Radical scholar provided Japan with channel to IS at hostage crisis peak
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s government opened a communication channel with Islamic State in the decisive stages of its recent hostage crisis but was unwilling to use it to start negotiations, according to a Tokyo-based Islamic scholar who briefly became …
Election-nervous politicians shout down IAG’s Aer Lingus bid
DUBLIN (Reuters) – The owner of British Airways is running out of time to secure Ireland’s Aer Lingus as questions over its commitment to keep jobs and key Heathrow routes stoke opposition from politicians facing a tough election next year.
Spain’s Podemos leads poll but may have peaked: El Pais
MADRID (Reuters) – Anti-austerity party Podemos is set to win a Spanish general election due this year, according to a poll published in newspaper El Pais on Sunday, but support for the leftist party may be showing signs of fatigue.
Somali PM appeals to U.S. banks to resume money transfer services
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Somalia’s prime minister urged the U.S. government and U.S. banks to support money transfer firms that offer a lifeline for many in the war-torn Horn of Africa nation.
Arab leaders bemoan lack of strategy, weapons against jihadists
MUNICH (Reuters) – Arab leaders bemoaned what they called a lack of strategy and weapons in the fight against jihadists like Islamic State (IS) at a security conference attended by Western leaders in Munich on Sunday.
Quartet urges revival of Mid East talks, reconstruction of Gaza
MUNICH (Reuters) – The “Quartet” of Middle East peace mediators urged a prompt resumption of talks between Israel and the Palestinians after a meeting in Munich on Sunday and voiced concern about the slow pace of reconstruction in Gaza, damaged in last…
Turkey detains 21 police officers in wiretapping probe
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – A Turkish court ordered the arrest of 21 police officers on Sunday as part of an investigation into the illegal wiretapping of politicians, civil servants and businessmen, the Dogan News Agency reported.
In Europe, parents’ dismay as Syria jihad lures troubled teens
ANTWERP, Belgium (Reuters) – As Belgium braces for a verdict in Europe’s biggest trial of those accused of fostering Islamist violence in Syria, much attention is on poor Muslim immigrant communities’ struggle in a region blighted by youth unemployment…
Jordan says conducts 56 aerial raids in three days against Islamic State
AMMAN (Reuters) – Jordan’s air force chief said on Sunday his country’s jet fighters had conducted 56 raids in three days of intensified bombing targeting a stronghold of Islamic State militants in northeast Syria.
Iran’s Khamenei hints ready to accept fair nuclear deal as talks proceed
DUBAI/MUNICH (Reuters) – Iran’s paramount leader suggested on Sunday he could back a fair nuclear accord with world powers in which neither side got everything it wanted, boosting Iranian negotiators under fire from hardliners at home opposed to rappro…
