BEIRUT – Syrian forces pressed their military offensive in the northern province of Idlib, driving 1,000 refugees across the Turkish border as the bloody revolt against President Bashar al-Assad entered a second year with no sign of political solution.
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LONDON – Britain is poised to cooperate with the United States on a release of strategic oil stocks that is expected within months, two British sources said, in a bid to prevent fuel prices choking economic growth in a U.S. election year.
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WASHINGTON – Pressure is mounting on Republican Mitt Romney to win next Tuesday’s presidential primary in Illinois, a state considered friendly territory as he seeks to fend off a growing challenge from conservative rival Rick Santorum.
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MIRANSHAH – A Swiss couple kidnapped by the Pakistani Taliban last July have escaped and will return home soon, the Swiss foreign ministry said on Thursday after the two reached a military checkpoint near Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan
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ABUJA – Nigeria’s government has in the last week held its first indirect peace talks with Islamist sect Boko Haram, meeting mediators to discuss a possible ceasefire, political and diplomatic sources told Reuters on Thursday.
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LONDON/BRUSSELS – The sanctions vice is tightening on Iran, cutting it out of key global financial networks, but Tehran is taking urgent steps to withstand the pressure over a nuclear program the West suspects is intended to produce bombs.
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WASHINGTON – The U.S. economy shows encouraging signs of early expansion but still faces tough challenges that call for measures to create jobs to help restore fiscal sustainability, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday.
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REYHANLI, Turkey – Turkey said yesterday it might consider backing a ‘buffer zone’ inside Syria to cope with a flow of refugees across its border that has increased sharply with a Syrian government offensive against rebels in the nearby Idlib region.
