A French-British investigation into alleged bribery at France-based defence giant Thales is examining a contract with Indonesia, an AFP investigation has showed. In November last year, Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said it had launched a joint investigation with its
BAGHDAD Reuters) -Masoud Barzani, the Iraqi Kurdish leader who first took up arms against Saddam Hussein as a teenage guerrilla, remains a towering figure in Kurdish politics as Iraq heads into its November 11 election. Though he no longer holds an official post, Barzani’s
(Reuters) -Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Thursday that the group had "a legitimate right to resist (Israeli) occupation", adding that the group would support the Lebanese army. Hezbollah also said that, while Lebanon was bound by a ceasefire, it was not obligated to be drawn into
VIENNA (Reuters) -The total area of land in Afghanistan on which opium poppy is grown shrank 20% this year, according to a U.N. estimate issued on Thursday, a further drop since farming of the raw material for heroin collapsed in 2023 after the Taliban banned it. The United
As US-brokered talks stall, Kurdish forces are preparing contingencies while continuing dialogue with Damascus to secure Syria’s future, SDF commander Sipan Hemo told Al-Monitor in an exclusive interview.
By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -The United States will share a draft resolution on President Donald Trump's peace plan for Gaza with the 10 elected members of the United Nations Security Council later on Wednesday, a U.S. official said. Representatives for Egypt,
Back in the '90s, Netanyahu realized that the only way to defeat the left was to eliminate the possibility of a Jewish-Arab partnership. After these terrible two years, we must say with courage that this path must be condemned
ISTANBUL (Reuters) -Turkey's MIT intelligence agency chief met Hamas' negotiating team head Khalil Al-Hayya on Wednesday and they discussed the path to be followed in implementing the next phases of the Gaza ceasefire plan, Turkish security sources said. They said MIT chief
An attack on a funeral in the strategic city of El-Obeid in Sudan's central Kordofan region killed 40 people, the UN said Wednesday, as paramilitaries looked poised to launch an offensive there. The United Nations' humanitarian office did not specify when the attack took place
The new defense pact and potential defense deal come as Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar visits Delhi this week.
CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Hamas' armed wing said it would hand over the body of a hostage at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Wednesday, while the Israeli military said it had killed two Palestinians who had approached an area it occupied in a "threatening" way. Gazan health authorities
Iran since the Islamic revolution has employed the tactic of arresting Westerners in a bid to extract concessions from its foes, in a strategy of "hostage diplomacy" that has long presented Europe and the United States with a dilemma, observers say. Iranian authorities this
The U.S. draft would lift sanctions on President al-Sharaa and his interior minister ahead of the Syrian leader's White House visit, signaling Washington's push to ease restrictions, though a Security Council veto could still block it
(Reuters) -Former Spanish king Juan Carlos published a memoir on Wednesday in which he details his achievements as monarch, his sadness at his estrangement from his family and self-exile from Spain, and his hopes for reconciliation. Below are some facts about his four-decade
Virginia state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi made US history Tuesday, winning the lieutenant governor’s race and becoming the first Muslim-American woman elected to statewide office.
By Lewis Macdonald and Aislinn Laing PARIS/MADRID (Reuters) -Spain's disgraced former king, Juan Carlos, feels abandoned and misunderstood, including by his son and heir, King Felipe VI, and by other close family members, according to his memoir that went on sale in France on
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -The detention of the Israeli military's former chief legal officer, who was arrested on Sunday, has been extended until Friday, a police source told Reuters on Wednesday. Advocate General Major-General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi resigned last week over a
BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany has offered cash to Afghan nationals stranded in Pakistan if they give up efforts to enter Europe's biggest economy under a resettlement programme, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Wednesday. The move is part of an effort by conservative
President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday urged his Iranian counterpart to let two French citizens return home, as they were released after over three years in prison on espionage charges their families vehemently denied. Meanwhile an Iranian citizen arrested in France in February
By Sayed Hassib MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan (Reuters) -Some residents in northern Afghanistan called on Wednesday for the Taliban government to help rebuild and restore a historic mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif that was damaged in a powerful earthquake. Monday’s magnitude 6.3 quake
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's wife, Rama Duwaji, largely stayed out of the spotlight during the campaign but her Syrian heritage has shaped her views and upbringing.
The Israeli-Russian graduate student recounted that she suffered from violent beating and sexual assault, and that her captors tortured her upon discovering that she is an Israeli national. 'They basically used me as a punching bag,' she said
ANKARA (Reuters) -President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Turkey had entered a "new phase" in efforts to end Kurdish militant violence and signalled he was open to the idea of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan addressing lawmakers. Erdogan said he held "very
A French pair released by Iran after over three years in prison on espionage charges their families vehemently denied were on Wednesday awaiting permission to be allowed to return to France and end their ordeal. Meanwhile an Iranian citizen arrested in France in February on
BAGHDAD (Reuters) -Former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki remains a potent force in Iraqi politics despite long-standing accusations that he fuelled sectarian strife and failed to stop Islamic State from seizing large areas of the country a decade ago. As leader of the