President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the United States was very prepared with regard to Iran, as tensions ramped up after attacks on several oil tankers and Tehran’s announcement it would step up uranium enrichment. “We’re very prepared for Iran. We’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters. On Monday, the United States announced it would deploy about 1,000 more troops …

AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq (Reuters) – President Donald Trump made a surprise Christmas visit to U.S. troops in Iraq on Wednesday, his first trip to a conflict zone nearly two years into his presidency and days after announcing a pullout of American troops from neighboring Syria. Trump was looking for some positive headlines after several days of turmoil over …

ANKARA (Reuters) – Nine people were killed and nearly 50 injured in Turkey when a high speed train collided with a locomotive and crashed into a station platform and overpass in an Ankara suburb early on Thursday, officials said. Rescuers worked to free people trapped under the mangled wreckage at Marsandiz train station, 8 km (5 miles) from central Ankara. …

BEIJING (Reuters) – An award-winning Chinese photographer has been arrested in China’s far-flung western Xinjiang region, his wife said on Thursday, though it is unclear on what charges he is being held. Lu Guang, a three-time World Press Photo award winner, had been invited to take part in photography events in the regional capital, Urumqi, in late October, his wife, …

BAMAKO (Reuters) – Gunmen on motorbikes have killed more than 40 Tuareg civilians this week in north Mali, where clashes over land and scarce water are common, an official said on Thursday. The violence compounds an already dire security situation in the desert region used by jihadist groups to launch attacks in Mali and across West Africa. The identity of …