U.S. blacklists North Korean officials over rights abuses
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department has added seven senior North Korean officials, including leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, to its sanctions list because of human rights abuses and censorship by the communist nation.
Colombia seized record 378 tonnes of cocaine in 2016, murders down
BOGOTA (Reuters) – Colombia’s armed forces seized a record 378.3 tonnes of cocaine in 2016, nearly 50 percent more than the year before, while murder were down by 4 percent, Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas said on Wednesday.
Russia’s Chechnya chief says dozens of militants captured: reports
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Dozens of militants were detained and four of them killed in a security operation in Russia’s southern region of Chechnya on Wednesday, the provincial head was quoted by local news agencies as saying.
Afghan Taliban releases video of U.S., Australian hostages
KABUL (Reuters) – The Afghan Taliban released a video on Wednesday showing an Australian and an American hostage pleading with the U.S. government to negotiate with their captors and saying that unless a prisoner exchange was agreed they would be kille…
Soros to keep funding NGOs in Hungary despite government hostility
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundations will keep working with and financing NGOs in Hungary despite the Hungarian government saying that any civil society group they should be “swept out”, the head of the Foundations sa…
Killer Breivik wants to spread ever more radical Nazi ideology: Norway
SKIEN, Norway (Reuters) – Mass killer Anders Behring Breivik wants to spread his ever more radical Nazi-style ideology, Norway’s attorney general said on Wednesday in defending Breivik’s near-isolation in jail after a court ruled the conditions breache…
Belgian police detain two for questioning on Paris attacks
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Belgian police detained two people after a house search in Brussels in relation to 2015 attacks in Paris which left 130 people dead, the federal prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday.
Egypt says it prevented 12,000 people from illegally migrating in 2016
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egyptian border patrol and coast guard forces stopped more than 12,000 people of various nationalities from illegally entering or leaving the country in 2016, the military said on Wednesday,
Bombed Mosul bridge still lifeline for long-suffering civilians
MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) – The rubble of a bridge blown up by Islamic State in Mosul to block advancing Iraqi forces has become a lifeline for civilians as more and more of the northern city breaks loose from the grip of the ultra-hardline militants.
Austrian chancellor takes on far right with ten-year plan focusing on jobs
WELS, Austria (Reuters) – Austrian center-left Chancellor Christian Kern on Wednesday launched an apparent bid to win back voters from the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) by presenting a 10-year plan focused on jobs and the economy.
