Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks during a news briefing after the talks on the crisis in eastern Ukraine in Minsk, Belarus, November 29, 2016. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko Four-way talks about the conflict in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday wer... More »
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Ukrainian counterpart Pavlo Klimkin gather for talks on the crisis in eastern Ukraine, in Minsk, Belarus, November 29, 2016. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said there had been no ... More »
Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier (L) greets Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin as their Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov stands nearby during talks on the crisis in eastern Ukraine in Minsk, Belarus, November 29, 2016. REUTERS/Vasily F... More »
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government forces seized the strategic eastern Aleppo district of al-Sakhour on Monday in a wider advance that has driven rebels from a third of the rebel-held area in recent days. More »
Smoke rises from a damaged building after a strike on the rebel-held besieged al-Shaar neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria November 26, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail The Syrian army and its allies drove rebels from a strategically important district of eastern Al... More »
Arab coalition warplanes struck military sites in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Monday, residents said, as two-day ceasefire that was marred by heavy fighting entered its final hours. More »
A wall along the border between Turkey and Syria is pictured near the southeastern town of Deliosman in Kilis province, Turkey, August 29, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/File Photo Turkey temporarily closed a border gate with Syria on Monday near its southeastern p... More »
Seven Pakistani soldiers were killed by Indian shelling across the frontier in the disputed Kashmir region overnight, Pakistan’s military said on Monday, as tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors simmer. More »
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) meets with U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China, September 5, 2016. Sputnik/Kremlin/Alexei Druzhinin/via REUTERS Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Barack... More »
Lucas Museum of Narrative Art (LMNA) registrar Kathy Smeaton, from San Rafael, helps unpack the Yoda puppet used in the original movies, at the Star Wars Identities exhibition at the 02 in London, Britain, November 8, 2016. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez The “Star War... More »
By Kieran GuilbertGADO-BADZERE, Cameroon (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – More than 250,000 refugees from the Central African Republic are living in ea More »
By Kieran GuilbertGADO-BADZERE, Cameroon (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Alone, hungry and traumatized having watched her parents die in war-torn Cent More »
Two American service members were killed fighting the Taliban near the northern city of Kunduz on Thursday, the U.S. military said amid reports that air strikes called in to protect the troops had caused heavy civilian casualties. More »
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during his meeting with mukhtars at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, October 19, 2016. Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Presidential Palace/Handout via REUTERS Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday Germa... More »
Shi’ite forces in Iraq aim to cut off the western supply route used by Islamic State out of Mosul on Thursday, the leader of the largest militia told Iraqi television. More »
Tribal fighters walk as fire and smoke rises from oil wells, set ablaze by Islamic State militants in the oil-producing region of Qayyara, Iraq. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani With Iraqi troops battling inside Islamic State’s Iraqi bastion of Mosul, the militants’ le... More »
An employee works at an Israel Antiquities Authority laboratory in Jerusalem October 26, 2016. REUTERS/Ammar Awad Israeli archaeologists have made public a fragment of an ancient text which they say is the earliest Hebrew reference to Jerusalem outside the Bib... More »
Peshmerga forces gather on the east of Mosul during preparations to attack Mosul, Iraq, October 16, 2016. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari Iraqi government forces, with air and ground support from the U.S.-led coalition, launched an offensive on Monday to drive Islamic S... More »
A rebel fighter takes away a flag that belonged to Islamic State militants in Akhtarin village, after rebel fighters advanced in the area, in northern Aleppo Governorate. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi Turkey-backed Syrian rebels seized control of nine areas, including... More »
A view shows an office that was used by Islamic State militants in Turkman Bareh village, after rebel fighters advanced in the area, in northern Aleppo Governorate, Syria, October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi Syrian rebels said they captured the village of D... More »
