Syrian conflict: Rebels threaten to boycott peace talks and other top stories.

• Syrian conflict: Rebels threaten to boycott peace talks

  

  Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption The ceasefire is meant to apply across Syria - and has mostly been holding Syrian rebel groups say they are suspending participation in the preparations for peace talks planned by Russia and Turkey for later this month.A statement, signed by a number of groups, cited "many and large violations" of the ceasefire by the Syrian government as the reason.Turkey and Russia brokered the ceasefire deal last Thursday, an..

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• Turkish military says 18 Islamic State militants killed in clashes in Syri...

  

  ANKARA Turkey's military, backing Syrian rebels in a four-month-old operation against Islamic State militants in northern Syria, said on Tuesday that 18 of the jihadists had been killed and 37 wounded in clashes and artillery fire on Monday.In a round-up of its operations over the past 24 hours, the army said its warplanes destroyed four Islamic State targets and Russian aircraft hit jihadists in Dayr Kak, 8 km (5 miles) southwest of the Islamic State-controlled town of al-Bab. (Reporting b..

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• Who Was Queen Before Elizabeth II? Timeline Of British Rulers Before The Longest Reigning Monarch

  

  Queen Elizabeth II is currently battling a "heavy cold" that has forced the monarch to skip annual royal holiday celebrations, including Christmas and New Year services, giving rise to speculation that the longest reigning monarch might have to leave her royal duties due to health concerns.She is the second woman to rule the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which formed in 1801 after a unified Kingdom of Great Britain merged with the Kingdom of Ireland. The only other woman in that p..

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• Israeli Police Question Netanyahu on Receiving Gifts

  

  TEL AVIV—Israeli police said they questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for three hours at his official residence on Monday on suspicion of receiving unlawful gifts. Local media outlets had in recent days reported police were considering launching a criminal probe on the matter. Mr. Netanyahu and his family have previously been subjects of allegations of corruption, which they have repeatedly denied. They have never been...

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• Turkey nightclub attack: Arrests in hunt for gunman

  

  Media captionFootage shows the attacker pointing his gun as he approaches the Reina nightclub Turkish police have launched raids in Istanbul and arrested 12 people, as the hunt for an attacker who killed 39 people in a nightclub intensifies.Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said authorities had fingerprints and a basic description, and vowed to "speedily" identify the suspect.Some 600 revellers were in the Reina nightclub early on Sunday when the gunman attacked.The Islamic State (IS) g..

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• At least 56 killed in Brazil prison riot over drug turf, officials say

  

  Bodies were thrown over the wall of the complex, and at least six people were decapitated, the news agency reported. The revolt started Sunday afternoon as part of a rivalry between two criminal organizations at the Anisio Jobim Prison Complex in the city of Manaus, Agencia Brasil reported, citing Sergio Fontes, the public safety secretary for the state of Amazonas.Violence erupted on Sunday between incarcerated members of the the Familia do Norte (FDN) and the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) ..

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• Islamic State kills 24 with Baghdad car bomb, attack police stations in Sa...

  

  By Kareem Raheem and Ghazwan Hassan | BAGHDAD/TIKRIT, Iraq BAGHDAD/TIKRIT, Iraq An Islamic State car bomb killed 24 people in Baghdad's Sadr City district on Monday and the militants also attacked two police stations in the city of Samarra as Iraqi forces fought to oust the group from Mosul, its last major stronghold in Iraq.At least four other attacks across Baghdad, some also claimed by Islamic State, killed nine more people earlier in the day, bringing the total death toll from bombings i..

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• China navy confirms carrier conducted drills in South China Sea

  

  SHANGHAI China's sole aircraft carrier conducted drills in the South China Sea, the navy said, days after neighboring Taiwan said the carrier and accompanying ships had passed 90 nautical miles south of the island amid renewed tension between the two sides.The Soviet-built Liaoning aircraft carrier and accompanying warships sailed round the east coast of Taiwan in what China called a routine exercise complying with international law.The carrier's J-15 fighters conducted flight exercises in "co..

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• Boxed into a corner? 4 ways Donald Trump could deal with North Korea

  

  "It won't happen," Trump tweeted late Monday. He went on to repeat his claim that China wasn't doing enough to help the US rein in North Korea and its autocratic leader: "China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the US in totally one-sided trade, but won't help with North Korea. Nice!" Trump wrote.But, if his tweets are any guide, analysts say that Trump has backed himself into a corner on North Korea. They say Trump needs to reach for a new playbook if he really wants to..

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Thais Face an Anxious Wait to See How Their New King Will Wield His Power .	Benjamin Gilman, a New York Congressman for 30 Years, Dies at 94 .
Woman tried to save her son after he fell through ice with 12-year-old girl, officials say .	The oil and gas industry is quickly amassing power in Trump's ... .