Iraq’s Abadi keeps Iran at arm’s length in war on Islamic State
BAGHDAD (Reuters)- – As fighting in Iraq raged last summer, Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani came across unexpected opposition to his plans to defeat Islamic State.
Fiji super cyclone kills five, raises fears of health crisis
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Downed power lines and flooding are hampering relief efforts in Fiji after one of the most powerful storms recorded in the southern hemisphere tore through the Pacific island nation, flattening remote villages and killing at least fi…
Moderates could gain influence over choice of next leader in Iran vote
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Iran’s Assembly of Experts, made up mostly of elderly clerics, has not mattered much for years. The body’s main task is choosing Iran’s supreme leader, but that job has not come vacant since 1989.
Thousands in Japan rally against U.S. base on Okinawa
TOKYO (Reuters) – Thousands of people surrounded Japan’s parliament on Sunday to protest against government plans to relocate a U.S. military base on Okinawa island, local media reported.
U.N. under pressure to show it can help end Burundi violence
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – When U.N. Security Council envoys flew to Burundi in January to try to end months of violence, the central African country’s leader flatly rejected their offer of help and hundreds protested against what they saw as meddling….
Egypt jails author for two years over sexually explicit novel
CAIRO (Reuters) – An Egyptian court has sentenced an author to two years in jail for public indecency after excerpts of his sexually explicit novel were published in a literary newspaper.
After winning EU deal, Britain’s Cameron faces harder battle
LONDON (Reuters) – When Prime Minister David Cameron sealed a deal designed to keep Britain in the European Union after two days of talks in Brussels, his relief was short-lived.
Paracels build-up a pointer to China’s broader South China Sea ambitions
HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) – From listening posts to jet fighter deployments and now surface-to-air missiles, China’s expanding facilities in the Paracel Islands are a signal of long-term plans to strengthen its military reach across the disputed Sout…
U.S. Air Force drone crashes in southern Afghanistan
KABUL (Reuters) – An unmanned American aircraft crashed at an airfield in southern Afghanistan less than three months after an identical drone went down in November, a U.S. Air Force spokesman said on Sunday.
Infant refugee at center of Australian hospital protest gets reprieve
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia said on Sunday a baby girl facing repatriation to an offshore immigration detention camp would go to an onshore facility instead, easing tension that peaked in a blockade outside a hospital where she is a patient.
