U.S. taps ex-envoy to NATO Volker to resolve Ukraine crisis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has appointed Kurt Volker, the former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, to serve as a special representative to Ukraine, the State Department said on Friday.
Kashmir’s stone-pelting protesters face off against pellet guns
SRINAGAR (Reuters) – Security forces using pellet guns to disperse crowds of stone-throwing young protesters in the Indian-ruled region of Himalayan Kashmir have killed more than 100 people, blinding hundreds and maiming thousands over the past year.
Vietnam police detain blogger for anti-state propaganda, mother says
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnamese police have arrested a blogger for posting anti-state material on the internet, his mother said on Friday, as part of a crackdown on critics of the country’s Communist rulers.
‘We were so close,’ says diplomat as another Cyprus reunification bid flops
ATHENS (Reuters) – The best chance in generations to end the partition of Cyprus collapsed in acrimony early on Friday, throwing the prospect of any reunification between Greek and Turkish Cypriots into disarray.
U.N. fears rights activists detained in Turkey at risk of torture
GENEVA (Reuters) – A regional director of Amnesty International and other senior rights activists detained in Turkey this week are at significant risk of torture, a U.N. human rights spokesman said on Friday.
Italy apartment block collapses near Naples, eight people missing
ROME (Reuters) – Part of a four-storey apartment block near the Italian port city of Naples collapsed on Friday, leaving eight people missing, rescue workers said.
Putin critic Navalny released from jail after 25-day stint: spokeswoman
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was released from a Moscow prison on Friday, his spokeswoman said, after completing a 25-day sentence for repeatedly violating the law on organizing public meetings.
Facing defeat in Mosul, Islamic State mounts diversionary attack to the south
MOSUL/TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) – Islamic State militants attacked a village south of Mosul, killing several people including two journalists, even as they were about to lose their last redoubt in the city to an Iraqi military onslaught, security sources …
Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party leader refuses to attend court in handcuffs: party
ANKARA (Reuters) – The jailed co-chairman of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) refused to attend a court hearing in the capital Ankara on Friday because police told him he would have to be handcuffed, his party said.
At least 23 Egyptian soldiers killed in deadliest Sinai attack in years
CAIRO/ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) – At least 23 Egyptian soldiers were killed when suicide car bombs tore through two military checkpoints in North Sinai on Friday, security sources said, an attack claimed by Islamic State that marks one of the bloodiest…
