BEIRUT/PARIS (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday gave Lebanese politicians until the end of October to start delivering on reforms, saying financial aid would be withheld and sanctions imposed further down the line if corruption gets in the... More »
BEIRUT (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron marked Lebanon’s centenary on Tuesday by planting a cedar tree, the emblem of the Middle East country that is collapsing under the weight of a crippling economic crisis. In his second trip to Lebanon in less ... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish police have arrested the Islamic State militant group’s top figure in Turkey, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Tuesday. Soylu said on Twitter “important plans” had been seized along with the militant. No further details wer... More »
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanese police fired tear gas to try to disperse rock-throwing protesters blocking a road near parliament in Beirut on Sunday in a second day of anti-government demonstrations triggered by last week’s devastating explosion. Fire broke out a... More »
MINSK (Reuters) – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko won a landslide re-election victory, the central election commission said on Monday, after bloody clashes between riot police and thousands of protesters who said the poll was rigged. Figures from the... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran said on Monday that countries should refrain from politicising the massive blast in Beirut last week, and that the United States should lift sanctions against Lebanon. “The blast should not be used as an excuse for political aims … the c... More »
KABUL (Reuters) – Long-awaited peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban were expected to start in Qatar within a week once the final batch of Taliban prisoners were released, the U.S. special envoy and Afghan government sources said on ... More »
JALALABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Afghan security forces laid siege to a prison seized by Islamic State fighters in the eastern city of Jalalabad on Monday, with at least 29 people killed after the militants’ overnight assault led to a mass jailbreak. More th... More »
KABUL (Reuters) – More than 300 prisoners were at large on Monday after an attack by Islamic State on an Afghan prison, the governor’s spokesman said on Monday, as clashes continued between prisoners and security forces. The assault began on Sunday night on th... More »
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanese Foreign Minister Nassif Hitti resigned on Monday, blaming a lack of political will to enact reforms to halt a financial meltdown which he warned could turn Lebanon into a failed state. Foreign donors have made clear there will be no... More »
KYIV (Reuters) – A full and comprehensive ceasefire between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists has entered into force in eastern Ukraine, opening the prospect of an end to military and civilian casualties, the two sides said on Monday. Ukr... More »
HERAT (Reuters) – In the eastern Afghan city of Herat, 18-year-old high school student Somaya Faruqi adjusts a suction cap as she puts the finishing touches before unveiling a low-cost, lightweight ventilator created by her and six other young women. The all-f... More »
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – The head of Somalia’s military escaped unhurt and one civilian was killed on Monday when a suicide attacker drove a bomb-laden car into a convoy in the capital Mogadishu, according to a military spokesman and an ambulance service. The al ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to ban Huawei from Britain’s 5G network in a landmark decision that will anger Beijing but win plaudits from President Donald Trump as the United States grapples with China’s rising economic and technologi... More »
KOBLENZ, Germany (Reuters) – Forty-nine faceless figures stand on the lawn outside a German courthouse, facing the windows of a courtroom behind which two suspected members of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s security services are standing trial for torture ... More »
MUMBAI (Reuters) – The Indian government will extend a free foodgrain distribution scheme for 800 million people amid the ongoing pandemic until the end of November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a national address on Tuesday. Modi said thousands of liv... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was never briefed about the reported Russian efforts to pay bounties to Taliban-linked militants to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan, blasting a New York Times report on the bounties. “Nobody brief... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House sought to play down reports it knew Russia had paid the Taliban bounties to kill U.S. troops, promising to brief Democrats on Tuesday after being accused of only sharing information with President Donald Trump’s fellow Re... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Both Democrats and President Donald Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress demanded more information from the White House on Monday after reports that Russian military intelligence offered militants bounties for killing U.S. troops in Af... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – Accounts by former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton of discussions between leaders of the United States and the two Koreas in his upcoming book are inaccurate and distorted, South Korea said on Monday. Bolton gives details in the bo... More »
