Islamic State fighters battle Iraqi forces near Baiji refinery
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Islamic State insurgents battled Iraqi forces in the center of Baiji on Tuesday, a week after the army broke their prolonged siege of the country’s largest oil refinery just outside the town, an army officer and residents said.
Kazakhstan on brink of WTO membership deal, Afghanistan in line
GENEVA (Reuters) – The 160-member World Trade Organization is in active discussions with 10 countries aiming to become members, including Kazakhstan and Afghanistan, WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo said in a report on Tuesday.
Exclusive: U.S. to leave more troops in Afghanistan than first planned – sources
KABUL (Reuters) – The United States is preparing to increase the number of troops it keeps in Afghanistan in 2015 to fill a gap left in the NATO mission by other contributing nations, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the situation.
Libyan PM says government responsible for bombing Tripoli airport
BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – Libya’s internationally-recognized Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni said his government’s air force was responsible for strikes on the airport of the capital Tripoli, controlled by a rival administration, a statement said o…
Kenya police fire teargas at protest on security at president’s office
NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenyan police used teargas to disperse demonstrators shouting “President, Stop the killings!” outside President Uhuru Kenyatta’s offices on Tuesday, in a protest over 28 people killed in a weekend attack claimed by Islamist militant…
Insight: Merkel hits diplomatic dead-end with Putin
BERLIN (Reuters) – After nine months of non-stop German diplomacy to defuse the crisis in Ukraine, Chancellor Angela Merkel decided in mid-November that a change of tack was needed.
France postpones decision on delivery of Mistral carriers
PARIS (Reuters) – France suspended indefinitely on Tuesday delivery of the first of two Mistral helicopter carrier warships to Russia, citing conflict in eastern Ukraine where the West accuses Moscow of fomenting separatism.
Sudan says shuts U.N. peacekeepers’ Darfur rights office in Khartoum
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan has shut the human rights office of the joint United Nations-African Union (UNAMID) peacekeeping mission in Darfur, the foreign ministry said, amid tension over allegations of mass rape by Sudanese troops in the troubled regi…
UK boosts security service funding to help prevent ‘lone wolf’ attacks
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will increase spending on its security services to try to prevent so-called ‘lone-wolf’ attacks against the country, Prime Minister David Cameron said after the release of a report into the 2013 killing of a soldier in London…
Swiss police smash drug-smuggling ring, seize 55 kg of heroin
ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss police have arrested 15 people and seized 55 kg of heroin in raids to smash an international network smuggling drugs from Turkey to the Alpine country, police said on Tuesday.
