Air strikes in Syria hit Islamic State-held areas near Turkey: monitor
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Air strikes overnight hit Islamic State-held territory in Syria near the Turkish border, near an area that tens of thousands of Kurds have fled as the militant group advanced, an organization that tracks the Syrian war said on Wednes…
Philippine Islamist militants threaten to kill German captives
MANILA (Reuters) – Al-Qaeda linked militants in the southern Philippines have threatened to kill two Germans hostages they have been holding since April unless Germany stops supporting U.S. action against Islamic State militants, the SITE monitoring se…
Suspected French jihadis surrender to police after security failures
PARIS/TOULOUSE (Reuters) – Three men suspected of joining Islamist militants in Syria gave themselves in to French authorities on Wednesday after a day of high confusion which exposed security shortcomings in France, including poor collaboration with N…
High-profile Chinese official confesses to graft
BEIJING (Reuters) – The former deputy head of China’s top planning agency confessed in court on Wednesday to extensive bribery involving several companies including a Toyota Motor Corp. joint venture, the court said.
Japan says visit by Putin aide to disputed island ‘regrettable’
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan will lodge a protest with Russia after President Vladimir Putin’s chief of staff visited a contested island chain, but there would be no change to Tokyo’s policy to maintain dialogue with Moscow, Japan’s top government spokesman…
Death toll mounts to 43 in India’s flood-hit northeast
GUWAHATI India (Reuters) – At least 43 people have died and many are missing in floods and landslides caused by heavy rains that lashed India’s remote northeast, officials said on Wednesday, in the second flood tragedy to strike the subcontinent this m…
Cleric Abu Qatada walks free after Jordan terror plot acquittal
AMMAN (Reuters) – Muslim cleric Abu Qatada walked free from a Jordanian jail on Wednesday after being cleared of charges of conspiring in a plot to attack tourists – his second acquittal this year following a long extradition process from Britain.
Abu Qatada set free after verdict clears him of Jordan terror plot
AMMAN (Reuters) – Radical Muslim cleric Abu Qatada was set free on Wednesday from a Jordanian prison hours after a court cleared him of charges of providing spiritual and material support for a plot to attack tourists during Jordan’s New Year celebrati…
As risks multiply, NGOs reassess security in Middle East
ARBIL Iraq (Reuters) – Aid agencies are tightening security measures in the Middle East and increasingly outsourcing work to local organizations to limit their exposure to multiplying risks across the region.
Drone strike kills suspected militants in Pakistan, officials say
BANNU Pakistan (Reuters) – A U.S. drone strike killed at least five suspected militants near the Afghan border in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, intelligence officials said, amid a rise in such attacks since after the military announced an anti-Ta…
