Mosul assault in focus two years after Islamic State takeover
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – When Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi pledged in December that Iraq would retake Islamic State’s de facto capital Mosul by the end of 2016, the target was greeted with scepticism by Western allies and officials within his own governme…
American Dahlgren jailed for life for murdering Czech relatives
BRNO, Czech Republic (Reuters) – A Czech court sentenced U.S. citizen Kevin Dahlgren to life in prison on Wednesday for stabbing to death a family of four of his relatives whom he had been visiting in 2013.
Kerry, addressing donors, says momentum in Iraq has shifted
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The momentum in the fight against Islamic State has shifted and the militant group has been driven out of almost half the territory it once occupied in Iraq, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday.
Theresa May takes center stage in British parliament’s box-office show
LONDON (Reuters) – Taunting the opposition over women’s rights and a bitter leadership battle, new British premier Theresa May delighted her party at her first session of Prime Minister’s Questions with an assured performance that drew comparisons with…
Germany fears more ‘lone wolf’ attacks after train rampage
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany is likely to face more Islamist attacks, its interior minister said on Wednesday, but played down any link between the government’s open-door refugee policy and Monday’s ax assault on a train in Bavaria.
Anti-IS coalition has killed 20 operators plotting external attacks: Carter
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Wednesday the coalition fighting Islamic State had killed more than 20 of the militant group’s operatives who were conspiring to carry out external attacks.
Explosions hit Syrian town near Golan Heights
BEIRUT/AMMAN (Reuters) – Syrian rebels and a monitoring group said two explosions that struck a Syrian town near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Wednesday were caused by an Israeli air strike but Lebanon’s Hezbollah blamed rocket fire by al Qaeda…
Seeing no future, deserters and draft-dodgers flee Syria
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Nasser lifts another cigarette to his mouth with a scarred left hand, chain smoking and watching action films on a grainy TV at his friend’s flat in a Beirut suburb. Since deserting President Bashar al-Assad’s army he mostly avoids v…
Yemen explosion kills four soldiers: security forces
ADEN (Reuters) – A blast in the southern Yemeni city of Aden killed four soldiers and wounded six, the city’s security administration said, in an attack claimed by Islamic State.
Ukraine sees ulterior motives after car bomb kills journalist
KIEV (Reuters) – An award-winning journalist working for the online investigative website Ukrayinska Pravda was killed by a car bomb in central Kiev early on Wednesday morning, in what President Petro Poroshenko said was an attempt to destabilize Ukrai…