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Many directors would have been devastated when their plans to show their first feature at the Cannes Film Festival were wrecked by the spread of COVID-19. But Lebanon’s Jimmy Keyrouz said he took heart from the themes of his movie “Broken Ke... More »
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan’s public prosecutor on Monday announced the discovery of a mass grave east of Khartoum suspected to contain the remains of students killed in 1998 as they tried escaping military service at a training camp. An investigation had been ... More »
AMMAN (Reuters) – The toughest U.S. sanctions yet on Syria take effect this week, increasing the pressure on President Bashar al-Assad as he grapples with a deepening economic crisis after a decade of war. Washington says sanctions will help hold Assad and his... More »
BAMAKO (Reuters) – Gunmen ambushed an army convoy near a town in central Mali on Sunday and killed a number of soldiers, residents from another nearby town said. Several other soldiers and around half of the dozen or so vehicles in the convoy were still missin... More »
KINSHASA (Reuters) – The Democratic Republic of Congo has recorded up to 17 Ebola cases in a new outbreak of the deadly virus in the western province of Equateur, and 11 of those infected have died, medical authorities said on Monday. The authorities had repor... More »
(Reuters) – Protests against racism triggered by the death of African American George Floyd have inspired art around the world, from murals in Syria and Pakistan to graffiti in Nairobi. At the Berlin Wall, a large portrait of Floyd is seen alongside yellow blo... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – The Chinese Beidou navigation network will be complete this month when its final satellite goes into orbit, giving China greater independence from U.S.-owned GPS and heating up competition in a sector long dominated by the United States. Th... More »
KABUL (Reuters) – A group of artists climbed ladders up one of the many blast walls snaking through the Afghan capital Kabul this week to paint a mural of George Floyd in solidarity with the anti-racism protests kindled by his death in police custody. Floyd, a... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s decision to cut U.S. troop levels in Germany blindsided a number of senior national security officials, according to five sources familiar with the matter, and the Pentagon had yet to receive a formal order to ca... More »
SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) – Indian police have released a pigeon belonging to a Pakistani fisherman after a probe found that the bird, which had flown across the contentious border between the nuclear-armed nations, was not a spy, two officials said on Friday.... More »
KABUL (Reuters) – The United Nations said Afghan civilian casualties jumped to 380 in April, expressing alarm about a “striking deterioration” in respect for international humanitarian law as the United States withdraws troops and attempts to usher in a peace ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump may have fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick because he was investigating U.S. military sales to Saudi Arabia, Democratic lawmakers said on Monday, although Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he ... More »
KABUL (Reuters) – Gunmen attacked a hospital in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Tuesday where the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders runs a maternity clinic, officials said. There was no immediate information about any casualties in ... More »
RIYADH (Reuters) – The Saudi-led coalition engaged in Yemen on Monday urged a leading separatist group that declared self-rule in the south to rescind its move, saying it was an “escalatory action” at a time all parties should focus on confronting the novel co... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates stands against a decision by a main Yemeni southern separatist group to declare self-rule in areas it controls, and urges full implementation of a peace deal agreed last year for the south, minister of state for forei... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean and Chinese officials on Tuesday cast doubt on reports North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was ill after media outlets said he had undergone a cardiovascular procedure and was in “grave danger”. Daily NK, a Seoul-based speciality web... More »
BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) – Rockets landed near a site connected with foreign oil firms and state-run companies in Iraq’s southern city of Basra early on Monday, without causing damage or casualties, oil and police sources said. The rockets, which police said were... More »
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s central military hospital, which for decades was inundated with victims of landmines and other casualties of the country’s internal conflict, is being outfitted to battle a new enemy: coronavirus. The hospital’s staff parking lot ... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a live speech on state TV for the start of the Persian new year, said on Friday that U.S. sanctions has forced the country to become self-sufficient as he called on Iranians to preserve unity. ... More »
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden’s government on Monday said it had decided to send troops to Mali to join French-led special forces that are fighting militants linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State in the Sahel region of North Africa. The Social Democrat and Green... More »
