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 »
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 »
By Zoe TabaryLONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Child brides in Turkey are often raped, beaten and forced to undergo virginity tests, according to More »
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih talks during the 23rd World Energy Congress in Istanbul, Turkey, October 10, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih will not attend meetings on Wednesday between OPEC and non-OPEC... 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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Beer flows from a bottle of Stella Artois into a glass in this picture illustration taken in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina November 5, 2015. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic Once Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR) seals its 79 billion pound ($104.8 billion) takeover of rival ... 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 »
Boys sit on the Iraqi-Turkish pipeline in Zakho district of the Dohuk Governorate of the Iraqi Kurdistan province, Iraq, August 28, 2016. REUTERS/Ari Jalal Iraq’s government would consider selling crude through Iran should talks with the autonomous Kurdish reg... 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 »
People reflect on a floor with an airplane symbol at the air base in Incirlik, Turkey, January 21, 2016. REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz/Pool Germany and Turkey have made progress in resolving a dispute over Turkey’s refusal to allow German lawmakers to visit 250 troop... More »
VIENNA Two suspects have been arrested in connection with an attempt to set fire to a Turkish cultural center in the northern Austrian town of Wels, police said on Monday, at a time of heightened tension between Vienna and Ankara. The attack took place in earl... 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 »
BERLIN The European Union should grant Turks visa-free travel in October or the migrant deal that involves Turkey stemming the flow of illegal migrants to the bloc should be put aside, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told a German newspaper. Asked whether hu... More »
By Daren Butler | ISTANBUL ISTANBUL Turkish police raided offices at three Istanbul courthouses on Monday after detention warrants were issued for 173 judicial personnel as part of an investigation into last month’s failed coup attempt, the private Dogan news ... 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 »
NEW YORK The United States will likely see more cases of local Zika virus transmission going forward, a U.S. health official warned on Sunday, although it is unlikely to turn into a broader situation as seen in Brazil or Puerto Rico. The comments comes after F... More »
CAIRO An aircraft powered by solar energy left Egypt on Sunday on the last leg of the first ever fuel-free flight around the globe. Solar Impulse 2, a spindly single-seat plane, took off from Cairo in darkness en route to Abu Dhabi, its final destination, with... More »
BUDAPEST Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Saturday said Donald Trump had proposed security policies that Europe should take to heart to solve a security crisis he blames on uncontrolled immigration. Speaking at a summer university in Baile Tusnad, Roma... More »
FRANKFURT European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Thursday events in Turkey since the coup attempt may impact economic sentiment in the euro zone. “It is very difficult to see how these geopolitical events will affect the (euro zone) economy,” he ... 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 »
BRUSSELS New Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he would assure his EU counterparts on Monday that Britain would continue to cooperate closely with them once it leaves the bloc following last month’s Brexit referendum. “The message I’ll be taking to our frie... More »
VIENNA It would be unacceptable for Turkey to reintroduce the death penalty in response to Friday’s attempted coup, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said in an interview published on Monday ahead of a meeting of his European Union counterparts. Turkish... More »
BRUSSELS The swift rounding up of judges and others after a failed coup in Turkey indicated the government had prepared a list beforehand, the EU commissioner dealing with Turkey’s membership bid, Johannes Hahn, said on Monday. Following a failed coup attempt ... More »
BRUSSELS EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini warned the Turkish government on Monday against taking steps that would damage the constitutional order following a failed weekend coup. “We were the first… during that tragic night to say that the legitimate... More »
ANKARA The Turkish economy will not suffer permanently from Friday’s failed coup attempt despite a short-lived, downward impact on growth, Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said on Monday. Simsek said Turkey’s macroeconomic fundamentals were solid and the go... More »