A Russian serviceman walks past the Buk-1M missile system at the Army-2015 international military forum in Kubinka, outside Moscow, Russia, June 16, 2015. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov A Russian firm has caused a stir after putting on sale a children’s bed in the sha... More »
The “Secret Wars” exhibition of guides to sabotage, hollow high-heeled shoes, fake moustaches and code-deciphering machines opened on Wednesday in Paris, offering a glimpse into the often fantasized world of secret agents and intelligence services. More »
German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrives at the National Palace in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa October 11, 2016. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on a trip to Ethiopia, said she wanted the African Union to get involved in trying to solve... More »
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attends a joint news conference with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin (not pictured) following their meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, October 10, 2016. REUTERS/Osman Orsal Turkish President Erdogan told Iraqi Prime Minister H... More »
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Ethiopia on Tuesday to open up its politics and ensure police do not use heavy-handed tactics against protesters, after more than a year of unrest that rights groups say has led to about 500 deaths. More »
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn attends the opening ceremony of the 26th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) at the AU headquarters in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, January 30, 2016. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri Ethiopian Prime ... More »
Suspected Kurdish militants shot and killed an official in Turkey’s ruling AK Party late on Monday, authorities said, the second shooting of a politician in as many days in the southeast. More »
French President Francois Hollande addresses the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, October 11, 2016. REUTERS/Vincent Kessler French President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday it was vital to continue talking to Russia desp... More »
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during a session of the 23rd World Energy Congress in Istanbul, Turkey, October 10, 2016. Sputnik/Kremlin/Alexei Druzhinin via REUTERS Russian President Vladimir Putin will not come to Paris next week after de... More »
The International Court of Justice on Wednesday rejected suits filed by the tiny Marshall Islands against the world’s nuclear powers that sought to force them to do more to disarm. More »
A woman carrying her daughter casts her vote in a referendum on a peace deal between the government and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels in Medellin, Colombia, October 2, 2016. REUTERS/Fredy Builes Colombians narrowly rejected a peace deal ... More »
At least six militants attacked an Indian army camp in north Kashmir on Sunday night, killing one border guard and wounding another, two weeks after a similar attack killed 19 Indian soldiers and ratcheted up tensions between India and Pakistan. More »
FILE PHOTO: A man walks in a desert during an election campaign in Kunduz province, northern Afghanistan March 19, 2014. REUTERS/Ahmad Masood/File photo Taliban fighters mounted a coordinated assault on the northern city of Kunduz overnight, attacking from fou... More »
Supporters of ‘No’ vote celebrate after the nation voted ‘No’ in a referendum on a peace deal between the government and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels,in Bogota, Colombia, October 2, 2016. REUTERS/John Vizcaino Colombia’s government and ... More »
Ukrainian artist Daria Marchenko gives comments to journalists near the artwork ‘Heart of War’ from the series ‘Five Elements of War’, created in cooperation with her colleague Daniel Green and made of bullet and shell cartridges from the frontline of a milita... More »
The Kremlin said on Monday it was gravely concerned by the situation in Syria where “terrorists” were using a ceasefire to regroup their forces and wage offensives against government troops. More »
An explosion ripped through a bus carrying military personnel in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast on Monday, killing three soldiers and wounding eight, hospital and security sources said. More »
A significant portion of Kurdish YPG militia fighters who were in the northern Syrian town of Manbij are withdrawing to the east of the Euphrates river in a move welcomed by Turkey, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told reporters on Monday. More »
A man walks on the rubble of damaged buildings after an airstrike on the rebel held al-Qaterji neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria September 25, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail Dozens of air strikes hit rebel-held areas of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo overnig... More »
India stepped up patrols along its de facto border with Pakistan on Monday after gunmen killed 17 soldiers at a nearby army base, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration weighed its response to an attack India blames on its neighbor. More »
