fire on commuters in Pakistan’s volatile southern city of Karachi on Wednesday, killing at least 43, police said, and militants affiliated with Islamic State claimed responsibility. Police Superintendent Najib Khan told Reuters there were six gunmen and that all the passengers were Ismailis, a minority Shi’ite Muslim sect. Pakistan is mostly Sunni. Militant group
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama welcomed Saudi Arabian leaders to the White House for discussions on his overtures to Iran.
BEIJING (AP) — China on Wednesday expressed “serious concern” about reports that the U.S. is considering sending military ships and planes to challenge Chinese claims to islands it is building in the South China Sea, and said it would resolutely defend what it considered its sovereign territory.
Unbeaten Andy Murray kept his clay-court purple patch alive on Wednesday, defeating Jeremy Chardy 6-4, 6-3 to reach the third round of the Italian Open. Murray now has a dominating 10-0 start on the dirt as he competes at the Foro Italico after making a late decision to see how his body had held up after his stunning Madrid Open win on Sunday over Rafael Nadal. Nadal, his seeding down
U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he would discuss with Saudi Arabia’s visiting leaders how to build on a ceasefire in Yemen and praised the country for being a critical U.S. ally in the fight against Islamic State militants. Obama made the remarks at the start of a meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office, ahead
By Krista Mahr and Ross Adkin SANGACHOWK, Nepal (Reuters) – A 7.3 magnitude earthquake killed at least 37 people and spread panic in Nepal on Tuesday, bringing down buildings already weakened by a devastating tremor less than three weeks ago and unleashing landslides in Himalayan valleys near Mount Everest. Most of the reported fatalities were in villages to the east of Kathmandu, only just beginning to pick up the pieces
By Mohammed Ghobari and Mohammed Mukhashaf CAIRO/ADEN (Reuters) – Saudi-led air strikes pounded the rebel-held Yemeni capital Sanaa on Tuesday just hours before a five-day humanitarian ceasefire was set to begin. Looking to prepare for the truce and jumpstart stalled political talks among Yemen’s civil war factions, the new U.N. envoy to the country arrived in Sanaa, saying fighting would not resolve a conflict that crosses ethnic and religious faultlines.
By Arshad Mohammed and Denis Dyomkin SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to probe Russia’s willingness to curb its involvement in Ukraine and its backing of Syria’s president. Kerry met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for more than four hours before he sat down with Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in what was the highest-level U.S. visit