Rio de Janeiro councilwoman, critic of police killings, shot dead
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – A popular Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman who was an outspoken critic of police killings of poor residents in shantytowns was gunned down in what police, prosecutors and even drug gang leaders said on Thursday looked like a …
North Korean minister arrives in Sweden amid summit speculation
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – North Korea’s foreign minister landed in Sweden on Thursday for talks, prompting speculation that the two-day trip could lay the groundwork for a mooted meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong …
South Africa demands Australian minister retract white farmer comments
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa demanded on Thursday that Australian interior minister Peter Dutton retract comments that suggested white farmers were being persecuted and deserved protection with special visas from a “civilized country”.
U.S. military discloses firefight in Niger in December
DAKAR (Reuters) – U.S. and Niger troops killed 11 Islamist militants from a Boko Haram splinter group in a firefight in December, the U.S. military said on Thursday, publicly acknowledging a previously unreported incident.
Thousands flee in first mass exodus from Syria’s besieged eastern Ghouta
EASTERN GHOUTA, Syria (Reuters) – Thousands of Syrian civilians fled from a rebel pocket in eastern Ghouta on Thursday, crossing by foot to army positions in the first mass exodus from the besieged enclave since Syrian government forces launched an ass…
Sisi calls for big turnout in Egyptian election
CAIRO (Reuters) – President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Thursday his government had fulfilled its promises during his first term and called on Egyptians to vote in large numbers in an election where he is seeking a second term in office.
Hezbollah doesn’t expect Israeli war, but is ready for one
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah does not expect its arch foe Israel to launch a war for now in Lebanon but is prepared for one, the deputy leader of the Iran-backed Shi’ite group told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.
Russia: We never had a program to develop nerve gas named in UK spy case – Ifax
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Thursday that neither Russia nor the Soviet Union had run a program to develop the ‘Novichok’ nerve gas which Britain says was used to poison a former double agent, the Interfax news age…
U.S. hits Russians with sanctions for election meddling, cyber attacks
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Thursday took its most notable action against Russia since Donald Trump became president, slapping sanctions on a group of Russian individuals and entities, including Moscow’s intelligence services, for meddl…
Yemen’s Houthis and Saudi Arabia in secret talks to end war: sources
ADEN/DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia and its adversaries in Yemen’s armed Houthi movement are holding secret talks to try to end a three-year-old war that has unleashed the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, diplomats and Yemeni political sources said.
