Sleaze accusations return to haunt French election campaign
PARIS (Reuters) – The latest surprise in France’s presidential election campaign – allegations that the spouse of frontrunner Francois Fillon was paid well for work she did not do – is in a sense all too familiar.
Exclusive: Syria’s million-tonne Russian wheat deal in jeopardy
ABU DHABI/MOSCOW (Reuters) – A deal struck in October for Syria to buy one million tonnes of wheat from its ally Russia to prevent bread shortages in government-held areas has not been fulfilled and may never be, Syrian and Russian government sources s…
Russian, Turkish jets strike Islamic State in Syria: Ifax
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian and Turkish jets carried out air strikes on Islamic State targets near the Syrian town of al-Bab on Thursday, Interfax news agency cited the Russian Defence Ministry as saying.
Exchanging fire across the Tigris as battle for west Mosul looms
MOSUL (Reuters) – An Iraqi soldier stared patiently through a high-powered scope until he spotted a bulldozer across the Tigris River. He alerted his elite unit, which fired a missile with a boom so loud it blew a metal door behind the soldiers off its…
Turkey angered as Greece blocks extradition of soldiers over coup attempt
ATHENS/ANKARA (Reuters) – Greece’s Supreme Court ruled against the extradition of eight Turkish soldiers who fled to Greece in July after a failed coup attempt in Turkey, a decision which angered Ankara and further strained relations between the two n…
Egyptian rights lawyer says he’s banned from travel
CAIRO (Reuters) – A prominent Egyptian human rights lawyer said that airport security prevented him from boarding a flight to Jordan on Thursday and told him his name was on a travel ban list.
Facing jihadist attack, Syrian rebels join bigger faction
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham said on Thursday six other rebel factions had joined its ranks in northwestern Syria in order to fend off a major assault by a powerful jihadist group.
Proliferation of bird flu outbreaks raises risk of human pandemic
LONDON (Reuters) – The global spread of bird flu and the number of viral strains currently circulating and causing infections have reached unprecedented levels, raising the risk of a potential human outbreak, according to disease experts.
Even with new leader, Germany’s SPD will struggle to take power
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) may look reinvigorated with a new leader, Martin Schulz, set to take on conservative Angela Merkel in September’s election, but their chances of leading a left-wing coalition to oust the chancellor re…
UK government takes first step towards triggering Brexit
LONDON (Reuters) – Brexit minister David Davis began the process of passing a law that enables the government to trigger Britain’s exit from the European Union, saying on Thursday he expected the legislation to pass quickly.
