Some Taliban officials say secret Afghan peace talks held in Qatar
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Two Taliban officials said on Tuesday that the militant movement held informal, secret peace talks with the Afghan government earlier this month in Qatar, but a Taliban spokesman denied they took place.
Theresa May to step into Brussels lions’ den
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Theresa May’s first EU summit was never going to be easy but Thursday’s encounter in Brussels may be a thoroughly bleak affair now that fellow leaders feel she has taken a hard line on breaking away from the European Union.
Four police officers killed in Somalia suicide car bombing
MOGADISHU (Reuters) – A suicide attacker rammed a bomb-laden car into a police station in the Somali town of Afgoye on Tuesday, killing at least four police officers, and militants then stormed the area, local authorities said.
Teen migrants head to UK as French court upholds ‘Jungle’ closure
CALAIS/LILLE, France (Reuters) – France transferred another dozen mostly Afghan teenagers to Britain on Tuesday as efforts to rehouse the most vulnerable migrants of the “Jungle” camp in northern France accelerated ahead of its demolition.
Inter-ethnic violence kills over a dozen in southeastern Congo
KINSHASA (Reuters) – More than a dozen people have died since the weekend in fighting in southeastern Congo between Bantus and Pygmies, local activists said on Tuesday, in the latest escalation in a bloody three-year ethnic conflict.
Belgium detains 15 in raid over involvement in militant group
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Belgian police on Tuesday took in 15 people for questioning after raids as part of an investigation into the financing of militant groups and recruiting fighters for Islamic State in Syria, prosecutors said.
Thailand says ‘roadmap’ to democratic rule unchanged by king’s death
BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s junta sought on Tuesday to reassure the country that the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej last week would not upend plans for a return to democratic rule, which include a general election in late 2017.
Plane attempting emergency landing in Spain has no passengers: Binter
MADRID (Reuters) – A Binter Canarias plane attempting an emergency landing in Spain’s Gran Canaria airport is a training flight without passengers, the company said in a tweet.
Vietnam gives thumbs-up to U.S. regional role as pivot stumbles
HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam supports U.S. “intervention” in the Asia-Pacific if it helps keep peace and stability, the defense ministry said, in a timely endorsement of a continued U.S. presence amid uncertainty over Washington’s faltering “pivot”.
France says Congo election delay not answer to crisis
PARIS (Reuters) – A decision to push back presidential elections in Democratic Republic of Congo to 2018 is not the answer to the crisis there and risks fuelling an escalation in violence, French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said.