Turkish air planes hit Islamic State targets in northern Syria, the Turkish military said in a statement on Monday. More »
A general view shows Castello road in Aleppo, Syria September 16, 2016. REUTERS/Abdalrhman Ismail Moscow stepped up its war of words with Washington on Sunday, saying air strikes by a U.S.-led coalition on the Syrian army threatened the implementation of a U.S... More »
People ride a motorcycle near damaged buildings in rebel-held Ain Tarma, eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta, Syria September 17, 2016. Picture taken September 17, 2016. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh A seven-day ceasefire declared by the Syrian army expired at midnight... More »
A Baltimore commission has urged the removal of two city-owned Confederate monuments, including one to a Supreme Court justice notorious for a 19th century ruling against black Americans, the mayor said on Wednesday. More »
Suspected Kurdish militants detonated a car bomb near local government offices in Turkey’s southeastern city of Van on Monday, wounding scores of people, a day after two dozen mayors from Kurdish-run municipalities were stripped of office. More »
A fighter from the Free Syrian Army’s Al Rahman legion walks past damaged buildings in the rebel held Jobar, a suburb of Damascus, Syria September 6, 2016. Picture taken September 6, 2016. REUTERS/Bassam Khabieh Government troops and insurgents fought in sever... More »
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Monday the state was determined to recover all areas from terrorist groups, the presidency said in a statement on its social media accounts, hours before a U.S.-Russian ceasefire deal was due to take effect. More »
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gives a speech at the 9th Congress of the Kim Il Sung Socialist Youth League in this undated photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on August 29, 2016. KCNA/ via REUTERS min Park and Jack ... More »
A riot police officer stands guard in front of Sur municipality office, following the removal of the local mayor from office after he was deemed to support Kurdish militants, in Diyarbakir, Turkey, September 11, 2016. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar Turkey appointed new ... More »
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov talks during a news conference at the Foreign Ministry in Beirut December 5, 2014. REUTERS/Aziz Taher (LEBANON – Tags: POLITICS) A new round of talks between the Syrian government and opposition may be held in ... More »
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at the Cleveland Arts and Social Sciences Academy in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., September 8, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton clashed over national security again ... More »
Director Nick Hamm (C) poses with actors Colm Meaney (L) and Timothy Spall as they attend the photocall for the movie ‘The Journey’ at the 73rd Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy September 7, 2016. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi Film director Nick Hamm hopes hi... More »
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attend a news conference after a meeting on Syria in Geneva, Switzerland, August 26, 2016. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister S... More »
At least four explosions hit government-held parts of Syria on Monday, in the cities of Tartous and Homs and in the countryside outside Damascus, state media and a monitor said. More »
A North Korean flag flies on a mast at the Permanent Mission of North Korea in Geneva October 2, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo min Park More »
All three ballistic missiles launched by North Korea on Monday were medium-range Rodong-class and flew about 1,000 km (600 miles), South Korea’s military said. More »
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) chats with US President Barack Obama during the opening of the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, September 4, 2016. REUTERS/Nicolas Asfonri/Pool U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday met on the sidelines of t... More »
Director and actor Mel Gibson (L) and actor Andrew Garfield attend the photocall for the movie ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ at the 73rd Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy September 4, 2016. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi Mel Gibson called his relationship with Hollywood “su... More »
Director Francois Ozon poses with actors Pierre Niney, Paula Beer as they attend the photocall for the movie ‘Frantz’ at the 73rd Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy September 3, 2016. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi French director Francois Ozon shot “Frantz” in... More »
Members of Libyan forces allied with the UN-backed government fire a weapon towards Islamic State militants in neighbourhood Number One in central Sirte, Libya August 28, 2016. REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny At least 34 Libyan fighters were killed and more than 180 wo... More »
Turkish armoured personnel carriers drive towards the border in Karkamis on the Turkish-Syrian border in the southeastern Gaziantep province, Turkey, August 27, 2016. REUTERS/Umit Bektas Turkey’s army and its allies thrust deeper into Syria on Sunday, seizing ... More »
