Republicans who control the U.S. House of Representatives are weighing the possibility of abandoning a disapproval resolution for the Iran nuclear deal, as doubts grow that the legislation has enough votes to even clear a procedural hurdle, a Republican leadership aide said on Wednesday. The House was on a path to vote later on Wednesday on the rule for debating the measure, a procedural step that would have cleared the
By Omar Fahmy CAIRO (Reuters) – Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri dismissed Islamic State and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as illegitimate but said his followers would join them in fighting the Western-led coalition in Iraq and Syria if possible. In an audiotape on the internet, Zawahri said: “We don’t recognize this caliphate.” It was not clear when the recording was made but references to events suggest it was made
By John Davison BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanese security services locked down central Beirut on Wednesday as ministers and parliamentarians met to discuss ways out of a political crisis that has paralyzed government and fueled a wave of street protests. Activists mobilizing against government failures, including a rubbish disposal crisis that has allowed garbage to pile up in Beirut, gathered for protests but were kept away from government buildings by soldiers
By Kylie MacLellan and William James LONDON (Reuters) – Britain could accept Syrian President Bashar al-Assad staying in place for a transition period if it helped resolve the country’s conflict, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Wednesday, in what appeared to be a softening of tone on the Syrian leader. Britain, along with other Western countries, has repeatedly called for Assad to go, saying it is a precondition for bringing
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose in midday trading on optimism that policymakers in Asia will do more to help boost growth in the region. Japan’s stock market logged its biggest gain in almost seven years after comments from the country’s prime minister raised expectations of more measures to shore up economic growth. China’s No. 2 leader said that the nation had no plans to devalue its currency further
MOSCOW (AP) — Iran has granted permission for Russian planes to fly over its territory en route to Syria, Russian news agencies reported Wednesday, a bypass needed after Bulgaria refused overflights amid signs of a Russian military buildup in Syria.
By Paul Carrel and Georgina Prodhan BERLIN/MUNICH (Reuters) – Germany told its European partners they must take in more refugees on Monday as it struggles to cope with record numbers of asylum seekers and as police in Hungary used pepper spray on migrants who broke out of a reception center at the border. Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking after a weekend in which 20,000 migrants entered Germany from Hungary by train,
Kurdish militants killed 14 police officers in a bomb attack on a minibus in a Turkish province bordering Armenia and Iran on Tuesday, a government official told Reuters, widening a conflict with the Turkish state. More than 40 Turkish warplanes hit Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets overnight in northern Iraq, where the group has bases, in response to Sunday’s killing of 16 soldiers near the Iraqi border, the deadliest attack
A Saudi-led alliance launched more air strikes on Yemen’s capital and more foreign troops were reported to be moving into the country as the campaign to rout Houthi forces intensified. The Houthi-run state news agency Saba said that 15 citizens were killed and 77 were wounded in the attacks by warplanes on Sanaa. The alliance, made up mainly of Gulf Arab countries, has increased air strikes on Sanaa and other
By Paul Carrel and Georgina Prodhan BERLIN/MUNICH (Reuters) – Struggling to cope with a record influx of asylum seekers, Germany told its European partners on Monday they must take in more refugees too, saying the burden could not fall on just a few countries. Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking after a weekend in which 20,000 migrants made their way to Germany from Hungary by train, bus and on foot, described the