Ministers to discuss Ukraine crisis in Berlin on Monday
BERLIN/KIEV (Reuters) – The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine will meet in Berlin on Monday to discuss the situation in eastern Ukraine and the implementation of the Minsk peace plan, Germany said on Friday.
U.S., Iran foreign ministers to meet on nuclear issue on January 14
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. and Iranian foreign ministers will meet in Geneva on Wednesday to discuss the Iranian nuclear program ahead of a fresh round of talks among Tehran and major powers on the issue, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.
Saudi Arabia flogs liberal activist in public: Amnesty
DUBAI (Reuters) – A liberal activist sentenced to prison and flogging in Saudi Arabia underwent the first round of 50 lashes in public after Friday prayers, rights watchdog Amnesty International said.
Paris makes Charlie Hebdo ‘honorary citizen’, support pours in
PARIS (Reuters) – Paris made the Charlie Hebdo journal an honorary citizen and the creator of Asterix offered to draw for it on Friday as support poured in for the satirical weekly decimated by Islamist gunmen for mocking Prophet Mohammad.
U.S. reports 11 air strikes against Islamic State in Syria, Iraq
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S.-led forces launched five air strikes near Kobani, Syria, and six in Iraq since Thursday in their battle against Islamic State militants, the American military said.
Rights monitor says 2,100 people died in Syrian prisons last year
BEIRUT (Reuters) – At least 2,100 people died in Syrian prisons last year and the bodies of many showed signs of torture, a monitoring group said on Friday, quoting the families of deceased detainees.
Saudi says arrests seven Saudis, Syrians over suicide border attack
DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia has arrested three Saudi nationals and four Syrians over links to a suicide bombing and gun attack on the kingdom’s border with Iraq, the first ground assault by militants on the frontier in years.
Exclusive: Paris attack suspect met prominent al Qaeda preacher in Yemen – intelligence source
SANAA (Reuters) – One of two brothers suspected of carrying out the deadly shooting at a French satirical weekly met leading al Qaeda preacher Anwar al Awlaki during a stay in Yemen in 2011, a senior Yemeni intelligence source told Reuters on Friday.
Cameroon appeals for international military aid to fight Boko Haram
YAOUNDE (Reuters) – Cameroon’s President Paul Biya has appealed for international military help to fight Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which this week threatened to step up its cross-border raids into the country from Nigeria.
Leader of Latvia’s Russian-speakers fears sanctions backfiring
RIGA (Reuters) – It’s not so much the risk of conflict with Russia that worries the mayor of the Latvian capital Riga; it’s the threat to jobs and investment as EU sanctions on Moscow rebound on the economy of the Baltic state.