Syrian-Kurdish YPG fighters appear to be reinforcing the Syrian city of Manbij, captured this month from Islamic State, with weapons and personnel, regional security sources told Reuters on Monday. More »
At least 15 bodies were transferred to a hospital run by Medicins Sans Frontieres in the southern Yemen city of Aden on Monday, a source at the hospital said, after an attack on a building used by local militias. More »
An Australian aid worker kidnapped in Afghanistan four months ago was freed following a raid by Afghan special forces near the eastern city of Jalalabad, officials said on Monday. More »
BEIRUT A suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest on a bus in Syria near the Atmeh border crossing with Turkey late on Sunday, killing at least 32 people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The bus was carrying fighters from foreign-backed rebel f... More »
DUBAI U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned an air strike on a school in northern Yemen that killed 10 children and called for an investigation, while the Saudi-led coalition said the attack had targeted a training facility run by the Houthi group. Aid ... More »
NEW DELHI Two armed militants attacked a police station in Indian-ruled Kashmir on Monday, police said, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his annual Independence Day speech in the national capital, New Delhi. The gunmen were unable to take control of t... More »
ISTANBUL Turkish police detained 17 suspected militants in a sweep in Istanbul on Thursday that included a raid on offices of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), state media said, hours after twin bomb attacks hit the mainly Kurdish southeast. Sec... More »
MOSCOW Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a meeting with his Security Council to discuss additional security measures for Crimea after the clashes on the contested peninsula, the Kremlin said on Thursday. Russia was considering tightening security at th... More »
LAHORE, Pakistan A Pakistani opposition lawmaker on Wednesday proposed banning 24-hour cartoon TV channels, specifically the popular Japanese series “Doraemon”, drawing ridicule on social media in a country fighting corruption, poverty and Islamist militants. ... More »
BEIRUT A Russian military helicopter carrying five people was shot down in the north of Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province on Monday, the Russian defence ministry said. Russian air forces are supporting President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s five-year-old civil w... More »
BEIRUT Syrian rebel fighters have launched a major assault on government-held southwestern parts of Aleppo to try to reopen supply lines after the army and its allies tightened their siege of opposition-held parts of the city last week. The rebels are trying t... More »
KABUL The Taliban claimed responsibility for a truck bomb attack on a military and logistics services compound, mainly used by foreigners, in Kabul early on Monday after a powerful explosion was heard all around the city. However, casualties appear to have bee... More »
DUBAI Islamic State on Sunday condemned as an “apostate” a U.S. Muslim soldier killed in Iraq whose story has re-ignited debate in the 2016 presidential election on the role of Muslims in American life. Dabiq, the militant group’s online magazine, showed a pic... More »
KABUL Civilians are being killed and wounded in record numbers in Afghanistan, the United Nations reported on Monday, just days after one of the deadliest attacks ever in Kabul. Overall at least 1,601 civilians were killed and 3,565 wounded in the war in the f... More »
TRIPOLI Unable to get specialist care for his six-year-old daughter in Libya or a visa for treatment abroad, Abdulhakim Shaybi bought a motor boat and set off with her last month across the Mediterranean. Two-and-a-half hours into their journey from Sabratha i... More »
SARAJEVO A World Heritage listing for 70,000 medieval tombstones spread across four countries that emerged from Yugoslavia’s bloody break up in the 1990s was praised on Monday as a rare example of successful cooperation between the former foes. Bosnia, Croatia... More »
ISTANBUL/ANKARA Turkey widened a crackdown on suspected supporters of a failed military coup on Sunday, taking the number of people rounded up in the armed forces and judiciary to 6,000, and the government said it was in control of the country and economy. Pre... More »
SEOUL South Korea announced on Wednesday the site where a U.S. THAAD anti-missile defense unit will be deployed against North Korea’s missile and nuclear threats, a plan that has angered China and prompted a North Korean warning of retaliation. South Korea and... More »
BEIRUT/AMMAN Rebel areas of Aleppo have stockpiled enough basic supplies to survive months of siege by Syrian pro-government forces that cut off their half of the city last week, even though some goods are running out, an opposition official said. Government f... More »
ANKARA Turkey aims to develop good relations with Syria and Iraq, and both countries need to be stable for counter-terrorism efforts to succeed, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said on Wednesday. Turkey has long been one of Syrian President Bashar al-As... More »
