Fuel depot blaze in Ukraine under control; three firemen missing
Emergency services stopped a fuel depot fire outside Kiev from spreading on Tuesday, officials said, but the fate of three firemen missing after the blaze triggered a powerful explosion was unknown. “Firemen have the situation … under total control,” top security official Oleksander Turchynov said in a statement. There was no longer any threat of the blaze spreading and emergency services were putting out remaining fires in the depot, he
Islamic State militants have seized a power plant west of the Libyan city of Sirte which supplies central and western parts of the country with electricity, the group and a military source said on Tuesday. “The plant … was taken,” Islamic State said in a message on social media, adding that the capture of the plant meant that the militants had driven their enemies out of the entire city. Forces
Islamic State militants have seized a power plant west of the Libyan city of Sirte which supplies central and western parts of the country with electricity, the group and a military source said on Tuesday. “The plant … was taken,” Islamic State said in a message on social media, adding that the capture of the plant meant that the militants had driven their enemies out of the entire city. Forces
By Tom Perry and Suleiman Al-Khalidi BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) – Rebel fighters captured a major base from the Syrian army in the south of the country on Tuesday, rebels and a monitoring group said, a setback for President Bashar al-Assad reflecting the mounting pressure on him after recent losses elsewhere. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that monitors the war, said a nearby town and a village had
By Tom Perry and Suleiman Al-Khalidi BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) – Rebel fighters captured a major base from the Syrian army in the south of the country on Tuesday, rebels and a monitoring group said, a setback for President Bashar al-Assad reflecting the mounting pressure on him after recent losses elsewhere. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group that monitors the war, said a nearby town and a village had
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon voiced concern on Tuesday that Washington’s supply of advanced arms to Gulf Arab states to deter Iran could eventually challenge Israel’s U.S.-backed regional military supremacy. Setting the stage for talks later in the day with General Martin Dempsey, the head of the U.S. armed forces, Yaalon spoke at a security conference of a need to maintain Israel’s “qualitative edge” as it seeks increased defense grants from
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon voiced concern on Tuesday that Washington’s supply of advanced arms to Gulf Arab states to deter Iran could eventually challenge Israel’s U.S.-backed regional military supremacy. Setting the stage for talks later in the day with General Martin Dempsey, the head of the U.S. armed forces, Yaalon spoke at a security conference of a need to maintain Israel’s “qualitative edge” as it seeks increased defense grants from
By Orhan Coskun and Ercan Gurses ANKARA (Reuters) – Whether it teams up with the nationalist or secularist opposition, Turkey’s ruling AK Party must navigate the same obstacle in its search for a junior coalition partner: the ambition of President Tayyip Erdogan. Opposition leaders who could now enter government in a coalition have made clear they will not tolerate his meddling, suggesting the days of him hosting cabinet meetings in
By Orhan Coskun and Ercan Gurses ANKARA (Reuters) – Whether it teams up with the nationalist or secularist opposition, Turkey’s ruling AK Party must navigate the same obstacle in its search for a junior coalition partner: the ambition of President Tayyip Erdogan. Opposition leaders who could now enter government in a coalition have made clear they will not tolerate his meddling, suggesting the days of him hosting cabinet meetings in
Libya’s warring factions have reacted positively to a draft peace agreement, the UN envoy said Tuesday, as they head for talks in Berlin with world powers anxious for an end to the conflict. Libya descended into chaos after a 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed veteran dictator Moamer Kadhafi, with heavily armed former rebels carving out fiefdoms across the country. Bernardino Leon, chief of the United Nations Support Mission in
