By Tom Perry BEIRUT (Reuters) – With a string of victories over Islamic State, Syria’s Kurds are proving themselves an ever more dependable ally in the U.S.-led fight against the jihadists and building influence that will make them a force in Middle Eastern politics. Aided by U.S.-led air strikes, the Kurdish-led YPG militia may have dealt Islamic State its worst defeat to date in Syria by seizing the town of
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened the Geneva discussions on Monday calling for a humanitarian ceasefire with the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. U.N. envoy Ould Cheikh Ahmed began shuttling between rival delegations in “proximity talks”. As the talks began, a Yemeni news agency reported a raid on a school in central Yemen killed four women and a child.
The United States killed deputy leader of al Qaeda, Nasser al-Wuhayshi, in a strike in Yemen, U.S. officials told Reuters on Tuesday. Two of the officials said the White House would make an announcement on Wuhayshi shortly. Wuhayshi, a close associate of Osama bin Laden in the years before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, was once seen as a successor to al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri.
Turkey on Tuesday briefly detained four journalists covering the seizure by Kurdish forces of the Syrian border town of Tal Abyad, reportedly because they asked the local governor a tricky question on Islamic State (IS) militants. Hasan Akbas of the daily Evrensel, Cumhuriyet reporter Pinar Ogunc, Ozlem Topcu of German weekly Die Zeit and Deniz Yucel of German daily Die Welt were all detained, the reporters announced on Twitter.
By Francesco Guarascio LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – France, Italy and Germany agreed on Tuesday to join forces to identify migrants arriving by sea and to swiftly relocate them across the European Union or send them back to their home countries if their claims for asylum in Europe are rejected. Ministers from the three countries put on a show of unity after the arrival in Europe of thousands of migrants, who make
As the star of the hit show Chrisley Knows Best, Todd Chrisley has some advice when it comes to Father’s Day. “I always get the same gift from my kids every year, which is…
N’Djamena (AFP) – Scores of police and soldiers patrolled Chad’s capital N’Djamena on Tuesday, a day after twin suicide bombings blamed on Boko Haram jihadists killed 24 people and wounded more than 100 in the first such attacks in the city. The security forces had sealed off the area around the presidential palace, as well as the police headquarters — which was one of the bombers’ targets. Chad, which has
By Alana Wise NEW YORK (Reuters) – Real estate mogul and TV personality Donald Trump said on Tuesday he is a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. “I will be the greatest jobs president that God ever created,” Trump said in a launch speech at his Trump Tower skyscraper in Manhattan. Eleven Republicans have announced they are running for next November’s election, the latest being
The former NAACP leader who resigned as president of the organization’s Spokane, Wash., chapter after being accused of lying about her race says she identifies as an African-American.
The group confirms the death of its No. 2 figure and head of its powerful Yemeni affiliate.