Politics

  BEIRUT / ap Syrian government forces pressed ahead with their offensive in the water-rich Barada Valley northwest of Damascus on Tuesday as 10 rebel groups said they were suspending talks about planned peace negotiations because of what they describe as ongoing government violations of a cease-fire deal. The cease-fire, brokered by Russia and Turkey, is meant to be followed ...

  BERLIN / AP German prosecutors are accusing a man already convicted of membership in a terrorist organization of participating in the killing of six captives by the IS group. Federal prosecutors said on Tuesday they obtained a new warrant against the 28-year-old German, identified only as Harry S. in line with privacy laws, on suspicion of murder and committing ...

JERUSALEM / AP Israel’s prime minister is denying wrongdoing a day after he was questioned by police for more than three hours over corruption allegations. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that “there won’t be anything because there is nothing,” and decried “years of daily persecution against me and my family.” Police investigators grilled Netanyahu on Monday ...

  ROME / AP Italian police say they have quelled a violent protest by occupants of a migrant center near Venice that left fearful workers barricaded inside offices. Carabinieri paramilitary police in Chioggia, near the Cona migrant center, said the protest ended in the early hours of Tuesday. Italian state RAI radio said migrants were protesting the alleged delay in ...

  ISTANBUL / AP Turkish state media aired new footage on Tuesday of a man believed to be the IS gunman who killed 39 people at a nightclub, showing a grim selfie video of the suspect as he circles Istanbul’s most famous square. The camera never leaves the man’s unsmiling face as he walks through Taksim square, one of Istanbul’s prime ...

  JAKARTA / AP An Indonesian court ruled on Tuesday that witness testimony will be closed to the media in the blasphemy trial of the capital’s minority Christian governor. Jakarta Gov. Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama is charged with insulting Islam and desecrating the Quran by using one of its verses to boost his chances of winning re-election. Ahok, 50, is seeking ...

  BAGHDAD / AP Violence claimed the lives of at least 6,878 civilian Iraqis last year, the United Nations said, as the Iraqi government struggles to maintain security nationwide and to dislodge IS group militants from areas under their control. The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq, known as UNAMI, said its numbers “have to be considered as the absolute minimum” as ...

  SANAA / ap Yemeni security officials say pro-government forces attacked al-Qaida militants in the country’s south, killing 15 extremists but losing 11 of their own troops. The officials say the fighting began when security forces, backed by the Saudi-led coalition that is fighting Yemen’s Shiite rebels elsewhere in the country, on Tuesday attacked an al-Qaida stronghold in the Marakasha ...

  SACRAMENTO / AP As California lawmakers return to Sacramento on Wednesday, liberal dreams of expanding safety-net benefits and providing health coverage to immigrants are giving way to a new vision revolving around a feverish push to protect gains racked up in the past. After years of pushing forward a progressive agenda, legislative Democrats will be pushing back against conservative ...

  PARIS / AFP The son of Equatorial Guinea’s president is going on trial in France accused of buying real estate, sports cars and other luxury goods with public funds from his country. Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, who is also Equatorial Guinea’s second vice president, faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of corruption, money laundering and embezzlement ...