WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - About 200 low-level Islamic State fighters escaped Syria's Shaddadi prison on Monday after guards from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces left the facility, but Syrian government forces recaptured many of them, a U.S. official said on
DUBAI, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) accepted an invitation to join U.S. President Donald Trump's newly proposed “Board of Peace,” the UAE foreign ministry said on Tuesday, placing Abu Dhabi among the first governments to publicly endorse the initiative. The
DUBAI, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Any attack on Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would trigger a declaration of jihad, or holy war, the Iranian Students News Agency quoted Iran's national security parliamentary commission as saying on Tuesday. Tensions between Iran and the
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The world is experiencing a shift away from rules and international law, French President Emmanuel Macron told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday. "It's ... a shift towards a world without rules, where international law is
DUBAI, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's 90-year-old King Salman chaired in person a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Saudi state TV reported, days after he left hospital where he was undergoing medical tests. King Salman, whose country is the world's largest oil exporter and a
By Alexander Cornwell TEL AVIV, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Several European countries are considering whether to stop sending personnel to a U.S. military-led coordination centre for Gaza, saying it has failed to increase aid flows to the war-shattered enclave or achieve political
By Mohammad Yunus Yawar KABUL, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Militant group Islamic State claimed an explosion that officials said killed a Chinese national and six Afghans, while injuring several more as it tore through a Chinese-run restaurant in a heavily guarded part of Afghanistan's
US President Donald Trump's government has asked countries to pay $1 billion for a permanent spot on his "Board of Peace" aimed at resolving conflicts, according to its charter seen by AFP. The board was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza, but the charter
Jan 20 (Reuters) - The U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State was negotiating a handover of the Al-Hol camp, which houses IS-linked civilians, to Syrian authorities, three Syrian sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. One of the sources, a Syrian official, said
ANKARA, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will soon decide whether to join U.S. President Donald Trump's Board of Peace initiative after having received an invitation, Turkey's foreign minister said on Tuesday. "We have received an invitation. Our President is
The Israeli government has practically paralyzed the agency dedicated to Palestinian refugees, and sanctions have caused extensive budget cuts. But UNRWA is still the most important humanitarian organization operating in Gaza. In an interview with Haaretz, its heads tell their
Jan 20 (Reuters) - Israel foreign minister Gideon Saar said on Tuesday that Israel was invited by the United States to join the board of peace initiative. (Reporting by Omri Taasan; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
By Nidal al-Mughrabi CAIRO, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Israeli forces have ordered dozens of Palestinian families in the southern Gaza Strip to leave their homes in the first forced evacuation since October's ceasefire, as residents and Hamas said on Tuesday the military was expanding
ATHENS, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Greece will cooperate with Israel on anti-drone systems and cybersecurity, Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias said on Tuesday after meeting his Israeli counterpart in Athens. With strong economic and diplomatic ties, Greece and Israel operate an air
Negotiations have collapsed between the Syrian president and the chief of the country's Kurdish-led forces, a Kurdish official told AFP, as the army deployed reinforcements to flashpoint areas in the north. President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, who heads the Kurdish-led
By Olivia Le Poidevin and Emma Farge GENEVA, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The U.N. Human Rights Council will hold an emergency session on Iran in the coming days, with proponents aiming to discuss "alarming violence" used against protesters, a document showed on Tuesday. An Iranian
Israeli bulldozers began demolitions at the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in east Jerusalem on Tuesday, in what the organisation called an "unprecedented attack". UNRWA spokesman Jonathan Fowler said in a statement to AFP that Israeli forces "stormed
By Nandita Bose and Bo Erickson WASHINGTON/PARIS, Jan 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to hit French wines and champagnes with 200% tariffs in an apparent effort to cajole French President Emmanuel Macron into joining his Board of Peace initiative aimed at
By Pesha Magid JERUSALEM, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Israel demolished structures inside the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency's East Jerusalem compound on Tuesday after seizing the site last year, in an act condemned by the agency as a violation of international law. Surrounded by
CAIRO, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will meet U.S President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Egypt's presidency said on Tuesday. This will be the first meeting between the two leaders since the U.S announced it was
Turkey warned Tuesday it would not tolerate "provocations" as Kurds in the country prepared to protest over a military offensive targeting Kurds in Syria that has also angered the militant PKK. Syrian forces began an offensive nearly two weeks ago, pushing the Kurdish-led SDF
Clashes erupted on Turkey's border with Syria Tuesday between police and pro-Kurdish protesters angered by a Syrian military offensive targeting Kurds, an AFP correspondent said. The violence broke out in the border town of Nusaybin, just across from the northern Syrian town of
By Saad Sayeed and Ariba Shahid ISLAMABAD, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Pakistan's defence manufacturing industry is running red hot since its jets, drones and missiles earned the coveted 'combat tested' tag in a conflict with India last year, attracting a slew of interested buyers.
