Syria’s opposition says cannot attend talks if third party joins
RIYADH (Reuters) – A Syrian opposition council backed by Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it will not attend next week’s peace negotiations with the government if a third group takes part, a reference to a Russian bid to widen the opposition’s team.
Israel charges Palestinians it says were recruited by Hezbollah
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has charged five Palestinians who it says were being recruited and funded by powerful Lebanese faction Hezbollah to monitor Israel’s military activity and carry out a suicide attack, police said on Wednesday.
Amnesty: Kurds waging campaign to uproot Arabs in north Iraq
ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) – Kurdish forces have bulldozed, blown up and burned down thousands of Arab homes across northern Iraq in what may constitute a war crime, human rights watchdog Amnesty International said in a report published on Wednesday.
Winter brings new dangers for migrants crossing frozen Balkan peninsula
PRESEVO/SID, Serbia (Reuters) – Migrants braved temperatures as low as -15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday to cross frozen Balkan borders en route to western Europe, visibly unprepared for winter and in increasing danger from the co…
Military chiefs gather in Paris to bolster Islamic State fight
PARIS (Reuters) – Defense chiefs from the United States, France, Britain and four other countries meet in Paris on Wednesday to examine ways to build on gains made against Islamic State, including increasing the number of police and army trainers.
Israel plans to seize West Bank farmland: Army Radio
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel plans to appropriate a large tract of agricultural land in the occupied West Bank, Israel’s Army Radio said on Wednesday, a move that has angered Palestinians and is almost certain to draw international criticism.
Khamenei praises arrest of U.S. sailors, condemns Saudi embassy attack
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday thanked the Revolutionary Guards for briefly detaining U.S. sailors last week, but condemned the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran as an action that damaged the country.
Islamic State says two assailants in Paris attacks are from Iraq
PARIS (Reuters) – The Islamic State group published pictures of nine militants it says carried out Nov. 13 attacks that killed 130 people in Paris including two, identified as Iraqis, who were previously unknown, according to the SITE monitoring organi…
Draft constitution for army-run Thailand ‘strong medicine’
BANGKOK (Reuters) – A draft constitution for army-run Thailand to be unveiled this month will be “strong medicine”, the constitution panel head said on Wednesday, adding that there was no guarantee it would pass a referendum, meaning a further extensio…
Myanmar arrests leader of Saffron Revolution on immigration charges: media
YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar has arrested a former monk and leader of a 2007 uprising on grounds of illegally crossing the border, media said on Wednesday, spotlighting the issue of political prisoners that faces Aung San Suu Kyi’s incoming government.
