U.S., Iran positive after nuclear talks, say much left to do
GENEVA (Reuters) – The United States made some progress in talks with Iran on its nuclear program and managed to “sharpen up some of the tough issues”, a senior U.S. official said on Monday, but both sides said much remained to be done.
Cuba honors five spies who served long prison terms in U.S.
HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba President Raul Castro on Tuesday pinned medals on five spies, declaring them national heroes for infiltrating right-wing exile groups that plotted against Havana and for then enduring long prison terms in the United States.
Togo sets presidential election date for April 15
LOME (Reuters) – Togo has fixed April 15 as the date for a presidential election, a decree issued late on Tuesday stated, and incumbent President Faure Gnassingbe is expected to seek a third term in office in defiance of opposition calls for him to ste…
Venezuelan teen dies after being shot at anti-Maduro protest
SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela (Reuters) – A teenager was fatally shot at an anti-government protest in the western city of San Cristobal on Tuesday, state officials said, exacerbating tensions in Venezuela amid an economic crisis and crackdown on the politi…
Islamic State in Syria abducts at least 150 Christians
AMMAN (Reuters) – Islamic State militants have abducted at least 150 people from Assyrian Christian villages in northeastern Syria they had raided, Christian Syrian activists said on Tuesday.
Rights group calls for U.N. arms embargo on Syria over barrel bombs
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Syrian government troops carried out hundreds of indiscriminate aerial attacks in the past year, most with barrel bombs, in defiance of a United Nations Security Council demand to stop, a U.S. rights group said, calling for a…
U.S. arms flow to Iraq ahead of planned Mosul offensive
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Some 10,000 U.S. M-16 rifles and other military supplies worth about $17.9 million arrived in Iraq this week as U.S. troops pushed ahead with training and supplying Iraqi security forces battling Islamic State fighters, the Penta…
Suicide bombers kill at least 26 across north Nigeria
DAMATURU/KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) – Suicide bombers struck two bus stations in different parts of northern Nigeria on Tuesday, killing at least 26 people in attacks President Goodluck Jonathan blamed on Boko Haram, the Islamist militant group he said wo…
Australia pleads for mercy for drug traffickers to be executed in Indonesia
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s foreign minister on Wednesday appealed to Indonesia’s president to show mercy for two Australian drug traffickers due to executed in Indonesia, expressing disappointment that their latest legal appeal had been rejected.
Qatar assures U.S. it is committed to fighting Islamic State
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Qatar is committed to defeating the Islamic State, its emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani, assured U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday in his first official visit to the White House.




