China says will never send military to oil rig spat with Vietnam
BEIJING (Reuters) – A Chinese official said on Friday that China will never send military forces to the scene of an increasingly ugly spat with Vietnam over an oil rig in the South China Sea and accused Hanoi of trying to force an international lawsuit…
Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric issues call to fight jihadist rebels
Baghdad, Iraq (Reuters) – Iraq’s most senior Shi’ite Muslim cleric urged followers to take up arms against a full-blown Sunni militant insurgency to topple Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a conflict that threatens civil war and a possible break-…
Afghans head to polls again in final test as Taliban threats loom
KABUL (Reuters) – Afghans head to the polls on Saturday for a second round of voting to elect a successor to President Hamid Karzai in a decisive test of Afghanistan’s ambitions to transfer power democratically for the first time in its tumultuous hist…
Iraqi military breakdown fueled by corruption, politics
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Iraqi army that disintegrated under an onslaught by Islamist fighters this week was a hollow force, riven by corruption, poor leadership and sectarian splits – a shadow of the military Washington had hoped to leave in the war…
Italy PM Renzi says will not accept party ‘anarchy’ on reforms
ROME (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Friday accused 13 senators from his own party of seeking “15 minutes of fame” after they withdrew their backing for an overhaul of the political system, and pledged to push ahead with reforms.
Israeli forces search for three missing Jewish teens in West Bank
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli forces are searching for three Jewish teenagers who went missing in the occupied West Bank late on Thursday, the military said on Friday.
Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric issues call to fight jihadist rebels
Baghdad, Iraq (Reuters) – Iraq’s most senior Shi’ite Muslim cleric urged followers to take up arms against a full-blown Sunni militant insurgency to topple Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, escalating a conflict that threatens civil war and a poss…
U.N. peacekeepers need to expand further in Mali’s north: U.N.’s Ban
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – U.N. peacekeepers should expand further into the volatile north of Mali, beyond cities and towns, amid fears that militants will step up their attacks against international and Malian troops and threats to civilians, U.N. chi…
Iraq’s implosion could redraw Middle East boundaries
BEIRUT (Reuters) – The capture of Iraqi cities Mosul and Tikrit by al Qaeda-influenced jihadis has not only redrawn the map of a country corroded by sectarian hatred.
Yemeni attack kills four suspected al-Qaeda militants: state news agency
ADEN (Reuters) – Yemeni forces bombed and killed four suspected al-Qaeda militants in the country’s restive South, military sources told the state news agency Saba on Friday.