BRUSSELS European foreign ministers will urge Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday to respect the law and human rights in dealing with defeated coup plotters but have limited leverage over their strategic neighbor. Diplomats said an EU line on Turkey wou... More »
SINGAPORE The Turkish lira rose against the dollar and the safe-haven yen fell broadly on Monday in the wake of a failed Turkish coup over the weekend, easing investor concerns about political uncertainty and geopolitical risks. The Turkish lira recovered some... More »
NEW YORK Oil prices were either side of unchanged on Sunday in early trade as the impact from Turkey’s failed military coup was broadly expected to be limited on global markets. The most-active Brent futures for September delivery rose $0.02, or 0.04 percent, ... 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 »
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 »
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 »
LONDON Another grass court tournament will be added to the calendar next year after the ATP announced on Monday that a World Tour 250 event would be staged in Antalya, Turkey in June. The tournament will take place from June 25-July 1 and give players another ... More »
ANKARA Tayyip Erdogan’s ambitions for a swift move to strong presidential rule could suffer if dissidents in Turkey’s nationalist opposition succeed in a party leadership challenge that could bolster their party’s electoral support. A bid by several hundred me... 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 »
BERLIN Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is seeking a preliminary injunction against German publisher Axel Springer’s chief executive Mathias Doepfner, Erodogan’s lawyer said on Tuesday. Ralf Hoecker, the lawyer, told Reuters the Turkish leader wanted the injun... 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 »
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 »
HANOVER, Germany German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday that she did not favor classical “safe zones” in Syria which would need to be protected by foreign forces but believed that peace talks in Geneva could agree areas where fleeing Syrians could feel... More »
BERLIN Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday Germany wanted to find a solution to the migrant crisis but this was separate to artistic freedom after the Turkish leader filed a complaint against a comedian for insulting him with a satirical poem. “I want to ... More »
DIKILI, Turkey/LESBOS, Greece Migrants sent back from the Greek island of Lesbos began arriving in Turkey on Monday under a disputed European Union scheme aimed at closing the main route by which a million people poured across the Aegean Sea to Greece in the l... More »
BRUSSELS Belgian police were hunting on Thursday for a “third man” filmed with two Islamic State suicide bombers at Brussels Airport as investigators accumulated evidence that the same jihadist network was involved in the deadly Paris attacks last November. As... More »
ANKARA The death toll in a car bomb attack in the Turkish capital Ankara has risen to 37 people, Health Minister Mehmet Muezzinoglu said on Monday, adding that 71 people were still being treated in hospital. Of those in hospital, 15 were in serious condition, ... More »
BRUSSELS Europe’s emerging migration policy is looking increasingly like Donald Trump without the hair. Except that, unlike the Republican presidential frontrunner, who wants to make Mexico pay for a wall to keep migrants out of the United States, the European... More »
GENEVA/BRUSSELS The United Nations and human rights groups warned on Tuesday that a tentative European Union deal to send back all irregular migrants to Turkey in exchange for political and financial rewards could be illegal. “I am deeply concerned about any a... More »
ISTANBUL A day after Turkey’s top-selling newspaper Zaman was taken over by the state, it dropped its criticisms of the government on Sunday and published flattering stories on President Tayyip Erdogan. The episode is the latest twist in a long-running conflic... More »
MOSCOW Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke on the phone on Sunday about closer cooperation between their countries’ militaries on the Syria ceasefire plan, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday. The conversati... More »
SHANGHAI Investors hoping for a grand plan from the world’s top financial officials to stabilize shaky markets are set for disappointment, insiders say, when finance ministers and central bankers gather this week in Shanghai to discuss the troubled global econ... More »
BEIRUT The Syrian army advanced toward the Turkish border on Monday in a major offensive backed by Russia and Iran that rebels say now threatens the future of their nearly five-year-old insurrection against President Bashar al-Assad. Iranian backed-militias pl... More »
