Raqqa to be part of ‘federal Syria’, U.S.-backed militia says
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Raqqa will be part of a decentralized federal Syria now the city has been freed from Islamic State, the U.S.-backed militias that captured it said on Friday, tying its political future to Kurdish-led autonomy plans for northern Syria…
Lebanese court issues death sentence over 1982 Gemayel assassination
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s top court on Friday sentenced Habib Shartouni to death for the 1982 assassination of president-elect Bashir Gemayel, an event that was a turning point in Lebanon’s 15-year civil war.
Russian aerobatics team joins Serbian display of air power
BELGRADE (Reuters) – Russia’s elite aerobatic team zoomed over Serbia’s military airport on Friday as Belgrade exhibited its newest fighter jets in a display demonstrating close ties between the fellow Slavic, Orthodox Christian countries.
Having nuclear weapons ‘matter of life and death’ for North Korea: agency
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Pyongyang does not plan to hold any talks with Washington about its nuclear program, a senior North Korean diplomat said on Friday, declaring that possessing nuclear weapons was a matter of life and death for North Korea, the RIA new…
Suicide bomber kills at least 30 at mosque in Afghan capital Kabul
KABUL (Reuters) – A suicide bomber killed at least 30 people inside a Shi’ite mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul on Friday night, a security official said, the latest in a string of violent attacks on the country’s Shi’ite minority.
Irish student Ibrahim Halawa freed after four years in Egypt jail
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian authorities have released high-profile Irish detainee Ibrahim Halawa following his acquittal last month of charges including murder, in a four-year mass trial criticized by human rights groups.
Suicide bomber strikes mosque in Afghan capital Kabul: official
KABUL (Reuters) – A suicide bomber detonated his explosives inside a Shi’ite mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul on Friday night, a security official said.
Iran’s Guards flex muscle in Middle East despite Trump warning
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A week after U.S. President Donald Trump delivered a blistering speech about Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the most powerful military and economic force in the Islamic Republic has shown it has no intention of curbing its activities i…
Britain’s May wins Brexit reprieve, faces tough weeks ahead
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Theresa May won a modest reprieve in stalled Brexit talks on Friday, with European Union leaders signaling their readiness to move the negotiations forward in the coming months.
Spain plans new elections in Catalonia to end independence bid: opposition
MADRID (Reuters) – The Spanish government has secured opposition support for dissolving Catalonia’s parliament and holding new elections there in January in its bid to check the regional government’s push for independence.
