Feb 3 (Reuters) - The leader of the AFC/M23 rebel movement in Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday claimed responsibility on social media for a drone attack targeting the airport in the strategic northeastern city of Kisangani.
The government of Tshopo province, where Kisangani is located, said in a statement on Sunday that eight explosive‑laden drones had targeted the airport serving Kisangani.
Feb 3 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday and discussed the situation in Ukraine, including the overnight Russian attacks on the country, the UK government said.
Russia's overnight attack knocked out heating in cities including the capital Kyiv during freezing temperatures as Ukrainian negotiators headed to Abu Dhabi for a second round of U.S.-brokered trilateral talks set for Wednesday and Thursday.
The leaders also recognizedthe strategic importance of the U.S.-UK military base Diego Garcia, the governmentadded.
By Orhan Qereman, Khalil Ashawi and Feras Maqdisi
QAMISHLI, Syria, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Syrian government security forces entered the Kurdish-controlled northeastern city of Qamishli on Tuesday, security sources and witnesses said, implementing a U.S.-backed deal to bring Kurdish-run regions back under central government control.
The accord, declared on Friday, staved off the risk of more conflict between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which lost swathes of eastern and northern Syria to government troops in January.
By Simon Lewis
WASHINGTON, Feb 3 - The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday pledged to donate $500 million to a U.N. fund for humanitarian aid for Sudan, amid a U.S. push to renew efforts towards a truce in the conflict that has devastated the country.
Sudan has accused the UAE of arming the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which have been fighting the Sudanese army in thecivil war that broke out in April 2023- a charge the UAE denies butU.N. expertsandU.S. lawmakershave found credible.
By Parisa Hafezi, Humeyra Pamuk and Idrees Ali
DUBAI/WASHINGTON, Feb 3 - Iran is demanding that talks with the U.S. this week be held in Oman not Turkey, and that the scope be narrowed to two-way talks on nuclear issues only, a regional source said on Tuesday, casting doubt on whether the meeting will go ahead as planned.
Iran's effort to change the venue and agenda for the talks, currently scheduled for Friday in Istanbul, came amid heightened tensions as the U.S. builds up forces in the Middle East.
The United States is still planning talks with Iranian officials this week, the White House said Tuesday, even after a US warplane shot down an Iranian drone that approached an American aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.
"I just spoke with special envoy (Steve) Witkoff, and these talks as of right now are still scheduled," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, adding that they were due to happen "later this week."
"President Trump is always wanting to pursue diplomacy first, but obviously it takes two to tango," Leavitt said outside the West Wing.
Feb 3 (Reuters) - Iraq's former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, nominated by a powerful alliance of Shi'ite political parties to return to the premiership, said on Tuesday that he would welcome a decision to replace his candidacy.
On January 27, U.S. President Donald Trump said that if Maliki, who served as prime minister for most of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, were chosen to return to the post, Washington would no longer help Iraq, a major oil producer and close U.S. ally.
(Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din and Ahmed RasheedEditing by Peter Graff)
ANKARA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan met Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh on Tuesday and told him Turkey was determined to take relations to a higher level in areas including renewable energy and defence industry, Erdogan's office said.
Erdogan also told the Saudi crown prince that Turkey's support for stability in Syria would continue, and Turkey would work in cooperation with Saudi Arabia to rebuild Syria, the Turkish presidency said in a statement.
(Reporting by Huseyin HayatseverEditing by Peter Graff)
DUBAI, Feb 3 (Reuters) - A group of Iranian gunboats approached a U.S.-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz north of Oman, maritime sources and a security consultancy said on Tuesday.
The Iranian boats ordered the tanker, the Stena Imperative, to stop its engine and prepare to be boarded before it could speed up and continue its voyage, maritime risk management group Vanguard said.
The vessel did not enter Iranian internal territorial waters and was escorted by a U.S. warship, the maritime risk management group said. An American official confirmed it was U.S. flagged.
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Mahmoud Issa
CAIRO/GAZA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Palestinian women among the few people let back into Gaza after Israel's delayed reopening of the Rafah crossing under last year's ceasefire have described being blindfolded, handcuffed and interrogated by Israeli forces as they tried to get home.
Their journey from Egypt on Monday through the frontier post and across the "yellow line" zone controlled by Israel and an allied Palestinian militia group, involved lengthy delays and the confiscation of gifts including toys, one of the women said.
