U.N. sees movement in Syria talks, U.S. weighing in
GENEVA (Reuters) – U.S. officials will join talks in Geneva later this month on forming a Syrian constitutional committee, U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura told reporters on Thursday, signaling movement in a process that had appeared at risk of stal…
Hungarian court sentences four men to 25 years in prison in death truck case
KECSKEMET, Hungary (Reuters) – A Hungarian court sentenced four members of a people-smuggling gang to 25 years in prison on Thursday for letting 71 men, women and children suffocate inside a truck in 2015 and dumping the truck with corpses at the side …
Greek opposition to file censure motion against PM over Macedonia deal
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s opposition New Democracy party will file a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in parliament over a deal to solve a decades-old name dispute with Macedonia, its leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thurs…
Italy and France try to patch up migrant row, draw papal rebuke
ROME (Reuters) – Italy and France tried to patch up a row over immigration on Thursday as Pope Francis urged politicians everywhere to work together on helping refugees and respect their dignity.
Jordan’s king approves new cabinet led by ex-World Bank economist
AMMAN (Reuters) – Jordan’s King Abdullah issued a decree on Thursday forming a new government led by a former World Bank economist and mandated to review a disputed tax system after widespread protests against IMF-driven austerity measures.
Deaths by Israeli fire darken Eid al-Fitr holiday in Gaza
GAZA (Reuters) – Israel’s killing of at least 125 Palestinians during protests at the Gaza border is casting a shadow in the enclave on its celebration of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
Israel has bombed Iranian-backed militias in Syria: Netanyahu
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has attacked Iranian-backed Shi’ite Muslim militias in Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday, casting such actions as potentially helping to stem a Syrian Sunni Muslim refugee exodus to Europe.
Japan eyes Kim-Abe summit but abductees’ families urge caution
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan is eyeing a meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, government sources said on Thursday, while the foreign minister said a summit would have to bring results on the issue of Japanese abduct…
Kremlin says its backing for Syrian de-escalation unrelated to World Cup
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Moscow’s backing for a de-escalation of hostilities in Syria was not specifically related to the World Cup, which Russia is hosting, and was something it had long advocated.
Civilians flee bombardment as Arab states pound Yemen port
ADEN (Reuters) – Arab warplanes and warships pounded Houthi positions in Yemen’s Hodeidah on Thursday as a Saudi-led alliance tried to seize the main port in the largest battle of a war that has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
