Somalia’s top military chiefs resign, no reason given
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – Two of Somalia’s highest-ranking military officials have resigned, state outlets said on Thursday, in moves that could deal a blow to the war-torn Horn of Africa country’s efforts to fight Islamist militants.
Kidnapped U.S.-Canadian couple, three children freed in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A kidnapped U.S.-Canadian couple and their three children born in captivity have been freed in Pakistan, nearly five years after the couple was abducted in neighboring Afghanistan, Pakistani and U.S. officials said on T…
U.S., Israel quit U.N. heritage agency citing bias
PARIS (Reuters) – The United States and Israel announced on Thursday they were quitting the U.N.’s cultural agency UNESCO, after Washington accused it of anti-Israeli bias.
In schools and hospitals, Turkey carves north Syria role
AL-BAB, Syria/BEIRUT/ANKARA (Reuters) – Children returning to school in the northern Syrian city of al-Bab were handed a new textbook this term: “Türkçe Öğreniyorum” – “I am learning Turkish”.
A rare look inside the ‘heart of society’ for Iraq’s Shi’ites
NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) – For more than 1,000 years, the al-Hawza al-Ilmiyya south of Baghdad has been one of the hearts of Shi’ite Islamic scholarship, training the clerics who lead Shi’ite communities across the Muslim world.
Palestinian rivals Fatah, Hamas sign reconciliation accord
GAZA/CAIRO (Reuters) – Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed a reconciliation deal on Thursday after Hamas agreed to hand over administrative control of Gaza, including the key Rafah border crossing, a decade after seizing the enclave in a …
Pakistani-American faces extradition hearing on NYC attack plot
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – A Pakistani-American man accused of plotting attacks in New York City for Islamic State is scheduled to appear at an extradition hearing in a Pakistani court on Friday.
U.S. withdraws from U.N.’s cultural agency UNESCO
PARIS (Reuters) – The United States announced on Thursday it was withdrawing from UNESCO, the U.N.’s cultural and educational agency, complaining about how it is run and about what Washington described as bias against Israel.
Pakistan army rescues kidnapped U.S.-Canadian couple and three children
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan’s army said on Thursday it had rescued a kidnapped U.S.-Canadian couple and their three children after receiving intelligence from the United States, nearly five years after the couple was abducted in Afghanistan.
UAE terminates North Korean diplomatic mission, ends visas
DUBAI (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates said on Thursday it was ending the mission of North Korea’s non-resident ambassador and terminating its own envoy’s services in Pyongyang, according to the official Twitter account of state news agency WAM.
