U.S. focus is on boosting Iraqi forces, not air strikes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House signaled on Wednesday that it was looking to strengthen Iraqi forces to help them deal with an insurgency rather than to meet what one U.S. official said were past Iraqi requests for U.S. air strikes.
Iraq insurgents take Saddam’s home town in lightning advance
TIKRIT Iraq (Reuters) – Sunni rebels from an al Qaeda splinter group overran the Iraqi city of Tikrit on Wednesday and closed in on the biggest oil refinery in the country, making further gains in their rapid military advance against the Shi’ite-led go…
Cambodia’s strongman affirms pre-eminence as opposition challenge falters
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Riot police with assault rifles stand guard near high metal walls. Lines of parked trucks and coiled razor wire mark the perimeter of a site in Cambodia’s capital that’s strictly off limits to the public.
Putin accuses Ukraine of sabotaging gas talks
BRUSSELS/NOVO-OGARYOVO Russia (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine on Wednesday of forcing gas talks into a “dead end” by rejecting the offer of a cut in duty to resolve a price dispute that threatens supplies not just to Ukrain…
Ukraine president ready for talks if pro-Russia rebels lay down arms
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s new president signaled on Wednesday he would be ready to hold talks with opponents in eastern Ukraine if pro-Russian separatists waging an insurgency there agreed to lay down their weapons.
Suicide bomber hits army checkpoint near Libya’s Benghazi: officials
BENGHAZI Libya (Reuters) – A huge explosion likely caused by a suicide bomber at an army checkpoint outside the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi killed the attacker and wounded six others late on Wednesday, army officials said.
Somalia could slide backwards if world loses interest: U.N.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Hard-won security gains in Somalia could be undermined unless the rest of the world steps up support to improve Somalis’ lives, the United Nations’ special representative for the country said on Wednesday.
Ukraine president ready for talks if pro-Russia rebels lay down arms
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s new president signaled on Wednesday he would be ready to hold talks with opponents in eastern Ukraine if pro-Russian separatists waging an insurgency there agreed to lay down their weapons.
U.S. agency urges Myanmar to scrap proposed religion laws
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Draft laws in Myanmar aimed at protecting the country’s majority Buddhist identity by regulating religious conversions and marriages between people of different faiths have “no place in the 21st century” and should be withdrawn, …
Yemenis protest over power cuts, fuel shortages
SANAA (Reuters) – Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Yemeni president’s house in the capital Sanaa on Wednesday to call for the fall of the government, angry at a city-wide power cut about to enter its third day and severe petrol shortages.
