Syrian rebels say holding Iranian fighter, seeking swap
BEIRUT (Reuters) – A mainstream Syrian rebel group said on Monday they were seeking to swap an Iranian taken captive in the southwestern province of Deraa last month for women held in Syrian government jails.
Female Iraqi militant held by Jordan is heroine to jihadists
AMMAN/BAGHDAD (Reuters) – When her husband blew himself up in a luxury hotel during a wedding in Amman a decade ago, Sajida al-Rishawi was meant to die too, but her suicide bomb belt did not go off. Today, as a death-row prisoner in Jordan, she is a he…
Parents of murdered Mexican students seek justice at UN watchdog
GENEVA (Reuters) – The parents of Mexican students believed murdered by a drugs gang appealed to the United Nations on Monday for help in seeking justice, saying they had no faith in the government’s ability to investigate the crime.
Dutch journalist to be tried in Turkey on ‘terror propaganda’ charges
ANKARA (Reuters) – A Turkish prosecutor formally accused a Dutch journalist of ‘terrorist propaganda’ on Monday, and asked she be jailed for up to five years, local media reported on Monday, a move that will deepen fears over press freedom in the NATO …
Syrian Kurds push back Islamic State around Kobani: monitor, Kurds
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Kurdish militia backed by U.S.-led air strikes are making rapid advances against Islamic State forces in rural areas around Kobani after driving the group from the Syrian border town last week, the Kurdish militia and a monitoring gr…
Bosnia region debates fines, prison for ‘offensive’ social media posts
BANJA LUKA, Bosnia (Reuters) – Lawmakers in Bosnia’s autonomous Serb Republic are to consider whether social media posts that are deemed offensive should be punished with fines or prison terms, alarming media watchdogs.
Russian paper, Pope Francis and Eritrean priest among Nobel Peace nominees
OSLO (Reuters) – A Russian newspaper critical of President Vladimir Putin is among the nominations for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize, along with Edward Snowden, Pope Francis and a priest helping African migrants.
In feisty Israeli campaign, even Netanyahu’s wife’s recycling is a target
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Forget the deadlocked Palestinian peace process or the Iranian nuclear program. The latest political fracas in Israel is over whether the prime minister’s wife kept the deposit when she recycled bottles from state functions.
Investigators say no evidence AirAsia captain left his seat
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesian air crash investigators said on Monday they had not so far found evidence that the pilot of an AirAsia jet had left his seat, or that power to an automated control system was shut off, shortly before the aircraft plunged …
Nigerian leaders must not stir up electoral violence: war crimes court
LAGOS (Reuters) – Nigeria’s leaders must not whip up violence around a presidential poll on Feb. 14 that has already triggered deadly skirmishes, the International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Monday.
