Afghan talks agree on reopening Taliban political office
AL-KHOR, Qatar/PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Representatives at preliminary talks aiming to end Afghanistan’s long war have agreed that Taliban insurgents should open a political office for negotiations, but disagreement over foreign troops is still h…
Iraqi forces plead for help as Islamic State closes in on refinery
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi forces besieged inside the country’s largest oil refinery are running low on food and pleading for reinforcements to save them from Islamic State militants who have advanced deep into the compound in the past week.
U.S. warships accompany British commercial vessels in Strait of Hormuz: Pentagon
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Navy warships have begun accompanying British-flagged commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz as a result of Iran’s detention of a Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship last week, the Pentagon said on Monday.
Baltic military shadow-boxing said to reach Cold War levels
VISBY FORWARD OPERATING BASE, Sweden (Reuters) – A daily game of Cold War cat-and-mouse is ratcheting up tensions in the Baltic and drawing the biggest military presence into the region for over 20 years, Swedish military officials say.
Around 7,000 Europe-bound migrants rescued, baby girl born on Italian navy ship
ROME (Reuters) – Around 7,000 migrants were rescued from overcrowded boats crossing the Mediterranean to Europe over the weekend and on Monday, including a woman who gave birth to a baby girl on an Italian navy ship, the coast guard said.
Kerry holds talks on security, al Shabaab threat in Kenya
NAIROBI (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta discussed on Monday ways to counter the threat from the al Shabaab militant group that killed 148 people at a Kenyan university last month.
NATO starts anti submarine exercise in North Sea as tension with Russia rise
ABOARD THE USS VICKSBURG, North Sea (Reuters) – NATO launched one of its biggest-ever anti-submarine exercises in the North Sea on Monday, inviting non-member Sweden for the first time, amid increasing tensions between Russia and its northern neighbors…
Ethiopian protests draw attention to racism in Israel
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Images of Israeli police firing stun grenades are usually set in the West Bank and involve Palestinian protesters. But on Sunday the situation was quite different – riot police battling thousands of Ethiopian Jews in the center of…
Togo’s Gnassingbe sworn in as dynasty extends its lengthy rule
LOME (Reuters) – Togo’s constitutional court swore in incumbent President Faure Gnassingbe for a third term in office on Monday, prolonging for another five years his family’s nearly half-century rule over the West African nation.
Merkel defends German intelligence cooperation with NSA
BERLIN (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel defended Germany’s BND intelligence agency on Monday against accusations it illegally helped the United States spy on officials and firms in Europe.
