U.S. to press South China Sea freeze despite China rejection
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, at a meeting with Southeast Asian nations this weekend, will press for a voluntary freeze on actions aggravating territorial disputes in the South China Sea, in spite of Beijing’s rejection of …
Israel, Palestinians accept Egypt’s 72-hour truce bid
GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement agreed on Monday to an Egyptian-proposed ceasefire to end four weeks of fighting in the Gaza Strip, while Jerusalem was rocked by two attacks that appeared to be a backlash to the violen…
Iraqi PM orders air force to help Kurds fight Islamic State
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered his air force for the first time to back Kurdish forces against Islamic State fighters after the Sunni militants made another dramatic push through the north, state television reported on…
Russia to hold war games in show of strength near Ukraine
MOSCOW/DONESTSK Ukraine (Reuters) – Russia announced military exercises near the border with Ukraine on Monday in a show of strength as the Ukrainian army recaptured more territory from pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country.
UK summons Ethiopian diplomat over opposition official’s arrest
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain summoned Ethiopia’s chargé d’affaires on Monday to raise its concerns about the arrest of a British national being held in Ethiopia who has been sentenced to death over his involvement with an opposition political group.
Erdogan dominates Turkey’s uneven presidential race
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Cheers erupted from the packed stands when Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan scored his third goal in a celebrity soccer match to mark the opening of an Istanbul stadium.
Kurds ask U.S. court to scrap seizure order, allow crude delivery
HOUSTON (Reuters) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq asked a U.S. court on Monday to throw out an order to seize some 1 million barrels of disputed crude oil and allow the cargo to be freely delivered in Texas.
Karzai rejects claim deputy was involved in vote fraud
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday rejected allegations that one of his deputies had orchestrated a fraud against a longtime rival in Afghanistan’s recent presidential election.
Armenia sees no threat of war with Azerbaijan yet over Karabakh
YEREVAN/BAKU (Reuters) – Azerbaijan and Armenia accused each other on Monday of stoking tensions over the breakaway enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh inside Azerbaijan after a recurrence of fighting last week, although Yerevan said there was no immediate thr…
Spanish police arrest two young women suspected of heading for jihad
MADRID (Reuters) – Two young Spanish women, one of them under 18, have been arrested in the Spanish North African enclave of Melilla on suspicion of trying to join an Islamic State militant cell in the Middle East, the Interior Ministry said on Monday….