KASTANIES/LESBOS, Greece (Reuters) – A child died after being pulled from the seat when a boat capsized off the Greek island of Lesbos, officials said on Monday, the first reported fatality after the Turkish government opened its border last week to let migran... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea fired two short-range missiles off the east coast into the sea on Monday, resuming testing after a three-month pause, South Korea’s military said. The missiles were launched from the eastern coastal city of Wonsan and flew 240 km ... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – A French soldier has died while on operations in Burkina Faso, the French Armed Forces Ministry said in a statement on Monday. The ministry said the causes of the death of Sergeant Morgan Henry were unknown for now and an investigation was un... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – A Russian artist unveiled four giant paintings of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in central Istanbul on Saturday, saying he wanted to show the good ties between Ankara and Moscow despite differences over Syria and other issues. However ... More »
MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Saturday that Donald Trump deserved to be re-elected, praising the U.S. president’s reaction to his decision to end a decades-old military agreement with the United States. Trump said on Wednesday... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iranians should not allow U.S. President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” approach to harm national unity ahead of parliamentary elections, President Hassan Rouhani said in a speech, lashing out at hardliners over mass disqualification of ca... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran said on Monday that it had not closed the “door to negotiations” in efforts to resolve a dispute over its nuclear agreement with world powers that has escalated steadily since the United States withdrew from the deal in 2018. Foreign Min... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – As the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division departed for the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran, their divisional commander gave a simple order. All personnel entering the region were told to leave smartphones a... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Libya’s warring rival leaders will hold peace talks in Moscow on Monday alongside representatives from Russia and Turkey, Russian news agencies cited the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying. The talks come after a ceasefire in Libya, initiate... More »
DAVENPORT, Iowa/MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (Reuters) – A rare sign of discord emerged on Sunday between progressive Democratic presidential contenders Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders over a report that Sanders’ campaign volunteers had called her a candidate of the... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Oil prices steadied on Thursday a day after tumbling on concerns raised by an Iranian missile strike on Iraqi bases hosting U.S. forces. Brent crude futures were down 5 cents at $65.40 a barrel by 0728 GMT after a 4.1% fall on Wednesday. They... More »
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Asian stocks had their best session in weeks on Thursday, as the United States and Iran backed away from the brink of conflict in the Middle East and investors reversed their flight to safety. U.S. President Donald Trump responded to an I... More »
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) – About 20 soldiers were killed and nearly 1,000 people made homeless in a militant attack on a town in northeastern Nigeria, two residents and a military source said on Wednesday. The militants entered Monguno in Borno state posin... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Wednesday the House would vote on a resolution intended to limit President Donald Trump’s military actions regarding Iran, stating that concerns about the administration’s strate... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices fell almost 1% on Tuesday, surrendering some recent gains as investors reconsidered the likelihood of immediate supply disruptions in the Middle East after the United States killed a top Iranian military commander last week. Bre... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday postponed a trip to Ukraine so he could focus on the situation in Iraq after demonstrators attacked the U.S. embassy. Supporters of Iranian-backed Iraqi paramilitary groups stormed the U.S... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean and U.S. special forces troops recently conducted drills simulating the infiltration of an enemy facility, U.S. military photos seen by Reuters on Monday show, as tensions with North Korea ratchet up ahead of a year-end deadline.... More »
KABUL (Reuters) – The Taliban said their fighters killed a U.S. service member in Afghanistan on Monday and posted photographs of a blood-soaked backpack and the identity card of a American soldier to prove it. The U.S. military said in a statement an American... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Presenting his World War One battlefield movie “1917” as a single shot had pros and cons for Oscar winning director Sam Mendes. Mistakes meant lengthy retakes but “accidents” also gave an authenticity of life in the trenches. From start to f... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – U.S. special envoy for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, urged Pyongyang on Monday to return offers of talks, dismissing leader Kim Jong Un’s year-end deadline while highlighting Washington’s willingness to discuss “all issues of interest.” Tensio... More »
