Politics

  Bloomberg Russian-led talks on Syria ended with agreement on Tuesday to bolster a cease-fire even as apparent disputes with Iran, a staunch supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, threaten to hold up efforts to end the six-year civil war. Russia, Turkey and Iran will set up “a trilateral mechanism to observe and ensure full compliance with the cease-fire, prevent ...

  MOSUL / AP Fierce fighting erupted in Mosul on Tuesday as Iraqi forces tried to drive IS militants from one of their last bastions in the eastern half of the city, as aid groups expressed concern for the estimated 750,000 people still in the militant-held west. Hundreds of civilians fled from the northeastern Rashidiya neighborhood on foot as Iraqi helicopters ...

  JOHANNESBURG / AP Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has arrived in Mozambique on an Africa tour in which he is promoting trade and asking governments to crack down on institutions linked to Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim cleric accused of organizing a coup attempt last year. Erdogan arrived in the Mozambican capital of Maputo from Tanzania. He also plans to visit ...

  COLOMBO / AP Activists and relatives say hope is fading fast for the new Sri Lankan government to act against the perpetrators in the killings and disappearances of journalists during the long civil war or the country’s previous administration. President Maithripala Siriena campaigned on a promise of ending a culture of impunity before he defeated the incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa in ...

  LONDON / AP Britain’s government must get parliamentary approval before starting the process of leaving the European Union, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, potentially delaying Prime Minister Theresa May’s plans to trigger negotiations by the end of March. The 8-3 ruling forces the government to put a bill before Parliament, giving pro-EU politicians a chance to soften the terms ...

  Bloomberg The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo are heading to Brussels for talks called by the European Union aimed at soothing simmering tensions after Serbia tried to send a train adorned with nationalist symbols across the border. EU Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini called the meeting for Tuesday under the auspices of negotiations to normalize relations between Kosovo and ...

  SILWAD / AP High school student Hamza Hamad spent 10 months in an Israeli jail for alleged links to the Hamas group, but was never charged with a crime. The 16-year-old is one of the youngest among thousands of Palestinians who have been held in so-called administrative detention in half a century of Israeli military occupation. The teen’s case spotlights ...

  ASTANA / AP Syria’s government envoy and a rebel leader traded barbs as talks between the Mideast country’s warring sides got underway in Kazakhstan on Monday in the first face-to-face meeting between the Damascus government and rebel factions fighting to overthrow it. The gathering in Astana, the Kazakh capital, is also the start of a new effort to end ...

  CAIRO / AP The Egyptian army says extremists have killed five soldiers in the restive Sinai Peninsula, the latest casualties in a yearslong struggle to control the area’s northeast. In a statement released early Monday by the military spokesman, the army expressed its condolences to the soldiers’ families and described the attackers as “enemies of the nation.” Military officials, ...

  JERUSALEM / AP The mayor of Jerusalem says the Trump administration is “serious” and committed to moving the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Nir Barkat says that from conversations he’s had with those in the new US administration, he knows “they are serious about their intentions.” He also told Army Radio on Monday that “an embassy cannot ...