Father asks Islamic State to treat captured pilot son as ‘guest’
AMMAN (Reuters) – The father of a Jordanian pilot captured by Islamic State fighters after his plane crashed in Syria said he did not consider his son a hostage and called on his captors to treat him as a “guest”.
Sudan expels two senior U.N. officials: sources
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan has ordered two senior United Nations officials to leave, U.N. sources said on Thursday, in what appeared to be an escalation of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s move against U.N. activities in the country.
Turkey, Iraq pledge more military cooperation in fight against Islamic State
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey and Iraq, both worried by the advance of Islamic State, pledged on Thursday to work towards greater military cooperation in their fight against the ultra radical Sunni militants.
Small passenger plane crashes in Colombia killing seven: report
BOGOTA (Reuters) – A small passenger plane crashed in northern Colombia on Wednesday, killing all six passengers and the pilot, who had warned air traffic control of a mechanical fault moments before, the website of the El Tiempo newspaper reported.
Syrian rebel groups in Aleppo enter alliance: monitoring group
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Rebel groups fighting in Syria’s northern Aleppo province have agreed to form an alliance, a group monitoring the country’s civil war said on Thursday.
Turkish police arrest teenager for insulting President Erdogan
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish police have arrested a 16-year-old high school student in the city of Konya on charges of insulting President Tayyip Erdogan, local media reported on Thursday.
Thousands pray at Indonesian mosque that survived, 10 years after tsunami
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (Reuters) – Thousands of Indonesians gathered on Thursday to pray at a mosque that was one of the few buildings left standing in Banda Aceh, the city flattened by the Boxing Day tsunami that killed at least 226,000 people 10 years…
Israel approves 243 new settler homes in East Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel has given preliminary approval for the construction of 243 new homes on West Bank land that Israel annexed to Jerusalem, and advanced plans for another 270 homes in the same area, officials said on Thursday.
Syria’s war enters new year more fragmented than ever
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Deep into its fourth year of conflict, Syria looks less and less like a state than a patchwork of warring fiefdoms, making outside powers more reluctant to intervene even as it becomes more destabilizing for the region.
Russia says Kiev’s move to join NATO dangerous for Europe
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukraine’s pursuit of NATO membership posed a danger to European security and that the West was using Kiev’s bid to join the Atlantic alliance as a way to fuel confrontation between Russia a…
