Islamic State ‘gets tougher’ in face of air strikes: audio message
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A new message purporting to come from the leader of Islamic State said air strikes by Russia and a U.S.-led coalition had failed to weaken the group.
Behind the scenes, Pakistan’s military helped revive talks with India
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – The quiet involvement of Pakistan’s powerful military in its foreign policy this year paved the way for reviving a stalled dialogue with India, officials said, a thaw leading to the first visit to Pakistan by an Indian premier in almost 12 years. 
U.N. Syria mediator aims to convene peace talks on January 25
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United Nations said on Saturday it aims to bring together Syria’s warring parties on Jan. 25 in Geneva to begin talks to try to end nearly five years of civil war.
U.S.-backed alliance captures key dam from Islamic State: alliance spokesman
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A U.S-backed alliance of Syrian Kurds and Arab rebel groups, backed by U.S. coalition planes, captured a dam on Saturday from Islamic State, cutting a main supply route of the militants across the Euphrates, an alliance spokesman sai…
Turkish PM says pro-Kurdish HDP ‘rooted in violence’, cancels meeting
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey’s prime minister on Saturday canceled a planned meeting with the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), saying its politics was rooted in violence, as government forces pursued a security operation in the mainly Kurdish …
Attacks blamed on Islamists kill 10 Tuareg fighters in Mali
BAMAKO (Reuters) – Islamist fighters killed 10 Tuareg rebels in two attacks near northern Mali’s border with Algeria this week in a growing wave of violence, Tuareg officials said on Saturday.
Kurdish group TAK claims responsibility for Istanbul airport attack
ANKARA (Reuters) – A Kurdish militant group once linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has claimed responsibility for an attack at Istanbul’s second airport this week that left an aircraft cleaner dead and injured another.
Russia’s Putin orders several counter-terrorism units to be set up on coasts
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered counter-terrorism operational headquarters to be set up in several coastal areas, the state-run RIA news agency quoted the Kremlin as saying on Saturday.
Belgian college’s concerns over Paris attacker ignored: newspapers
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A police commission is interviewing staff at a Brussels college after education authorities failed to act on concerns that a student who later became one of the Paris suicide bombers had been radicalized, two Belgian newspapers sai…
China landslide disaster caused by safety breaches: cabinet website
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – A landslide in southern China that killed two people and left more than 70 people missing was caused by breaches of construction safety rules and was not a natural disaster, a government website quoted local authorities as saying.
