U.S., EU to meet on airline security on Wednesday: EU Commission
BRUSSELS/PARIS (Reuters) – European Union and U.S. officials will meet on Wednesday to discuss airline security, including a possible extension of a ban on passengers carrying laptops in aircraft cabins, a European Commission spokesman said.
Iraqi forces push for Mosul victory before Ramadan
MOSUL/BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi forces battled to retake districts of western Mosul still under Islamic State control on Monday, in an attempt to seize victory before the holy month of Ramadan.
Air strikes target Islamic State in eastern Syria, kill 23 – monitor
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Dawn air strikes on a Syrian border town in the Islamic State-held eastern province of Deir al-Zor killed 23 people, most of them civilians, a war monitoring group said on Monday.
Austrian parties move toward October date for snap election
VIENNA (Reuters) – The leaders of Austria’s political parties on Monday moved toward setting an October date for a snap parliamentary election, with the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) hoping to capitalize on its lead in opinion polls.
Iranian opposition figure Karoubi to vote for Rouhani in election
LONDON (Reuters) – Iranian opposition figure Mehdi Karroubi, under house arrest since 2011, will back President Hassan Rouhani’s bid for a second term in Friday’s election, his family told Reuters.
In marginalized south Tunisia, unrest over gas tests government
KAMOUR, Tunisia (Reuters) – In Tatatouine province in Tunisia’s southern Sahara, around 1,000 protesters living in a makeshift campsite are threatening to blockade roads used by foreign companies to access nearby gas and oilfields.
Behind China’s Silk Road vision: cheap funds, heavy debt, growing risk
BEIJING (Reuters) – Behind China’s trillion-dollar effort to build a modern Silk Road is a lending program of unprecedented breadth, one that will help build ports, roads and rail links, but could also leave some banks and many countries with quite a h…
Italian police make arrests, accuse mafia of profiting from migrants
ROME (Reuters) – Italian mafia have infiltrated one of Europe’s largest reception centers for migrants, creaming off state funds that were earmarked for the care of new arrivals, prosecutors said on Monday.
First liberal rule in decade unlikely to bring swift changes in South Korea
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s new liberal President Moon Jae-in promised to seek a parliamentary review of a controversial U.S. anti-missile defense system. If the vote were held today, the deployment would likely be endorsed in the legislative body …
Putin says Russia sees no need to arm Syrian Kurds
BEIJING (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russia saw no need to arm the Syrian Kurds, but said Moscow would maintain working contacts with them.