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – More than 100 activists protesting against a new Indian citizenship law were injured in New Delhi on Sunday as they clashed with police who used tear gas and baton charges to disperse demonstrators at a major university. Prime Minister Na... More »
INCHEON, South Korea (Reuters) – Stephen Biegun, the U.S. special envoy for North Korea, arrived in South Korea on Sunday as Pyongyang stepped up pressure on Washington to make concessions to revive stalled denuclearization talks ahead of a year-end deadline. ... More »
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s special justice tribunal has begun to exhume bodies from a grave in the country’s northwest as part of an investigation into as many as 50 possible extrajudicial killings allegedly committed by the army. The Special Jurisdiction f... More »
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Four Katyusha rockets struck a military base next to Baghdad International Airport on Monday wounding “six fighters”, a statement from the military said. Security forces found a rocket launcher and several rockets in a search of the area, t... More »
GISENYI, Rwanda (Reuters) – An Ebola survivor has fallen ill with the disease for a second time in eastern Congo, the Congolese health authorities said on Sunday, saying it was not yet clear if it was a case of relapse or reinfection. The Ebola outbreak in Dem... More »
LONDON/RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi Aramco is looking to buy insurance against war and terror attacks after a damaging drone and missile attack on some of its oil facilities in September, two sources told Reuters. Aramco, the world’s largest oil company, has been ... More »
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Turkey’s presidential administration has said that the purchase date for more S-400 missile systems from Russia is just a technicality and that it thinks a deal will happen before too long, the RIA news agency reported on Monday. Moscow hope... More »
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – International organizations warned on Friday of a potential resurgence of Ebola in Congo after deadly militia attacks on health centers forced aid groups to suspend operations and withdraw staff from the epidemic’... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper fired the Navy’s top civilian on Sunday over his handling of the case of a Navy SEAL who was convicted of battlefield misconduct in Iraq and later won the support of President Donald Trump. Esper also de... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Pope Francis expressed concern about future energy sources as he comforted victims of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster on Monday, noting a call by Japan’s Catholic bishops to abolish nuclear power outright. Around 18,000 people die... More »
SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) – South Korea and Japan traded fresh barbs on Monday, just days after agreeing to salvage an important intelligence-sharing pact, highlighting the fragile ties between the former wartime foes and allies of the United States. Officials fro... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper asked for Navy Secretary Richard Spencer’s resignation after losing confidence in him over his handling of the case of a Navy SEAL accused of war crimes, the Defense Department said on Sunday. “I am d... More »
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (Reuters) – The U.S. Navy Secretary said on Saturday he did not threaten to resign amid a disagreement with President Donald Trump over whether a Navy SEAL convicted of battlefield misconduct should face a board of peers who may oust him f... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri on Saturday warned regional countries of consequences if it is proven that they meddled to stoke recent unrest in Iran. “Some countries in the region should know that they will not have an easy life in t... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iranian Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri on Saturday warned regional countries of unspecified dire consequences if it is proven that they meddled to stoke unrest in Iran, the semi-official news agency Fars reported. “Some countries in the regio... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korean media reported on Monday that leader Kim Jong Un supervised air force drills for the second time in three days, even as the United States and South Korea decided to postpone their joint air drills to ease denuclearisation talks w... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean and U.S. officials resumed talks on Monday to narrow a $4 billion gap in how much they want Seoul to pay for the cost of hosting the American military amid public protests of “highway robbery” against sharply increased U.S. deman... More »
BANGKOK (Reuters) – China on Monday called on the U.S. military to stop flexing its muscles in the South China Sea and to avoid adding “new uncertainties” over Taiwan, during high-level talks that underscored tension between the world’s two largest economies. ... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Russia’s military export sales have not fallen despite U.S. sanctions, the head of state conglomerate Rostec said on Monday. Rostec, whose business includes weapons manufacturer Kalashnikov as well as Russian Helicopters and United Aircraft C... More »
THE HAGUE (Reuters) – Gambia has filed a case at the United Nations’ top court accusing Myanmar of committing genocide against its Rohingya Muslim minority, Gambian Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou said on Monday. The International Court of Justice (ICJ), a... More »
