By Kieran Guilbert GADO-BADZERE, Cameroon (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Alone, hungry and traumatized having watched her parents die in war-torn Central African Republic, 14-year-old Koulsoumi believed the worst was behind her when she was taken in by a family in Cameroon after fleeing across the border last year.

By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. prosecutor on Monday told jurors that two nephews of Venezuela's first lady sought to use a presidential airport hangar to carry out a multimillion-dollar drug deal, charges that defense lawyers said would not stand up at trial.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S.-led coalition has carried out a series of air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria to aid a new offensive by armed groups toward the city of Raqqa, the militant group's de facto capital in Syria, the Pentagon said on Monday.

By Michael Georgy BASHIQA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces stormed an Islamic State-held town northeast of Mosul on Monday, clearing a pocket of militants outside the city while Iraqi troops wage a fierce urban war with the jihadists in its eastern neighborhoods.

By Luke Baker JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel on Monday formally rejected France's invitation to take part in a Middle East peace conference in Paris later this year, saying it was a distraction from the goal of direct negotiations with the Palestinians.

By Ahmed Rasheed and Rodi Said BAGHDAD/AIN ISSA, Syria (Reuters) - Islamic State fighters targeted Iraqi troops with car bombs and ambushes in Mosul, stalling an army advance in their north Iraq stronghold, but faced attack on a new front on Sunday when U.S.-backed rebels launched a campaign for the Syrian city of Raqqa.

By Rodi Said AIN ISSA, Syria (Reuters) - A U.S.-backed alliance of Syrian armed groups has launched an operation to retake the northern city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of Islamic State in Syria, the group said on Sunday.

HONG KONG(Reuters) - A Hong Kong judge ordered the jury in British banker Rurik Jutting's double murder trial not to allow its verdict to be influenced by emotions over the "dreadful acts" he has confessed to, but to "intellectually" weigh the evidence.

By Enrique Pretel and Alexandra Alper MANAGUA (Reuters) - Former Marxist guerrilla leader Daniel Ortega looked set to easily win a third consecutive term as president of Nicaragua on Sunday, after delivering years of steady growth that have overridden concerns he is trying to install a family dynasty.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China appointed a new finance chief on Monday at a key time as investors' concerns grow over the country's mounting debt and rising fiscal deficits. Xiao Jie, former tax chief and Minister of Finance deputy minister, was named minister of finance, the official Xinhua new agency said on Monday.