Reuters - Page 2

Russian warships heading for Syria could be used to target civilians in the besieged city of Aleppo, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Tuesday, calling on Moscow to implement a lasting ceasefire.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry voiced concern to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday about renewed fighting and air strikes in the Syrian city of Aleppo after a break of several days, the State Department said.

Islamic State expanded its attacks on Monday against Iraqi army and Kurdish forces to relieve pressure on its militants confronting an offensive on Mosul, its last major urban stronghold in the country.

The din of bullets, mortars and bombs in the northern Iraqi town of Bartella was replaced momentarily by a sound not heard there for more than two years: the peal of church bells.

The battle for control of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo intensified on Sunday with air strikes, ground offensives and shelling, the morning after a resurgence in fighting ended a Russian ceasefire, a monitor and rebel groups said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declined on Saturday an offer from Turkey to take part in the battle to drive Islamic State militants from Mosul, a decision that could rile Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

The Syrian military said on Thursday a unilateral ceasefire backed by Russia had come into force to allow people to leave besieged eastern Aleppo, a move that the rebels have said is part of a psychological campaign to get them to surrender.

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Iranian forces launched air defense drills on Monday in the central province of Isfahan, Fars news agency reported, aiming to display its ability to safeguard the country’s airspace.

Egyptian jets bombed Islamist militant targets for three hours on Saturday, one day after Islamic State guerrillas killed 12 soldiers in North Sinai province, the armed forces said in a statement.

(REUTERS) – U.S. President Barack Obama and his top foreign policy advisers are expected to meet on Friday to consider their military and other options in Syria as Syrian and Russian aircraft continue to pummel Aleppo and other targets, U.S.

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad said on Friday that the Syrian army’s capture of Aleppo, which has come under renewed bombardment in an effort to seize its rebel-held sector, would be “a very important springboard” to pushing “terrorists” back to Turkey.

The United Nations says it bracing for the world’s biggest and most complex humanitarian effort in the upcoming battle for the Iraqi city of Mosul, which could make up to 1 million people homeless and see civilians used as human shields or even gassed.

The Lebanese Shi’ite movement Hezbollah vowed to maintain its “jihad” in neighboring Syria at a huge rally in Beirut on Wednesday, a day after its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the war was in a phase of escalation.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet his Russian counterpart in Switzerland on Saturday to discuss Syria, officials said on Wednesday, as a devastating bombing campaign of the city of Aleppo intensified.

Islamic State militants in northern Syria are putting up “stiff resistance” to attacks by Turkish-backed rebel fighters, Turkey’s military said on Wednesday, almost two months after it launched an incursion to drive them away from its border.

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said on Tuesday the Middle East was in a phase of escalating tension and there appeared to be no prospect of a political solution to the war in Syria.

Russia will create a permanent naval base in Syria to expand its military footprint in its closest Middle East ally, a government official said on Monday, a week after Moscow said it was considering reopening Soviet-era bases in Vietnam and Cuba.

Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz will visit Turkey on Thursday in the first ministerial visit between the two countries for six years, Israel’s embassy in Ankara said in a statement on Monday.

A Palestinian who was due to begin a prison term in Israel next week went on a shooting spree on Sunday, killing a pedestrian and a police officer in Jerusalem before being shot dead by police, medical and law enforcement officials said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday that Russia had the means to protect its assets in Syria if the United States decided to carpet bomb the Syrian government’s military air fields.

Nine Turkish soldiers were killed and more than 20 people were wounded on Sunday when suspected Kurdish militants detonated a car bomb that ripped through a checkpoint near a police station in the country’s southeast, security sources said.

Russia on Saturday vetoed a United Nations draft resolution demanding an end to the bombing of Syria’s war-battered city of Aleppo.

A U.N. human rights watchdog called on Saudi Arabia on Friday to end “severe” discrimination against girls and to repeal laws that allow the stoning, amputation, flogging and execution of children.

The implementation of a landmark nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers is still fragile, the head of the UN agency that polices Iran’s side of the deal has said, warning that small mistakes could have grave consequences.

The United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura offered on Thursday to go to eastern Aleppo and escort up to 1,000 Islamist fighters out of the city for the sake of a halt to the bombardment by Russian and Syrian forces.

A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit the Israeli border town of Sderot on Wednesday, causing no casualties, police said.

Aircraft maker Boeing Co is making progress on a deal to provide more than 100 commercial airplanes to Iran though none will be delivered in 2016, the company’s top executive said on Tuesday.

Rebels said on Tuesday they repelled a Syrian army offensive in southern Aleppo as Russian and Syrian warplanes continued to pound residential areas in besieged parts of the city where thousands of civilians are trapped.

TEHRAN (Reuters) – German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel urged the Iranian government during his two-day visit to the Islamic Republic to do what it can to push for a ceasefire in Syria.

Egypt’s Interior Ministry said early on Tuesday that it killed a senior Muslim Brotherhood leader it said was responsible for the group’s “armed wing” and another member of the group in a shootout on Monday.

Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in the Syrian government-held city of Hama on Monday, killing a number of people, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported.

Syrian government and allied forces have advanced toward Aleppo, pursuing their week-old offensive to take the rebel-held part of the city after dozens of overnight air strikes.

Germany wants to help Iran push ahead with reforms, Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Monday, adding he believed the Islamic Republic was a reliable credit partner as he courted closer trade ties.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders shook hands during a brief chat and U.S. President Barack Obama gently reminded them of the “unfinished business of peace” at the funeral Friday of Shimon Peres, the last of a generation of Israel’s founding fathers.

Syrian government forces and rebels fought battles north of Aleppo and in the city centre on Friday, a week into a Russian-backed offensive by the Syrian army to take the entire city, a war monitor and sources on both sides said.