Arab states seek to step up pressure on Qatar over 2013 accord
DUBAI (Reuters) – Four Arab states sought on Monday to pile pressure on Qatar over charges it backs terrorism, saying the publication of a previously secret accord between Riyadh and Doha showed Qatar broke a promise not to meddle in the affairs of Gul…
Outsider Gabbai wins Israeli Labour Party leadership contest
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Outsider Avi Gabbai was elected chairman of Israel’s opposition Labour party on Monday by beating veteran Amir Peretz, a former defense minister and labor union chief, in a leadership runoff.
Rapporteur asks Brazil lower house committee to accept charge against Temer
BRASILIA (Reuters) – The rapporteur for a Brazilian lower house committee examining a corruption charge against President Michel Temer recommended on Monday that the body vote to put Temer on trial.
Tough road ahead, even as IS grip on Mosul and Raqqa falters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – With Islamic State all but ejected from one if its former capitals and surrounded in the other, members of a 72-nation coalition meet in Washington this week to try to ensure the battlefield victories do not, once again, evapora…
PR specialist says set up meeting between Trump’s son, Russian lawyer at a client’s request
(Reuters) – The public relations specialist who arranged a meeting last year between President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and a Russian attorney said on Monday he did so at the request of singer-songwriter-businessman Emin Agalarov, a Moscow…
U.S. aims for U.N. vote on North Korea sanctions within weeks: diplomats
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley aims to put to a vote within weeks a U.N. Security Council resolution to impose stronger sanctions on North Korea over its long-range ballistic missile test, said sev…
U.S. deploys advanced anti-aircraft missiles in Baltics for first time
VILNIUS (Reuters) – The United States deployed a battery of Patriot long-range anti-aircraft missiles in Lithuania to be used in NATO wargames from Tuesday – the first time the advanced defense system has been brought to the Baltics where Russia has ai…
Japan calls on Russia to take bigger role on North Korean threat
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Japan and its international allies will push for Russia to do more to rein North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, a Japanese official said during a visit to Denmark on Monday.
U.N. lauds U.S.-Russian truce in Syria, but warns on partition risk
GENEVA (Reuters) – Agreements to de-escalate the fighting in Syria could simplify the conflict and help to stabilise the country, but such accords must be an interim measure and avoid partition, U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura told a news conference on M…
Syrian army, militias attack rebels in southeast desert
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian troops and Iranian-backed militias launched an assault on Bedouin villages in southeast Syria on Monday to consolidate control of a swathe of desert stretching to the Iraqi border, Western-backed rebels said.
