Politics

By Jason Szep, Matt Spetalnick and Yara Bayoumy WASHINGTON/MUSCAT, Dec 21 – As the United States negotiated this year’s nuclear pact with Iran, the State Department quietly agreed to spare the Gulf sultanate of Oman from an embarrassing public rebuke over its human rights record, rewarding a close Arab ally that helped broker the historic

By Ayla Jean Yackley SILVAN, Turkey, Dec 20 – The shepherd’s widow no longer asks God for peace. Like many Kurds in Turkey’s southeast, Sevgi Gezici, 22, believed President Tayyip Erdogan might relent in a clampdown against Kurdish militants after his party won back its majority in an election in November. Three days after the

By John Whitesides and Luciana Lopez MANCHESTER, N.H., Dec 19 – U.S. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton backed elements of President Barack Obama’s strategy to fight Daesh militants in a debate on Saturday in which she clashed with top rival Bernie Sanders over national security and the economy. Clinton came under fire from Republicans even before

By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS, Dec 15 (Reuters) – Iran violated a U.N. Security Council resolution in October by test-firing a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, a team of sanctions monitors said, leading to calls in the U.S. Congress on Tuesday for more sanctions on Tehran. The White House said it would not

TRIPOLI, Dec 16 (Reuters) – The leaders of Libya’s rival parliaments rejected a U.N. peace deal a day before moderates from both sides were due to sign it, highlighting the deep splits challenging international efforts to end the fighting. The two met on Tuesday for the first time since latest fighting broke out more than

CAIRO, Dec 16 – Yemen’s dominant Houthi group and President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government have accused each other of violating a ceasefire aimed at facilitating U.N.-sponsored peace talks, although the truce appeared to be largely holding on Wednesday. The seven-day truce began at mid-day on Tuesday as representatives of Hadi’s government and the Iran-allied Houthis

By Lesley Wroughton MOSCOW, Dec 15 – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Moscow on Tuesday to try and narrow differences with Russian leader Vladimir Putin over the role of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad in any political transition and which rebel groups should be part of peace talks. Kerry will seek to

By Ned Parker ERBIL, Iraq, Dec 14 – It was one of the most shocking events in one of the most brutal periods in Iraq’s history. In late 2005, two years after the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein, U.S. soldiers raided a police building in Baghdad and found 168 prisoners in horrific conditions. Many were

By Idrees Ali CORONA, Calif., Dec 14 – From the suburbs of Los Angeles to the outskirts of Washington, D.C., mosques around the United States are warily stepping up security in the face of growing fears about reprisals on American Muslims. The increasing safety concerns described by American Islamic leaders—and the steps they are taking

MOSCOW, Dec 14 (Reuters) – Russia’s air force is conducting dozens of air strikes in Syria daily to support the Free Syrian Army fighting alongside government troops against Islamic militants, the chief of Russian army’s general staff was quoted as saying on Monday. The number of Free Syrian Army fighters now advancing in the provinces