Five-time major champion Phil Mickelson is among those tuning up this week at the PGA Tour’s St. Jude Classic in anticipation of the US Open next week. Mickelson, whose resume is still missing the US Open crown he has long coveted — and come heartbreakingly close to claiming — admits that he can’t help thinking about the chance that he could complete a career Grand Slam with a US Open
The militant group Islamic State said on Thursday it had blown up two warplanes at an air base it seized near the central Libyan city of Sirte. The Islamist rebel fighters seized Sirte’s military and civilian airport two weeks ago, expanding the area it controls by exploiting a security vacuum in oil-producer Libya, where two governments are vying for power. Forces loyal to a self-declared government that controls the capital
By Angus McDowall NAJRAN, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – After 11 weeks of air strikes that have failed to change the balance of power in Yemen, Saudi Arabia is running out of options to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s exiled government to Sanaa. Despite the destruction of much of their heavy weaponry, the Houthi militia and army forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh control most of the country’s populated
Three civilians and two Ukrainian soldiers were killed in eastern Ukraine within 24 hours up to midday on Thursday, Kiev’s military said, further eroding a four-month-old ceasefire in the separatist conflict. The truce brokered by the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France has stemmed large-scale fighting but regular skirmishes near Donetsk claim lives almost daily on both sides, and international monitors said they feared a bigger flare-up. The two
Iran’s envoy to the U.N. nuclear agency said on Thursday a final deal with six world powers to curb its atomic program in exchange for sanctions relief is possible before an end-June deadline. “If … our interlocutors … commit to the agreed parameters, reaching an agreement by the end of June is achievable,” Reza Najafi told reporters after a board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. When
By Shadia Nasralla VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran’s envoy to the U.N. nuclear agency declined on Thursday to commit to nuclear transparency measures that were part of a preliminary deal Tehran and world powers reached in April, deflecting U.S. demands to implement such provisions. The United States urged Iran to implement the so-called Additional Protocol, which allows more intrusive access to Iranian sites, and Code 3.1, which requires from Iran early
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S.-led coalition targeting Islamic State forces have launched 29 air strikes against the group since early on Wednesday, the Combined Joint Task Force leading the operations said in a statement on Thursday. The 16 air strikes in Syria and 13 in Iraq hit various Islamic State fighting positions, fighting units, vehicles, buildings and other targets, the task force said in the statement. For a Reuters map
The militant group Islamic State said on Thursday it had blown up two warplanes at an air base it seized near the central Libyan city of Sirte. The Islamist rebel fighters seized Sirte’s military and civilian airport two weeks ago, expanding the area it controls by exploiting a security vacuum in oil-producer Libya, where two governments are vying for power. Forces loyal to a self-declared government that controls the capital
By Angus McDowall NAJRAN, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – After 11 weeks of air strikes that have failed to change the balance of power in Yemen, Saudi Arabia is running out of options to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s exiled government to Sanaa. Despite the destruction of much of their heavy weaponry, the Houthi militia and army forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh control most of the country’s populated
Iran’s envoy to the U.N. nuclear agency said on Thursday a final deal with six world powers to curb its atomic program in exchange for sanctions relief is possible before an end-June deadline. “If … our interlocutors … commit to the agreed parameters, reaching an agreement by the end of June is achievable,” Reza Najafi told reporters after a board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. When