Jan 20 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron told U.S President Donald Trump that he could set up a meeting after Davos in Paris on Thursday afternoon, according to screenshots of messages sent by Macron to Trump that were posted by the U.S. president on Truth Social.
By Promit Mukherjee, Andrew Mills and Federico Maccioni OTTAWA/DOHA/DUBAI, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is trying to foster a new global trading order by working more closely with China and inking smaller trade deals, but faces constraints from
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 (Reuters) - The 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations will not send observers to army-ruled Myanmar's ongoing three-stage election and will therefore not endorse the poll, Malaysia's foreign minister said on Tuesday. Myanmar has been ravaged by
KABUL, Jan 20 (Reuters) - In the dull glow of a single bulb lighting their tent on the outskirts of Kabul, Samiullah and his wife Bibi Rehana sit down to dry bread and tea, their only meal of the day, accompanied by their five children and three-month-old grandchild. "We have
European diplomats say the initiative raises 'major questions' about the UN and international law, with one warning that 'no European country is expected to go along with this.' Sources cite Putin's invitation and Trump's Greenland threats as key factors hardening EU opposition
CAIRO, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Syria's Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that about 120 Islamic State detainees escaped from Shaddadi prison, after the Kurdish website Rudaw reported that a spokesperson for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, Farhad Shami, said around 1,500
Turkey's Kurds are hoping that Ankara's bid to end the decades-long PKK conflict won't be hurt by Damascus' lightning offensive against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria that was backed by Turkey. A close ally of the new post Bashar al-Assad Syrian leadership, Ankara has been
US President Donald Trump called Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and secured a pledge from the leader to not enter al-Hasakeh as Syrian forces clashed with the Kurdish-led SDF.
During an official visit to India, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan witnessed the signing of several memorandums of understanding and letters of intent across multiple sectors, including defense and space.
By Ece Toksabay ANKARA, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Turkey's pro-Kurdish DEM Party said on Monday that the Turkish government had no more "excuses" to delay a peace process with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) now that a landmark integration deal was achieved in neighbouring Syria. On
Iran's top police officer issued an ultimatum on Monday to protesters who joined what authorities have deemed "riots", saying they must hand themselves in within three days or face the full force of the law. But the government also pledged to tackle economic hardships that
WARSAW, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Polish President Karol Nawrocki has been invited to join the Gaza Board of Peace by U.S. President Donald Trump, the Polish president's foreign policy adviser said on Monday The invitation was first reported by news website Onet, which cited two
Residents of the Kurdish Syrian city of Qamishli voiced disillusionment on Monday after a deal with Damascus struck a fatal blow to their long-held aspirations of autonomy, with some accusing the United States of abandoning them. Under pressure from a government advance through
Turkey has welcomed the agreement as key to domestic peace efforts with the outlawed Kurdish militants.
JERUSALEM, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Israel has received an invitation from the United States to join President Donald Trump's "Board of Peace" initiative aimed at resolving global conflicts, two sources briefed on the matter told Reuters. It was not immediately clear if Israel had
By Andrew Osborn MOSCOW, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Russia is watching with glee as U.S. President Donald Trump's drive to acquire Greenland widens splits with Europe even though his moves could have serious security ramifications for Moscow, which covets its own presence in the
Nearly 4,000 people have been killed in the protests in Iran, as videos emerging amid limited access to internet show the scale of the crackdown launched by security forces.
The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is set to get much worse in 2026 as food insecurity increases and international aid evaporates, the United Nations warned on Monday. Julien Harneis, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Yemen, said he feared the calamitous situation