Egypt’s parliament endorses controversial anti-terrorism law
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s parliament on Sunday overwhelmingly endorsed a controversial anti-terrorism law that sets up special courts and shields its enforcers from legal ramifications.
Palestinians arrest negotiations aide suspected of spying for Israel
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian officials said on Sunday they had arrested a member of their peace negotiating department for spying for Israel, a development likely to deepen distrust between the sides at a time of deadlocked diplomacy and…
Iran moves from pariah state to regional power
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Iran’s release from sanctions testifies to its new relationship with the United States as it moves from pariah state to regional power, a status that could come at the cost of Saudi Arabia, Washington’s chief Arab ally.
Israel licks wounds as Iran sanctions end, looks to future U.S. aid
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel bristled on Sunday at the lifting of international sanctions on Iran and vowed to flag up any violations of its arch-foe’s nuclear restrictions while drawing on U.S. defense aid to prepare for a possible military face-off i…
Nuclear success to intensify Iranian infighting but moderate foreign policy
ANKARA (Reuters) – Iran’s success in winning an end to international sanctions will only intensify a power struggle among the faction-ridden elite, and President Hassan Rouhani cannot count on domestic political support from the supreme leader before t…
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 …
