U.S, Iraqi officials can’t confirm report Islamic State leader wounded
BAGHDAD/FALLUJA (Reuters) – U.S. and Iraqi officials said on Friday they could not confirm a report by an Iraqi TV channel that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been wounded in an air strike in northern Iraq.
U.N. says Israeli move on Palestinian permits may be collective punishment
GENEVA (Reuters) – Israel’s cancellation of entry permits for Palestinians following a deadly attack in Tel Aviv may amount to collective punishment, which is banned under international law, the United Nations’ top human rights official said on Friday….
Colombian government and rebels plan joint drug crop eradication
HAVANA (Reuters) – Colombia’s government and leftist FARC rebels agreed on Friday to a pilot project to replace illicit crops, mainly coca, as part of negotiations aimed at ending Latin America’s last and longest guerilla war, which is fueled in part b…
U.N. convoys bring food to besieged Syrian towns of Daraya, Douma
GENEVA/BEIRUT (Reuters) – International aid convoys have reached two Syrian rebel-held towns near Damascus, marking the first delivery of food supplies to Daraya since 2012, after the government granted permission for the trips, the United Nations said…
‘Leave’ 10 points ahead in ORB poll on Britain’s EU referendum
LONDON (Reuters) – The “Leave” camp was 10 points ahead of “Remain” with less than two weeks to go before Britain’s referendum on whether to stay in the European Union, according to a poll by ORB for The Independent newspaper published on Friday.
Among political sharks, Ukrainian pilot Savchenko to be a ‘small piranha’
KIEV (Reuters) – Pointing at a man hanging on a rope while fitting insulation onto a building across the road, Ukraine’s most famous soldier sometimes wishes she had such a life, earning money with an exciting job without having to think about politics…
Venezuela opposition moves forward in recall referendum request
CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s elections council said on Friday it will begin a process of validating signatures of citizens seeking a recall referendum against President Nicolas Maduro, a small step in the opposition’s effort to remove a deeply unpop…
Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney to defend Yazidi women, ISIS sex slaves
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – International human rights lawyer Amal Clooney will defend Yazidi women who have been victims of sexual slavery, rape and genocide by Islamic State militants in Iraq, her law firm said on Friday.
Slovakia’s EU presidency to focus on European border guard, returns to curb migration
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – Slovakia will focus on putting a new European Union border guard to work and streamlining deportations of migrants with no case for asylum when it takes over the bloc’s presidency for the first time from July, Interior Minister R…
Exclusive: Syria requiring released prisoners to join army, opposition says
GENEVA (Reuters) – Syria’s government has freed prisoners on condition that they join the army upon their release, the president of the opposition Syrian National Coalition told Reuters on Friday, citing reports from Adra Central Prison near Damascus.