ANKARA Turkey is unsettled by “anti-Islamic” messages in the U.S. presidential race, in which the Republican front runner called for a ban on foreign Muslims, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday. Donald Trump last month advocated banning all forei... More »
MOSCOW Russia will consider Afghanistan’s request for arms supply in a careful manner, but that task belongs first of all to the United States, RIA news agency cited Kremlin’s special envoy to Afghanistan as saying on Monday. Zamir Kabulov told the agency that... More »
ZURICH NATO has ruled out sending ground troops to fight against Islamic State militants in Syria, NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg told a Swiss newspaper, stressing the need to bolster local forces in the conflict. “That is not on the agenda of the coa... More »
BAGHDAD Two senior U.S. senators called on Sunday for Washington to nearly triple military force levels in Iraq to 10,000 and send an equal number of troops to Syria as part of a multinational ground force to counter Islamic State in both countries. Republican... More »
ABU DHABI U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was set to hold talks with senior Emirati and Saudi officials in Abu Dhabi on Monday to find ways to bring Syrian opposition groups together at a conference that will be hosted by Saudi Arabia next month. The hastil... More »
KUALA LUMPUR From Turkey to the Philippines to Malaysia, it’s been an overseas trip for U.S. President Barack Obama that often veered off-script. By now, Obama was supposed to have showcased the long-promised benefits of his strategic shift toward Asia as he n... More »
PARIS/BRUSSELS French warplanes pounded Islamic State positions in Syria on Sunday as police in Europe widened their investigations into coordinated attacks in Paris that killed more than 130 people. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for Friday’s suicid... More »
BELEK, Turkey U.S. President Barack Obama vowed on Sunday to step up efforts to eliminate Islamic State and prevent more attacks like those in Paris, while urging Russia’s Vladimir Putin to focus on combating the jihadist group in Syria. A White House official... More »
PARIS French police raided homes of suspected Islamist militants across the country overnight in the aftermath of the Paris shootings, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Monday as he warned of potential further attacks. Valls said that since this summe... More »
BELEK, Turkey Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday he wanted Britain to carry out air strikes against Islamic State militants (ISIL) in Syria but still needed to convince more lawmakers to back such action. “I have always said I think that it is sensibl... More »
WASHINGTON Murals from ancient Egypt’s vibrant New Kingdom era depicting bees and honey amid scenes of everyday life some 4,400 years ago provide early evidence of people using of beehive products. But humans have been using the stuff far longer than that. Sci... More »
LONDONA report by the World Anti-Doping Agency on Monday is set to deepen an athletics scandal that, according to one of the document’s authors, eclipses even the alleged corruption at soccer’s governing body FIFA. According to leaks to a French investigative ... More »
ANKARA Turkey’s Islamist-rooted AK Party swept to an unexpected victory in elections on Sunday, returning the country to single-party rule in an outcome that will boost the power of President Tayyip Erdogan but may sharpen deep social divisions. With almost al... More »
LONDON Turkish Airlines Open champion Victor Dubuisson is less than pleased that he will be left twiddling his thumbs when the European Tour’s money-spinning Final Series continues in China on Thursday. The Frenchman sobbed like a child on Sunday after winning... More »
ISTANBUL Disparate ideas like a sea-borne zoo, an Aboriginal peace treaty and the lost birdsong of a ruined Armenian capital form a cohesive body of work at this year’s Istanbul Biennial, a top international art show taking place in turbulent times. “Saltwater... More »
ANKARA Turkey is targeting Islamic State in investigations of a double suicide bombing in Ankara that killed up to 128 people, officials said on Sunday, while opponents of President Tayyip Erdogan blamed him for the worst such attack in Turkish history. Govern... More »
MOSCOW Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will meet the United Nations’ special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, on Tuesday, RIA news agency quoted the ministry’s press department as saying. RIA said the information came in response to a question on wh... More »
ANKARA Turkey remains opposed to any political transition in Syria involving President Bashar al-Assad, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted as saying on Monday in an apparent clarification of its policy. Turkey has been Assad’s most outspoken cri... More »
BERLIN The head of the European Parliament said on Monday that he expects European Union interior ministers to agree on a voluntary scheme to relocate 160,000 migrants at their meeting on Tuesday. “There will be some discussions, but at the end there will be a... More »
