Iraqi forces battle to Mosul mosque, 17 killed in Baghdad
MOSUL (Reuters) – Iraqi special forces and police fought Islamic State militants to edge closer to the al-Nuri mosque in western Mosul on Wednesday, tightening their control around the landmark site and in Baghdad a suicide truck bomb killed at least 1…
Exclusive: Thai junta seeks law to bring more order to Buddhism
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s military government is working on a law to help regulate Buddhism, officials say, giving the junta far more say over a pillar of Thai society that has so far eluded its control.
Exclusive: Malaysia inspects North Korean coal ship for possible U.N. sanctions breach
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia briefly prevented a North Korean ship carrying coal from entering its port in Penang because of a suspected breach of United Nations sanctions, a port worker and Malaysian maritime officials told Reuters on Wednesday
China still committed to Paris climate change deal: foreign ministry
BEIJING (Reuters) – China is still committed to the Paris climate change accord agreed in 2015, foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Wednesday after U.S. President Donald Trump signed overnight an order to dismantle Obama-era climate change regul…
Turkey to discuss Syria, Gulen with U.S.’s Tillerson: foreign minister
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey will discuss Syria and the extradition of U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed for a failed coup last July, with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson when he visits Ankara this week, Turkey’s foreign minister s…
Syria deal to evacuate Shi’ites and Sunnis from towns: source, Observatory
BEIRUT (Reuters) – The Shi’ite populations of two pro-Syrian government towns are to be evacuated in exchange for the evacuation of Sunni rebels and their families from two opposition-held towns in a mediated deal between the warring sides, a pro-gover…
French Socialist candidate livid as ex-PM Valls defects to Macron
PARIS (Reuters) – Former Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Wednesday he would vote for Emmanuel Macron in France’s presidential election, becoming the biggest Socialist Party name to turn his back on its official candidate and support the centrist in…
Silk roads and chilled beef: how China is trying to fill a Trump vacuum in Australia
SYDNEY (Reuters) – It was almost a major faux pas in sports-mad Australia – Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived at an Australian Rules football match in Sydney wearing the blue, black and white scarf of interstate rival Port Adelaide Power.
Polish consulate attacked in Ukrainian town: media
KIEV (Reuters) – Unidentified attackers have struck the Polish consulate in the western Ukrainian town of Lutsk, damaging the roof and windows, local media said on Wednesday, citing witnesses.
German SPD closing on Merkel’s conservatives, AfD at lowest since November 2015: poll
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s center-left Social Democrats (SPD) narrowed the gap with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives, a weekly poll showed on Wednesday, less than six months before a federal election in Europe’s biggest economy.
