A Syria monitor said Saturday that five Islamic State jihadist group members had been killed in US strikes overnight as Jordan confirmed it participated in the raids, after a deadly attack on American troops last weekend.
US forces said they had struck more than 70 IS targets in what President Donald Trump described as "very serious retaliation" for the December 13 attack that killed two US soldiers and a US civilian.
Dec 20 (Reuters) - Iran executed a man on Saturday who it said was convicted of spying for Israel and having ties to Iranian opposition groups, the judiciary's Mizan news agency reported.
Entangled in a decades-long shadow war with Israel, Iran has executed many people it accused of having links with Israel's intelligence service and facilitating its operations in the country.
SYDNEY, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Around 1,000 surf lifesavers returned to duty at Sydney's Bondi Beach on Saturday, restarting regular patrols six days after two gunmen killed 15 people and wounded dozens more at a seaside celebration of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights.
The mass shooting, Australia's worst in nearly 30 years, is being investigated as an act of terrorism targeting the Jewish community, while authorities have ramped up patrols and policing across the country to prevent further violence.
By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart
Dec 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. military launched large-scale strikes against dozens of Islamic State targets in Syria on Friday in retaliation for an attack on U.S. personnel, U.S. officials said.
A U.S.-led coalition had already been carrying out airstrikes and ground operations in Syria targeting Islamic State suspects in recent months, often with the involvement of Syria's security forces.
President Donald Trump had vowed to retaliate after a suspected ISIS attack killed U.S. personnel last weekend in Syria.
US forces struck more than 70 Islamic State group targets in Syria on Friday in what President Donald Trump described as "very serious retaliation" for an attack that killed three Americans last weekend.
Washington said a lone gunman from the militant group carried out the December 13 attack in Palmyra -- home to UNESCO-listed ancient ruins and once controlled by jihadist fighters -- that left two US soldiers and a US civilian dead.
By Simon Lewis
WASHINGTON, Dec 19 - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that a new governance structurefor Gaza -- made up of an international board and a group of Palestinian technocrats -- would be in place soon,followed by the deployment of foreign troops, as the U.S. hopes to cement a fragile ceasefire in Israel's war in the Palestinian enclave.
By Mikhail Flores
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 19 (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday condemned the Houthi detention of another 10 U.N. personnel in Yemen, taking the total to 69, his spokesperson said.
The Iran-aligned Houthis detained the additional U.N. staff on Thursday, said U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, and Guterres calls for the immediate release of all those detained.
WASHINGTON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday said that Washington's immediate goal on Sudan is a cessation of hostilities going into the new year that allows humanitarian organizations to be able to deliver assistance.
Earlier this month a group of Palestinian boys turned out to train at their local football pitch in the shadow of the wall separating Israel from the West Bank's Aida refugee camp -- and found a note at the gate.
The children took the ominous message from Israeli authorities to Muhannad Abu Srour, sports director at the Aida Youth Centre in the camp near Bethlehem, and the news was not good.
