Russia, Ukraine trade barbs over politics, gas as hostility deepens
MOSCOW/KIEV (Reuters) – Russia expressed “deep concern” on Thursday over Ukraine’s plans to decentralize power as part of a peace deal with separatist rebels, underlining the gulf between Moscow and Kiev as the conflict rumbles on despite a ceasefire.
U.S., allies target Islamic State with 28 air strikes in Syria, Iraq
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S.-led coalition forces conducted 18 air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and 10 in Syria on Wednesday, the U.S. military said.
Tunisia hunts for Libya-trained suspects after hotel attack
TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisian authorities were on Thursday hunting further suspects in the Sousse hotel attack identified by officials as part of a group trained in a Libyan jihadist camp alongside gunmen who carried out a massacre at a Tunis museum.
A year after war, head of U.N. in Gaza says rebuilding to begin
GAZA (Reuters) – Robert Turner has no quick and easy answer when asked to name the worst of times in his three years running the United Nation’s relief effort in Gaza.
Russia calls new U.S. military strategy confrontational
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia denounced a new U.S. military strategy that accuses Moscow of failing to respect its neighbors’ sovereignty as “confrontational” on Thursday, saying it would set back efforts to improve relations.
Afghan special forces raid medical aid group MSF’s hospital
KUNDUZ (Reuters) – Afghan special forces raided a hospital run by medical aid group Médecins Sans Frontières in northern Afghanistan, in search of a suspected Al Qaeda operative being treated there, a commander of the elite force said on Thursday.
Dutch ban public gatherings in district hit by rioting over arrest death
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Dutch police fired warning shots and arrested 34 people during a third straight day of unrest on Thursday triggered by the death of a Caribbean man in police custody, and a temporary ban on public gatherings was imposed in a neigh…
Afghan court commutes death sentences in woman’s mob killing
KABUL (Reuters) – An appeals court in Afghanistan’s capital has set aside death sentences for four men convicted in the mob killing of a woman accused of burning a Koran, media and a judge said Thursday.
Iraqi forces say most of Baiji town recaptured from Islamic State
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi forces have cleared Islamic State militants from most of the northern town of Baiji and hope to drive them from the nearby oil refinery within days, a spokesman for the Shi’ite militias leading the fight said on Thursday.
Iran talks are not near breakthrough yet, Britain’s Hammond
VIENNA (Reuters) – Nuclear talks between Iran and six major powers are not near a breakthrough yet and foreign ministers will come and go to try to maintain momentum toward a deal, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Thursday.
