Seven arrested in Egypt after raising rainbow flag at concert
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian police arrested seven people on Monday after they were seen raising a rainbow flag at a concert, security sources said, in a rare public show of support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights in the conservative Mu…
Myanmar finds more bodies in mass grave; U.N. seeks rapid aid increase
YANGON/DHAKA (Reuters) – Myanmar’s army unearthed the bodies of 17 Hindu villagers on Monday, taking to 45 the number authorities suspect were killed by Muslim insurgents last month at the onset of a wave of violence that has sent 436,000 refugees flee…
Turnout high as Iraqi Kurds defy threats to hold independence vote
ERBIL/SULAIMANIYA, Iraq (Reuters) – Kurds voted in large numbers in an independence referendum in northern Iraq on Monday, ignoring pressure from Baghdad, threats from Turkey and Iran, and international warnings that the vote may ignite yet more region…
North Korea says U.S. ‘declared war,’ warns it could shoot down U.S. bombers
NEW YORK/SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea’s foreign minister said on Monday that President Donald Trump had declared war on North Korea and that Pyongyang reserves the right to take countermeasures, including shooting down U.S. bombers even if they are no…
Austria’s far right gives two cheers for German sister party’s success
VIENNA (Reuters) – Austria’s anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPO), seeking to soften its image before Austrians go to the polls next month, offered only lukewarm praise on Monday for a record election showing by its sister party in neighboring Germany….
Turnout high as Iraqi Kurds defy threats to hold independence vote
ERBIL/SULAIMANIYA, Iraq (Reuters) – Kurds voted in large numbers in an independence referendum in northern Iraq on Monday, ignoring pressure from Baghdad, threats from Turkey and Iran, and international warnings that the vote may ignite yet more region…
Merkel strikes reserved tone ahead of Macron’s Europe speech
BERLIN/PARIS (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel struck a note of caution with respect to French calls for deeper European integration on Monday, a day before French President Emmanuel Macron lays out his plans for ambitious European reforms.
Game over for ‘discredited’ Catalan referendum, Spanish officials say
MADRID/BARCELONA (Reuters) – Spanish authorities have done enough to discredit and prevent a planned referendum this Sunday on independence in Catalonia, two senior government officials told Reuters on Monday, though they may now let a secession “party…
U.N. seeks rapid increase in Rohingya aid; Myanmar finds more bodies
DHAKA (Reuters) – Muslim refugees seeking shelter in Bangladesh from “unimaginable horrors” in Myanmar face enormous hardship and risk a dramatic deterioration in circumstances unless aid is stepped up, the head of the U.N. refugee agency said on Monda…
Brooking no dissent, Marine Le Pen takes grip on French far-right
PARIS (Reuters) – Marine Le Pen has acted to reassert her authority over France’s far-right National Front with the forced departure of her deputy, but still faces a struggle to persuade the party base that she has what it takes to win an election.