FALLUJA, Iraq Iraqi forces recaptured the last district held by Islamic State militants in the city of Falluja on Sunday and the general commanding the operation declared the battle complete after nearly five weeks of fighting. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi c... More »
BAGHDAD/ERBIL, Iraq About 40,000 residents of Falluja, Islamic State’s besieged stronghold near Baghdad, have fled in the last three weeks, but a similar number are trapped despite the Iraqi army’s attempts to secure escape routes for them, officials said on T... More »
BRUSSELS Britain, Germany and the United States advanced plans on Tuesday to spearhead a new NATO force on Russia’s border from next year, but some eastern allies said the alliance’s effort must go further to deter Moscow. Weeks before a critical NATO summit i... More »
MOSCOW Russian President Vladimir Putin and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will talk about sanctions and energy projects when they meet in St Petersburg this week, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters. “The subject of sanctions will be r... More »
MOSCOW Exxon Mobil (XOM.N) Chief Executive Rex Tillerson is to attend a major investment forum in Russia this week, two industry sources said, ending a two year absence from the event that began when sanctions were imposed on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine.... More »
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – When British art curator Sue McAlpine first visited makeshift migrant camps in Calais on Frances’s northern coast, the sight of families living in muddy tents and children wearing flip-flops in the middle of winter saddene... More »
AMMAN The Syrian army pushed into Raqqa province, home to the de facto capital of Islamic State, after a major Russian-backed offensive against the militants, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday. The offensive is the third big assault on t... More »
SINGAPORE The recent lifting of the U.S. arms embargo against Vietnam boosted trust between the former enemies, but significant weapons purchases are some way off, a senior Vietnamese military official said on Saturday. Deputy Defence Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh ... More »
TZEELIM VALLEY, Israel The disposable paper face masks offer little protection from the clouds of dust that fill the cliffside cave where Israeli archaeologists are wrapping up the largest excavation in the Judean desert of the past half-century. Clipped into ... More »
SARAJEVO A group of artists unveiled a huge mural of David Bowie in Sarajevo on Saturday to commemorate the British musician’s humanitarian work during the Bosnian war. To the sound of Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” up to 300 people attended the inauguration of the m... More »
KABUL Thousands of demonstrators from Afghanistan’s Hazara minority marched in protest through Kabul on Monday saying that they are missing out on a multi-million dollar power transmission line, posing a major challenge to the government of President Ashraf Gh... More »
LONDON British Prime Minister David Cameron stands by his description of Donald Trump’s proposal for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States as “divisive, stupid and wrong”, a spokesman said on Monday. Trump, when asked about Cameron’s criticism,... More »
ISTANBUL Turkish and U.S.-led coalition forces struck Islamic State targets north of the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, killing 27 fighters, state-run Anadolu Agency and other media reported. Turkish artillery and rocket launchers fired into Syria while warp... More »
ISTANBUL Long-running efforts to fully restore Israeli-Turkish ties strained after an Israeli raid of a Turkish boat in 2010 must now await the formation of a new government in Ankara, Israel’s top diplomat in Turkey said. Turkey downgraded diplomatic relation... More »
MOSCOW Russia and the United States have agreed to extend the “regime of calm” in Syria’s city of Aleppo for another 48 hours starting from May 10, RIA news agency on Tuesday quoted Russia’s Defence Ministry as saying. (Reporting by Lidia Kelly- Editing by Dmi... More »
VILNIUS A faceless skull with a crown of spikes and blood pouring from its wounds, symbolizing a Syrian caught in the horror of civil war, stares out from a painting on the wall in a student theater in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. This is just one image by ... More »
HANOVER, Germany/WASHINGTON President Barack Obama will announce on Monday he plans to send as many as 250 additional U.S. troops to Syria, a sharp increase in the American presence working with local Syrian forces fighting Islamic State militants, U.S. offici... More »
MAKHMOUR, Iraq Towering over his Kurdish partner at a checkpoint in northern Iraq, U.S. volunteer John Cole cuts an unusual figure on the road to the newest front in the war against Islamic State. Seven feet (2.1 meters) tall and holding his assault rifle upsi... More »
DUBAI Yemeni government forces and their allies killed more than 800 al Qaeda fighters when they advanced into the port city of Mukalla, the Saudi-led pro-government coalition said. Yemeni and Emirati soldiers seized the seaport on Sunday, depriving the group ... More »
