Islamic State under pressure in Iraqi and Syrian strongholds
MOSUL, Iraq/RAQQA, Syria (Reuters) – U.S.-backed Iraqi forces pressed Islamic State fighters holding out in Mosul’s Old City on Friday, while in Syria the militant group launched a counter-attack against an alliance of militias trying to oust it from i…
China sanguine as Trump-Xi ‘bromance’ sours over North Korea, Taiwan
BEIJING (Reuters) – China reacted relatively calmly on Friday after a series of diplomatic broadsides by the United States, expressing anger over new arms sales by Washington to Taiwan but hoping ties could soon be brought back on track.
Hungary’s Orban courts far-right voters ahead of 2018 vote
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban long proclaimed zero tolerance of anti-Semitism but has more recently risked angering Israel and Jewish people with remarks apparently courting radical right-wing voters ahead of 2018 elections…
Russia suspends payments to Council of Europe over Crimea row
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia has suspended payments to the Council of Europe for this year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday, retaliation for its delegation there being stripped of its voting rights.
India’s Modi heads to Israel, lifting the curtain on close ties
NEW DELHI/TEL AVIV (Reuters) – Narendra Modi is making a first visit to Israel by an Indian prime minister next week, in a public embrace of a country that he has long admired for its military and technical expertise but which his predecessors kept at …
Islamic State counter attack causes fierce clashes in Syria’s Raqqa
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Islamic State mounted a fierce counter-attack against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance of militias in the city of Raqqa on Friday, but there were divergent accounts of its success in regaining ground.
Sinn Fein urges British and Irish PMs to intervene in Northern Ireland deadlock
BELFAST (Reuters) – The prime ministers of Britain and Ireland should become “directly involved” in stalled talks between Northern Ireland’s political parties about restoring a power-sharing government, Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein said on Friday….
Putin extends Russian-counter sanctions until end of 2018
MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin has extended Russian counter-sanctions on the European Union until the end of 2018, according to a presidential decree published on Friday.
Ailing China dissident Liu’s ‘time limited’, says family member
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo’s “time is limited” due to a fluid build up around his stomach caused by liver scarring, a family member said, after authorities said Liu could not be moved abroad due to his illness.
China ‘outraged’ by $1.42 billion planned U.S. arms sales to Taiwan
BEIJING (Reuters) – China urged the United States to revoke immediately its “wrong decision” to sell Taiwan $1.42 billion worth of arms, saying it contradicted a “consensus” President Xi Jinping reached with his counterpart, Donald Trump, in talks in A…
