Rescue ships pick up 1,000 boat migrants: Italy coastguard
ABOARD VOS HESTIA RESCUE SHIP (Reuters) – Humanitarian rescue ships picked up more than 1,000 migrants from nine rubber and wooden boats off the coast of Libya on Thursday, Italy’s coastguard said.
Opposition grows to Egypt’s plan to cede islands to Saudi Arabia
CAIRO (Reuters) – Prominent Egyptian political parties on Thursday criticized President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s plan to transfer two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia and urged people to take to the streets in protest.
U.S. Senate votes near unanimously for Russia, Iran sanctions
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate voted nearly unanimously on Thursday for legislation to impose new sanctions on Russia and force President Donald Trump to get Congress’ approval before easing any existing sanctions on Russia.
Serbia’s president nominates country’s first female prime minister
BELGRADE (Reuters) – Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic nominated Ana Brnabic, the state administration minister, on Thursday to be the country’s first female and openly gay prime minister.
On buses and trains, Venezuela opposition leaders protest Maduro
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan legislators and opposition leaders on Thursday staged protests against President Nicolas Maduro aboard buses and trains in the capital of Caracas in an effort to bypass blockades of street demonstrations by security force…
Macron’s party on course for record parliament majority: poll
PARIS (Reuters) – President Emmanuel Macron’s fledgling political party is on course to win a record majority in the second round of France’s parliamentary election, an Opinionway poll showed on Thursday.
Pay up, make nice if you want “soft Brexit”, EU to tell May
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Theresa May should agree to pay Britain’s bills to the European Union and drop threats to walk out without a legal deal if she wants talks on the “softer Brexit” some of her allies are calling for, EU negotiators say.
Russia says U.S. moves rocket launching system to Syria: agencies
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The United States has moved the HIMARS multiple rocket launchers from Jordan to Syria, Russian news agencies cited Russia’s Defense Ministry as saying on Thursday.
Iraqi forces say about to encircle Islamic State in Mosul’s Old City
ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) – Iraqi forces said they were about to complete the encirclement of Islamic State’s stronghold in the Old City of Mosul, after taking control of a neighboring district on Thursday.
U.S. sanctions Islamic State coordinator of Paris, Brussels attacks
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. State Department sanctioned on Thursday three Islamic State members, including whom it said was a leading coordinator of the Nov. 2015 Paris attacks and the March 2016 attacks in Brussels.
