Syrian air force targets captured Palmyra city – monitor
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syria’s air force carried out at least 15 strikes in and around the central city of Palmyra early on Monday, targeting buildings captured by Islamic State, a group monitoring the war said.
Only Iran is confronting Islamic State, paramilitary chief says
DUBAI (Reuters) – The general in charge of Iran’s paramilitary activities in the Middle East said the United States and other powers were failing to confront Islamic State, and only Iran was committed to the task, a news agency on Monday reported.
Sydney siege gunman too ‘weird’ for Australian motorcycle gang, inquest hears
SYDNEY (Reuters) – A self-styled sheikh who staged a siege at an Australian cafe last year suffered “grandiose delusions” and was once kicked out of a motorcycle gang because he was deemed so weird, an inquest into the deaths of three people heard on M…
Bangladesh arrests two suspected Islamic State activists
DHAKA (Reuters) – Bangladeshi police have arrested two suspected members of the Islamic State group who had planned to fight alongside militants in Syria, a police official said on Monday, adding to concerns about the rise of extremist groups in South …
Portugal, like Europe, loses hunger for reform
SINTRA, Portugal (Reuters) – Celebrated among Europe’s elite as a model of how to reform an economy after a debt binge, Portugal’s enthusiasm for change has waned as Europe loses its appetite for further belt-tightening.
Eastern Japan shaken by 5.6 magnitude quake, no tsunami warning
TOKYO (Reuters) – An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 shook Tokyo and surrounding areas on Monday, but no tsunami warning was issued, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
Iraq regains ground from Islamic State; mass deaths reported in Palmyra
BAGHDAD/BEIRUT (Reuters) – Iraqi forces recaptured territory from advancing Islamic State militants near the recently-fallen city of Ramadi on Sunday, while in Syria the government said the Islamists had killed hundreds of people since capturing the to…
China clamps down on 181 ‘terror gangs’ in west
BEIJING (Reuters) – China has cracked down on 181 “terror gangs” in its restive far western region of Xinjiang, which has suffered a string of violent attacks, state media reported on Monday.
Hezbollah says it will step up presence in Syria as needed
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Hezbollah is fighting across all of Syria alongside the army of President Bashar al-Assad and is willing to increase its presence there when needed, the leader of the Lebanese Shi’ite movement said on Sunday.
China officials taken on prison visits in warning against corruption
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Chinese authorities have taken government officials and members of their families on tours of prisons as a “warning” against corruption, the official China Daily newspaper reported on Monday, citing the country’s top disciplinary b…
