Biden calls Russia biggest threat to international order
DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, in his last major speech before leaving office, described Russia on Wednesday as the biggest threat to the international liberal order and said Washington must work with Europe to stand up t…
In northern Aleppo, children return to school used as Islamic State prison
AL-RAI, Syria (Reuters) – Sifting through ripped up textbooks and writing on broken whiteboards, Syrian children returned this week to a dilapidated small-town school that was used by Islamic State militants as a prison for more than two years.
Indonesian police question Islamist leader as authorities warn over extremism
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian police on Wednesday said they were investigating whether the controversial leader of a hardline Islamist group insulted the country’s secular state ideology, as concern grows over the clout of fundamentalist groups.
As caliphate crumbles, Islamic State lashes out in Iraq
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Two days after Iraqi forces launched a new push against Islamic State in Mosul, bomb blasts ripped through a marketplace in central Baghdad – the start of a spate of attacks that appear to signal a shift in tactics by the Islamist g…
EU ‘not hostile’ but sees ‘very, very, very’ difficult Brexit talks
STRASBOURG (Reuters) – European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Wednesday he told Prime Minister Theresa May that EU negotiators were “not in a hostile mood” toward Britain but that Brexit talks would be “very, very, very” difficult.
Norway still violating killer Breivik’s human rights -lawyer
OSLO (Reuters) – Norway is still violating the human rights of mass killer Anders Behring Breivik despite some easing of his near-isolation in jail since he massacred 77 people in 2011, his lawyer told a court on Wednesday at the end of a case about hi…
Whistleblower Snowden can apply for Russian passport next year: RIA cites lawyer
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden has been allowed to remain in Russia for another three years and will next year qualify to apply for Russian citizenship, his Russian lawyer was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
China urges U.S. to bar Taiwan delegation from Trump inauguration
BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) – The United States should not allow a delegation from Taiwan to attend U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, raising a new bone of contention in Beijing’s relations with …
Germany set for federal election on Sept 24, Merkel seeks fourth term
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany looks set to hold its federal election on Sunday 24 September, with Chancellor Angela Merkel seeking a fourth term in office and the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party expected to enter the national parliament for t…
Philippines’ Duterte says won’t declare martial law, but can if wants to
MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday appeared to rule out declaring martial law, but said he could do so if he wished, and anyone questioning his justification should “shut up” and stay out of his business.