AMMAN/BEIRUT Rebels who have inflicted big losses on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad say Russia’s intervention in support of its ally will only lead to an escalation of the war and may encourage the rebels’ Gulf Arab backers to pour in more military aid. Russ... More »
ISTANBUL Turkey’s military said on Monday its warplanes bombarded Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) targets overnight after the militants staged a deadly attack in which, one security source told Reuters, 16 Turkish soldiers were killed. The PKK said it had killed... More »
VIENNA/MUNICH Austria said on Sunday it planned to end emergency measures that have allowed thousands of refugees stranded in Hungary into Austria and Germany since Saturday and move step by step “towards normality”. Austria had suspended its random border che... More »
BRUSSELS Deep divisions over how to cope with a flood of migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia pose a threat to the European Union’s values and global standing and may diminish its ability to act jointly to reform the euro zone and ease Greece’s debt.... More »
ANKARA The leader of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP opposition said on Tuesday his party was ready to take part in an interim power-sharing government but that he would not be surprised if the prime minister tried to form a cabinet without the HDP. President Tayyip ... More »
BEIRUT A Syrian military source said on Tuesday the army had retreated to new defensive lines in a region of vital strategic importance to President Bashar al-Assad, seeking to avoid losses at the hands of advancing rebels. The insurgent advance into the Sahl ... More »
KUALA LUMPUR The head of world athletics vigorously defended the IAAF’s anti-doping record on Monday, as global sporting bodies called for a thorough probe of the latest allegations to plunge international sport into crisis. Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper an... More »
KUALA LUMPUR The head of world athletics said on Monday that any suggestion his organization had been negligent in drug testing of athletes was “laughable”. “There are allegations made, no evidence,” IAAF president Lamine Diack told Reuters in the Malaysian ca... More »
WASHINGTON The United States has decided to allow airstrikes to defend Syrian rebels trained by the U.S. military from any attackers, even if the enemies hail from forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. officials said on Sunday. The decision by... More »
SAO PAULO Banco Bradesco SA, Brazil’s No. 2 private-sector bank, will make a binding offer to buy HSBC Holdings Plc’s Brazilian unit next month, the newswire service of O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper said on Wednesday. The newswire, Agência Estado, said that B... More »
ISTANBUL Irritated by accusations of lavishness, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to resign if the leader of the main opposition can find a single golden toilet seat in his vast new palace. Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) ha... More »
ISTANBUL A Turkish artist on Saturday unveiled a two-story-high mural featuring those killed in protests two years ago over an Istanbul park that spiraled into nationwide demonstrations against the leadership of Tayyip Erdogan. The 5-by-10-metre painting by Ha... More »
ROME Pope Francis’ hard-hitting criticisms of localization and inequality long ago set him out as a leader unafraid of mixing theology and politics. He is now flexing the Vatican’s diplomatic muscles as well. Last year, he helped to broker an historic accord b... More »
LONDON Britain wants to reach a new settlement with the European Union as fast as possible, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said, the Financial Times reported on Friday. Prime Minister David Cameron, who won an outright majority in a general election last wee... More »
ROME Novak Djokovic had to fight back from a set down to beat Thomaz Bellucci and reach the Italian Open quarter-finals on Thursday while Rafa Nadal produced an “almost perfect” display to despatch John Isner. World number one Djokovic won 5-7 6-2 6-3 but was ... More »
MADRID Spain’s Defence Minister Pedro Morenes said on Tuesday that flight permission for Airbus (AIR.PA) A-400M planes currently in production in Spain has been temporarily withdrawn until the reasons for Saturday’s fatal crash were determined. “It’s obvious t... More »
CHICAGO (Reuters) – The largest-ever U.S. outbreak of avian influenza, which has devastated Midwestern poultry and egg producers in recent weeks, could be felt at Thanksgiving tables across the nation come November, farmers and some trade groups say. The virul... More »
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand Prime Minister John Key apologized on Wednesday for pulling the ponytail of a waitress who accused him of bullying, media reported. The unnamed waitress in an Auckland cafe said on a blog site that Key had pulled her hair ove... More »
