Rebels step up Aleppo offensive with three car bombs
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian insurgents stepped up a week-long offensive on government-held areas in the city of Aleppo on Thursday, detonating three car bombs and firing shells which killed at least a dozen civilians, state media and a monitor said.
Cabinet reshaped by Spain’s Rajoy draws strong opposition criticism
MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy brought six new ministers into his cabinet on Thursday but opposition leaders said his new team showed no sign of being open to the dialogue his minority government will need to survive.
U.S. envoy chides Malaysia’s Najib, says rhetoric sounded like Mahathir
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top U.S. diplomat for East Asia chided Malaysia’s prime minister on Thursday for reported comments critical of the West that “sounded a little bit more like” his predecessor Mahathir Mohamad, but said he did not see evidence …
UK court says Brexit needs parliament’s approval, complicates government plans
LONDON (Reuters) – A British court ruled on Thursday that the government needs parliamentary approval to start the process of leaving the European Union, potentially delaying Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit plans.
Amnesty can return to Moscow office after eviction: Russian rights official
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Amnesty International, a strong critic of Russia’s bombing campaign in Syria, will be able to return to its office in Moscow after being evicted for alleged non-payment of rent,
Syrian held in Germany got Islamic State instructions for attack: prosecutors
BERLIN (Reuters) – A Syrian man arrested in Berlin is suspected of belonging to Islamic State and having received IS instructions from Syria to carry out an attack in Germany, the Federal Prosecutor’s Office said on Thursday.
Ghost soldiers: the Russians secretly dying for the Kremlin in Syria
TOGLIATTI, Russia (Reuters) – The start of this year proved deadly for one unit of about 100 Russian fighters supporting President Bashar al-Assad’s troops in northern Syria.
Kurdish women fighters battle Islamic State with machineguns and songs
SAMAQA, Iraq (Reuters) – When Islamic State insurgents fired mortar bombs at Iranian Kurdish women fighters holding a desert position in northern Iraq, the women first hit back by singing through loudspeakers.
Russian dancer jailed for acid attack returns to Bolshoi for ballet classes
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A former dancer at Russia’s famous Bolshoi Theatre who was jailed for organizing an acid attack on his boss has been allowed to attend ballet classes at the theater, a Bolshoi spokeswoman said on Thursday.
Law alone cannot end child marriage in Tanzania: activist
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – An activist whose petition earlier this year triggered a Tanzanian high court ruling against child marriage said social transformation was needed to end the longstanding custom many families use as a “survival syst…
