Syrian government launches counter attack on strategic plain: monitor
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian government forces recaptured four northwestern villages on Tuesday as they pounded the area with air strikes in a counter-attack on insurgents threatening strongholds of President Bashar al-Assad, a monitor said.
Rajapaksa’s comeback fails as Sri Lankan voters back reforms
COLOMBO (Reuters) – Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s attempt to stage a comeback in Sri Lanka’s general election has ended in defeat as results on Tuesday showed the alliance that toppled him making decisive gains.
Palestinian hunger-striker regains consciousness, vows to continue fast -lawyer
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – A Palestinian on a hunger strike against his detention without trial was brought out of sedation in an Israeli hospital on Tuesday and vowed to continue his fast, one of his lawyers said.
U.N. urges Greece to take charge of refugee crisis
GENEVA (Reuters) – Greece must show “much more leadership” to tackle an escalating crisis in which 160,000 refugees and migrants have reached its shores so far this year, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
Islamic State fighter urges fellow Turks to conquer Istanbul
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – A fighter proclaiming allegiance to Islamic State has appeared in a video urging fellow Turks to rebel against “infidel” President Tayyip Erdogan and help conquer Istanbul, highlighting the threat the NATO member faces as it battle…
Chinese police arrest 15,000 for Internet crimes
BEIJING (Reuters) – Police in China said on Tuesday they had arrested about 15,000 people for crimes that “jeopardized Internet security”, as the government moves to tighten controls on the Internet.
Indonesian rescuers find no survivors in wreckage of crashed plane
JAKARTA (Reuters) – All 54 people on board a Trigana Air aircraft were killed in a crash two days ago in Indonesia’s Papua province, the latest in a string of aviation disasters in the Southeast Asian archipelago, officials said on Tuesday.
Eight held in Italy after 49 migrants suffocate on packed boat
ROME (Reuters) – Eight suspected human traffickers thought to have forced migrants to stay in the hold of a fishing boat in the Mediterranean as 49 of them suffocated on engine fumes have been arrested on suspicion of homicide, Italian police said on T…
Shake-up in Myanmar as Suu Kyi allies with ousted ruling party boss
NAYPYITAW (Reuters) – Myanmar’s Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi said on Tuesday her opposition would ally with powerful ousted ruling party leader Shwe Mann, as the country’s political forces re-align in the biggest shake-up since the end of military r…
South African police fire rubber bullets at school protest
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African police officers fired rubber bullets at parents protesting outside a primary school on the outskirts of Johannesburg on Tuesday, wounding at least six people, local media said.
