Britain says halves EU budget bill, critics cry foul
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Britain claimed victory on Friday in a budget battle with the European Union, saying it would pay only half of what Brussels had demanded, but EU officials said payment had merely been delayed and euro-sceptic critics accused minis…
Peru’s jailed ex-President Fujimori makes second plea for house detention
LIMA (Reuters) – Peru’s jailed former President Alberto Fujimori made a second bid to be held under house arrest on Friday, saying he fears the 25-year prison sentence he is serving for human rights abuses and corruption will lead to his “slow death” b…
Palestinians clash with Israeli troops again over holy site
JERUSALEM/GAZA (Reuters) – Palestinian protesters fought with Israeli security forces in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank on Friday, the latest clashes in a fortnight of violence over access to Jerusalem’s holiest site.
Syrian activists share photo of children said killed in U.S. strike
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian activists shared a photo on social media on Friday of two children they said were killed in U.S. air strikes on Wednesday night which Washington said targeted an al Qaeda-linked militant faction.
Obama authorizes 1,500 additional U.S. troops for deployment to Iraq
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Friday authorized the U.S. military to deploy up to 1,500 additional troops to help train and advise Iraqi and Kurdish forces fighting Islamic State militants, the White House said.
United Nations says South Sudan impounds peacekeeping cargo
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The United Nations said on Friday that South Sudanese security personnel had impounded four trucks carrying armored vehicles and equipment for peacekeepers in the capital Juba and assaulted the drivers, accusing them of trans…
Sarkozy urges French center-right to re-invent itself
PARIS (Reuters) – Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy, back in politics after a two-year retirement, announced plans on Friday to revamp his center-right UMP party if named this month as its chairman.
Peshmergas blunt, don’t break, Islamic State siege of Syria’s Kobani
MURSITPINAR Turkey/BEIRUT (Reuters) – Iraqi Kurdish forces have blunted but not broken the siege of the Syrian border town of Kobani, a week after arriving to great fanfare with heavy weapons and fighters in a bid to save it from Islamic State.
Yemeni president brings Houthis into new government
SANAA (Reuters) – Yemen’s president has announced a new cabinet including members of the Shi’ite Muslim Houthi group that captured the capital Sanaa in September, state media said on Friday, in a move that could help end a crippling standoff in the Ara…
Exclusive: U.S. weighs sanctions on Libyan factions to halt proxy war
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is considering imposing sanctions on Libya’s combative factions to prevent a proxy conflict fueled by regional powers from erupting into full-blown civil war and to force militant leaders to negotiate, U.S. offi…
