Syrian forces escalate assault on rebel-held Damascus district
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Syrian forces carried out their fiercest assault on the rebel stronghold of Jobar in Damascus since the start of the three-year war, conducting at least 27 air strikes on Tuesday and killing a child, according to activists and rights…
Relatives of captured Iraqi soldiers storm parliament: witnesses
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – More than 100 relatives of Iraqi soldiers captured by Islamic State fighters broke into parliament armed with sticks, metal bars and stones on Tuesday to demand news of them, witnesses said.
Attack on Egypt security convoy kills 11 in Sinai: security sources
CAIRO (Reuters) – An attack on a convoy killed 11 members of the Egyptian security forces in the Sinai Peninsula on Tuesday, security and medical sources said.
Israel raises alarm over Islamist militants on its frontiers
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s frontier with Syria, where militants have kidnapped 45 U.N. peacekeepers, has become a magnet for Islamist activity and Israel itself is now a target, the defense minister and security analysts said on Tuesday.
British parliament rejects Chinese call to halt Hong Kong democracy probe
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s parliament has rejected Chinese calls to scrap an inquiry into Hong Kong’s progress towards democracy, a senior lawmaker said, warning that reforms there may violate a 1984 deal on the former British colony’s sovereignty.
Ukraine accuses Russia of ‘undisguised aggression’ as rebels advance
KIEV/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko accused Russia on Monday of “direct and undisguised aggression” which he said had radically changed the battlefield balance as Kiev’s forces suffered a further reverse in their war with pro-M…
UK’s fate in the balance as poll shows record support for Scottish independence
EDINBURGH/LONDON (Reuters) – A poll showing support for Scottish independence at its highest ever level threw the fate of the United Kingdom into question on Tuesday, just two weeks before Scots vote on whether to secede.
Putin orders building hastened at new Russian spaceport
VOSTOCHNY Russia (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday ordered construction sped up on a multi-billion-dollar spaceport in Russia’s Far East that he said would break reliance on the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and launch future missions…
Hamas popularity surges as Palestinian rivalry flares
RAMALLAH West Bank (Reuters) – Militant group Hamas would sweep Palestinian elections if they were held today after its support soared during seven weeks of war with Israel in Gaza, an opinion poll published on Tuesday found.
Thai junta blocks rights meeting in Bangkok
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s ruling junta ordered that a rights talk at a journalists’ club in Bangkok be shut down on Tuesday, further stoking concerns over freedom of expression in the country since a military power grab in May.
