Iran protests at U.N. committee on envoy ban as U.S. stands ground
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Iran complained to a United Nations committee on Tuesday about Washington’s refusal to grant a visa to Tehran’s proposed new U.N. envoy due to his suspected links to hostage-takers, even as the United States stood firm on its…
South Sudan peace talks delayed as rebels deny massacre
NAIROBI/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – South Sudan peace talks were delayed again on Tuesday as United Nations peacekeepers battle to protect some 22,000 civilians at a base in Bentiu, where dead bodies lined the dusty streets after an ethnic massacre duri…
South Sudan peace talks delayed as rebels deny massacre
NAIROBI/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – South Sudan peace talks were delayed again on Tuesday as United Nations peacekeepers battle to protect some 22,000 civilians at a base in Bentiu, where dead bodies lined the dusty streets after an ethnic massacre duri…
France to unveil plan to fight Syrian jihadist threat
PARIS (Reuters) – France’s interior minister on Tuesday unveiled a raft of policies to stop its citizens joining the Syrian civil war, aiming to prevent young French Muslims becoming radicalized and posing a threat to their home country.
Search for MH370 reveals a military vulnerability for China
HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) – When Chinese naval supply vessel Qiandaohu entered Australia’s Albany Port this month to replenish Chinese warships helping search for a missing Malaysian airliner, it highlighted a strategic headache for Beijing – its lac…
Asia tensions simmer as Obama set to arrive in Tokyo
TOKYO (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama arrives in a tense Asian region on Wednesday, faced with the delicate task of assuring Japan and other regional allies of America’s commitment to their defense without hurting Washington’s vital ties with a…
Egypt issues law barring challenges to state deals
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour on Tuesday approved a law that would restrict the right to challenge state business and real estate deals to only the government, its involved institutes and business partners, a presidency state…
Israel encouraging more Christians to join military service
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel said on Tuesday it was stepping up efforts to encourage military enlistment by Christian Arab citizens, a community long closer to the larger Muslim minority in identifying with the Palestinians.
France says one of two hostages held in Mali probably dead
PARIS (Reuters) – A French man kidnapped two years ago in Mali by an al Qaeda-linked group is probably dead, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday after the insurgents said they had killed him.
Ivory Coast ex-rebel profiting from banned diamond trade: U.N. experts
ABIDJAN (Reuters) – A senior Ivory Coast army officer is breaking a diamond embargo and may be using profits to buy arms, U.N. experts have found, dealing a potentially embarrassing blow to government efforts to have the ban lifted.