Pentagon downplays Iranian replica drone after first flight
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Iran’s copy of a U.S. drone aircraft captured in 2011 is inferior to the American original, the Pentagon said on Wednesday, as it downplayed claims from Tehran this week that the replica had taken its first flight.
Iraqi forces advance in bid for Baiji refinery
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi government forces made significant advances on Wednesday in an effort to break an Islamic State siege of the country’s biggest refinery just outside the city of Baiji, an army commander and state television said.
In rural Kenya, traditions run deeper than law on cutting girls
BARINGO COUNTY Kenya (Reuters) – Draped in animal skin and covered in white paint, four teenage girls squat over large stones in a remote western Kenyan village after being circumcised – a life-threatening custom banned in the country three years ago.
Russia plans long-range bomber flights near North American waters: agency
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia said on Wednesday it planned to send long-range bombers on flight patrols over North American waters, including the Gulf of Mexico, but the Pentagon played down Moscow’s mission as routine training in international airspace.
U.S., allies conduct 23 air strikes in Syria, Iraq: military
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S.-led forces conducted 16 air strikes in Syria, most of them around Kobani near the Turkish border, and seven in the oil-producing northern region of Iraq since Monday, the U.S. Central Command said.
Egypt’s Sisi decrees law on repatriating foreign prisoners
CAIRO (Reuters) – President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued a decree on Wednesday allowing him to repatriate foreign prisoners in Egypt, state media said, a move that could enable the release of an Al Jazeera journalist now serving a seven-year jail term.
Honduras seeks billions from U.S. to curb child migration
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Honduras President Juan Hernandez wants the United States to invest billions of dollars to help curb the flow of illegal migrants from Central America, and said it will take much longer to stem the crisis without Washington’s hel…
Israeli gives initial approval for 200 new homes in East Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli authorities gave initial approval on Wednesday for the construction of 200 new homes in an urban settlement in Jerusalem, a move that could aggravate tensions with Palestinians that Washington is trying to lower.
Hungary to stand by EU’s Russia sanctions, wants help on gas
BERLIN (Reuters) – Hungary will stand by its European Union allies’ decision to impose sanctions on Russia over Ukraine but will need help to safeguarding energy supplies put at risk by the dispute, its foreign minister said on Wednesday.
U.S. court refuses to hold Occidental liable in Colombia bombing
(Reuters) – A divided federal appeals court on Wednesday refused to hold Occidental Petroleum Corp and a security contractor legally responsible for alleged complicity in a 1998 military bombing of a Colombian village that killed 17 people, including s…
