Author Archive for REUTERS

Hezbollah steps up Syria battle, Israel threatens more strikes

Hezbollah steps up Syria battle, Israel threatens more strikes

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) – Lebanese Hezbollah militants attacked a Syrian rebel-held town alongside Syrian troops on Sunday and Israel threatened more attacks on Syria to rein the militia in, highlighting the risks of a wider regional conflict if planned peace talks fail. Activists said it was the fiercest fighting in Syria’s two [...]

Obama to discuss al Qaeda, drones, Guantanamo Bay in Thursday speech

Obama to discuss al Qaeda, drones, Guantanamo Bay in Thursday speech

By Steve Holland ATLANTA (Reuters) – President Barack Obama, under fire for security lapses at a U.S. mission in Libya, will in a speech on Thursday lay out his wide-ranging counter-terrorism policy, from the controversial use of drones to efforts to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Obama’s use of military drone [...]

Tunisian Islamist protester killed in clash with police

Tunisian Islamist protester killed in clash with police

By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) – One protester died and several were injured when Tunisian Islamists defied a ban on their demonstration and clashed with police on Sunday. The 27-year-old man was killed in the violence in the capital Tunis which continued into the evening, the state news agency said. A Reuters witness saw several [...]

Syrian army, Hezbollah attack rebels in border town: opposition

Syrian army, Hezbollah attack rebels in border town: opposition

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis AMMAN (Reuters) – Syrian troops supported by Hezbollah militants launched an offensive to retake a major town near Lebanon from rebels on Sunday, the heaviest fighting yet involving Lebanese armed group, opposition activists said. At least 32 people were killed when rebel fighters clashed with mechanized Syrian army units and Hezbollah [...]

After crushing Mali Islamists, France pushes deal with Tuaregs

After crushing Mali Islamists, France pushes deal with Tuaregs

By David Lewis BAMAKO (Reuters) – After winning adulation across Mali for a five month military offensive that crushed al Qaeda fighters, France is now frustrating some of its allies by pushing for a political settlement with a separate group of Tuareg rebels. A standoff over how to restore Malian government authority to Kidal, the [...]

Job market gains could lead Fed to taper QE3 early

Job market gains could lead Fed to taper QE3 early

By Ann Saphir and Jonathan Spicer (Reuters) – The beginning of the end of the Federal Reserve’s massive bond-buying program might come sooner than many investors think if recent gains in the U.S. labor market do not prove fleeting. Much will depend on how economic data, which has given mixed signals for growth prospects, develops [...]

Cameron ‘losing control’ as rift with party core widens

Cameron ‘losing control’ as rift with party core widens

By Mohammed Abbas LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron is "losing control of his party", Conservative Party grandee Geoffrey Howe said on Sunday, as a row raged over whether a close aide to Cameron had labeled grassroots activists "mad, swivel-eyed loons". The furor threatens to further alienate Cameron and his inner circle from [...]

Protesting Egyptian police block Israel border crossing

Protesting Egyptian police block Israel border crossing

CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian police enraged by the kidnapping of seven of their colleagues by Islamist gunmen in the Sinai Peninsula blocked a commercial border crossing with Israel on Sunday to pressure the Cairo government to help free the men, security sources said. A video posted online on Sunday showed seven blindfolded men, who said [...]

France in talks with U.S., Israel to buy drones: minister

France in talks with U.S., Israel to buy drones: minister

PARIS (Reuters) – France is in talks with the United States and Israel to buy intelligence-gathering drones to build up a modern fleet, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Sunday. France’s existing hardware is outdated and its military intervention in Mali this year has exposed its shortage of surveillance drones suitable for modern warfare. [...]

North Korea fires short-range missiles for two days in a row

North Korea fires short-range missiles for two days in a row

By Jane Chung SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea fired a short-range missile from its east coast on Sunday, a day after launching three of these missiles, a South Korean news agency said, ignoring calls for restraint from Western powers. Launches by the North of short-range missiles are not uncommon but, after recent warnings from the [...]