Iran’s uranium stockpile grows before deadline for nuclear deal
VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium gas has grown by 8 percent to nearly 8.4 tonnes in about two months, U.N. atomic inspectors say, an amount world powers probably will want to see cut under any nuclear deal with Tehran.
U.S. strikes Islamic State convoy near Mosul: officials
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. air strikes destroyed a moving, 10-vehicle Islamic State convoy near the Iraqi city of Mosul but U.S. officials said on Saturday it was unclear whether the group’s top commander Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was present at the time.
Yemen’s Houthis reject new power-sharing government
SANAA (Reuters) – Yemen’s Houthi movement, which seized the capital Sanaa in September, on Saturday rejected a new power-sharing government that President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi announced on Friday, thwarting his efforts to end the country’s political …
Gorbachev says world is on brink of new Cold War
BERLIN (Reuters) – Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned in a speech in Berlin on Saturday that East-West tensions over the Ukraine crisis were threatening to push the world into a new Cold War, 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Ex-Syrian opposition chief says he discussed conflict with Moscow
BEIRUT (Reuters) – The former head of Syria’s main political opposition said he had visited Russia with other opposition figures and had discussed ways to end the conflict with Damascus’s ally Moscow, but had insisted that President Bashar al-Assad mus…
Attacker kills two soldiers guarding Sudan’s presidential palace
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – An attacker with a knife killed two soldiers guarding a gate at Sudan’s presidential palace before other troops shot him dead on Saturday, the president’s press secretary said.
U.S.-led airstrikes target Islamic State leaders in Iraq: report
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – U.S.-led airstrikes targeted a gathering of Islamic State leaders in Iraq, possibly including the group’s top man, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Al-Hadath television station reported on Saturday.
As Obama visits Asia, old alliances face new strains in face of China’s influence
WASHINGTON/JAKARTA (Reuters) – In November 2011, with the Arab Spring uprisings in full tilt and Europe rocked by a debt crisis, President Barack Obama flew to Asia to promote a shift of America’s military, diplomatic and business assets to the region. His then Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, declared in the same year that the 21st century would be “America’s Pacific century”.
Spain’s Rajoy appeals for dialogue after Catalan vote
MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Saturday called for renewed dialogue and a “return to sanity” in Catalonia as the region prepares to hold a symbolic vote on independence that is strongly opposed by the central government.
Pope demotes outspoken American conservative cardinal
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Saturday demoted an outspoken conservative American cardinal who has been highly critical of the pontiff’s reformist leadership of the Roman Catholic Church.
