U.S. says redirects Syria funds as allies pony up $300 million
The U.S. State Department said on Friday it will redirect $230 million in frozen funding away from Syria and had raised $300 million from coalition partners for recovery efforts in areas retaken from Islamic State militants in northeast Syria.
Algeria’s Bouteflika sacks two senior army generals: presidency
Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on Friday dismissed two senior generals, the presidency said, a fresh upheaval in the OPEC oil producer’s power structure ahead of a presidential election next year.
U.S. State Department calls on Vietnam to release ‘prisoners of conscience’
The U.S. State Department on Friday called on Vietnam to release all “prisoners of conscience” immediately, one day after a Vietnamese court conducted a one-day trial of an activist and sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
Ex-cricketer Imran Khan elected prime minister of Pakistan
Pakistani lawmakers elected former cricket legend Imran Khan prime minister on Friday and he pledged to bring to justice “all those who have robbed this country” through corruption.
Trump says Turkey has acted badly in Brunson case
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said the United States was not going to take Turkey’s detention of U.S. Christian pastor Andrew Brunson “sitting down,” a day after his Treasury chief said Washington could hit Ankara with further sanctions.
U.S. urges restraint, independent probe into Aug. 4 Venezuela explosions
The United States on Friday said it supported the creation of an independent commission to investigate explosions in Caracas during a speech by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro earlier this month, criticizing his government’s response as arbitrary….
Tunisia says it is holding passport of Islamist suspect deported by Germany pending probe
Tunisia has confiscated the passport of a man suspected of being an Islamist militant who once served as Osama bin Laden’s bodyguard to prevent him returning to Germany, a judiciary official said on Friday.
U.S. imposes sanctions relating to human rights abuses in Myanmar
The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on two Myanmar infantry divisions and four Myanmarese individuals for human rights abuses.
Somali Puntland forces recapture strategic town from al Shabaab: officer
Military forces of Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region have retaken a strategic town from Islamic militant group al Shabaab, an officer said on Friday.
EU deplores ‘brutal treatment’ of Ugandan MPs after president’s convoy stoned
European Union diplomats in Uganda on Friday deplored “brutal treatment” of lawmakers arrested over a stoning of President Yoweri Museveni’s convoy, and a rights body called for Ugandan authorities to prosecute the perpetrators of the alleged abuses.
