Armenian president says ready to restart reconciliation with Turkey
YEREVAN (Reuters) – Armenia’s president said on Wednesday he was ready to normalize relations with Turkey, two months after he withdrew peace accords from parliament, blaming a Turkish lack of political will to end 100 years of hostility.
Iraqi forces fight to rout Islamic State militants from Ramadi
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi security forces fought to rout Islamic State militants from the western city of Ramadi on Wednesday, slowly regaining some ground from the militant group, security and local officials said.
Pope to visit Cuba en route to U.S., capping diplomatic role
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis will visit Cuba en route to the United States in September, the Vatican said on Wednesday, capping his success in bringing the former enemies together after more than half a century of frozen antagonism.
Europe’s security challenges should mean more defense spending: Carter
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Europe should be spending more on its military given the security challenges facing the region, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Wednesday, adding that falling investment had eroded Europe’s ability to be a capable U.S. …
Aid groups express fear of renewed South Sudan fighting
JUBA (Reuters) – Fighting in South Sudan’s oil-producing Upper Nile State in the past two days has killed at least 38 and the toll could rise, a military spokesman said on Wednesday, while aid groups said they may be forced to trim operations.
Turkey wrestles with century-old legacy of Armenian massacres
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) – When as a child Nezahat Eleftos discovered a bundle of photographs stashed in a family chest, her grandmother made a confession: some showed her Christian brothers who perished in mass killings in southeast Turkey during …
France arrests heavily armed man over church attack plans
PARIS (Reuters) – An Algerian man suspected of planning an imminent attack on a church has been arrested in Paris, with police discovering Kalashnikovs, hand guns and ammunition in his possession, top officials said on Wednesday.
Afghan, NATO officials doubt IS links to Jalalabad bombing
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan officials and NATO forces in Afghanistan said they doubted that a recent suicide attack on the eastern city of Jalalabad was the work of an offshoot Islamic State, the Islamist militant group fighting mainly in Syria and Iraq.
U.S. allies conduct 18 air strikes in Syria, Iraq: military
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S.-led forces targeted Islamic State militants in Syria with seven air strikes from Tuesday to Wednesday morning and conducted 11 strikes against the group in Iraq, the U.S. military said.
Nigeria summons South Africa ambassador over attacks on immigrants
ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria’s foreign ministry has summoned South Africa’s high commissioner over anti-immigrant violence in which at least seven people have been killed, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
