South China Sea? For Beijing, Taiwan is the No. 1 security issue
TAIPEI (Reuters) – For China, whose President Xi Jinping is already taking an increasingly muscular approach to claims in the East and South China Sea, the question of Taiwan trumps any other of its territorial assertions in terms of sensitivity and im…
Somali Islamist rebels say they have captured Kenyan troops
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somalia’s al Shabaab Islamist group said on Sunday it had captured some Kenyan soldiers during an attack last week on military bases in western Somalia near the Kenyan border.
Death toll from air strikes in Syrian city of Raqqa reaches 40: monitor
BEIRUT (Reuters) – The death toll from Saturday’s air strikes on the Syrian city of Raqqa, de facto capital of the Islamic State group, has risen to 40 civilians, including eight children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday.
Pakistan arrests imam after boy cuts hand off in blasphemy error
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistani police have arrested the imam of a mosque for inciting violence after a 15-year old boy who was told by the cleric that he was a blasphemer went home and cut off his own hand.
Burkina hotel retaken from al Qaeda fighters, but dozens dead
OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) – Security forces in Burkina Faso retook a hotel in the capital on Saturday a day after al Qaeda fighters seized it in an assault that killed at least 28 people from at least 18 countries and marked a major escalation of Islamist …
Islamic State kidnaps 400 civilians in Syrian city of Deir al-Zor: monitor
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Islamic State militants kidnapped at least 400 civilians when they attacked government-held areas in the eastern Syrian city of Deir al-Zor on Saturday, a monitoring group said.
Somalia received Saudi aid the day it cut ties with Iran: document
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Somalia received a pledge of aid for $50 million from Saudi Arabia this month on the same day it announced it was cutting ties with Saudi rival Iran, a document seen by Reuters showed.
Naming of Libyan unity government delayed by 48 hours
TUNIS (Reuters) – The body tasked with naming a unity government for Libya under a U.N.-backed plan to resolve the country’s political crisis has delayed the planned announcement of the government’s members by 48 hours.
Hebrew graffiti at Jerusalem monastery threatens Christians
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel ordered a high-priority police investigation on Sunday into anti-Christian messages scrawled in Hebrew on the walls and doors of a Jerusalem monastery, saying they marked an assault on religious harmony.
Spaniards oppose new election, want coalition government: poll
MADRID (Reuters) – A majority of Spanish voters oppose holding another election to resolve the political stalemate created by an inconclusive national vote last month and want parties instead to agree on a coalition government, a survey showed on Sunda…