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey said on Monday it had deported two Islamic State militants — a German and an American — beginning a programme to repatriate fighters that has caused friction with its NATO allies since it launched an offensive in northern Syria. Allie... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany does not yet know the identity of seven people Turkey plans to deport on the grounds that they have fought for the Islamic State militant group, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday. Earlier, Turkey said it would deport seven ... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – The founder of an organization that trained the Syrian “White Helmets” emergency response group has died in Istanbul, his neighbor and a diplomat said on Monday. James Le Mesurier, founder of the Mayday Rescue group, was found dead early o... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – On the first day of November, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sent an internal email to thousands of State Department staff that began: “As champions of American diplomacy, we are in the truth-telling business.” While the email seen ... More »
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – A pigeon has been pinching poppies from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Australia’s national war memorial in Canberra and using them to build a colorful nest in the lead-up to Remembrance Day commemorations. The pigeon has created the ... More »
NAIROBI/JOHANNESBURG/LONDON (Reuters) – As jihadists wreaked ever more havoc in the last two years, mining firms in Burkina Faso rolled out extra security measures, from barracks for government troops protecting them to safe rooms for workers behind barbed wir... More »
BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Thousands of anti-government protesters gathered in central Baghdad on Monday, defying the prime minister’s plea to end protests which he says are costing Iraq’s economy billions of dollars and disrupting daily life. The protests have broke... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in on Monday suggested high-level talks to resolve a deepening political and trade row with Japan during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Moon’s spokeswoman said. The two leaders held an 11-m... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea and the United States could hold another round of working-level talks as soon as mid-November to expedite progress before a year-end deadline set by Pyongyang, a South Korean lawmaker said on Monday. North Korean and U.S. official... More »
SRINAGAR (Reuters) – One person died and at least 14 were injured on Monday in a grenade attack in Indian-administered Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar, two Indian officials told Reuters. Nine people were admitted to hospital, with one still in a critical condi... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Thousands of Iranians chanted “Death to America” near the old U.S. embassy on Monday, the 40th anniversary on the seizure of the mission, with the country’s army chief comparing the United States with a poisonous scorpion intent on harming Ir... More »
YANGON (Reuters) – Ethnic rebels in Myanmar have detained and interrogated a lawmaker and several Indian nationals, one of whom died, the rebels said on Monday, in the latest escalation of violence in the restive western state of Rakhine. Tens of thousands of ... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Aramco, as Saudi Arabian Oil Co is usually known, is set to add another superlative to the list: the world’s most valuable listed company. The sprawling state-owned oil giant announced on Sunday its intention to float on the Riyadh stock mark... More »
BEIRUT (Reuters) – The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Sunday it had agreed to withdraw more than 30 km (19 miles) from the Turkish border, an announcement welcomed by Damascus which said Turkey should now end its “aggression” in northeast S... More »
ISTANBUL (Reuters) – A Turkish soldier died in hospital after an attack by the Kurdish YPG militia in Syria’s Ras Al Ain region, Turkey’s Defense Ministry said on Monday, bringing the death toll from the attack to two. The ministry had said on Sunday that a ro... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fugitive Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi died “whimpering and crying” in a raid by U.S. special forces in northwest Syria, President Donald Trump announced on Sunday, fulfilling what he called his top national security goal. Ba... More »
(Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion on Sunday that Exxon Mobil or another U.S. oil company operate Syrian oil fields drew rebukes from legal and energy experts. “What I intend to do, perhaps, is make a deal with an ExxonMobil or one of our gre... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – For President Donald Trump, the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is a signature achievement that may help quell growing criticism from his own ranks, but it is unlikely to offer much relief from Democratic-led scrutiny ... More »
(Reuters) – The killing of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a U.S. raid is a further blow to a jihadist group that once held a swathe of territory in Iraq and Syria, experts said, but the organization and its ideology remain dangerous. Where once t... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of violent jihadist group Islamic State, died during an overnight raid led by U.S. military forces in Syria. Here is a description of the raid according to... More »
